my solution , my problem hippocampus Erectus

basile · Feb 2, 2014

Well i did this getto looking contraption for my seahorses but the problem is that it works too well. I'm not sure what to do exactly about it. The box is closed in , the animal can enter from only one side so the powerhead can be left on and can't blow the mysis away so the horses can feed all day at leasure as they would do in nature. My concern is the amount. Normally i would feed them twice a day and restart the powerhead after 15 min each time. Now they have all day to eat and now i'm up to well 4 cubes a day of mysis. is it too much?? they take about 40 min each to eat i have 2 couples 2 males , 2 females. Actually i should say one couple and the one male and one female not coupled yet; and its shows.....

This is an ordinary plastic box from staples , not very flexible, and when i did the opening it didn't go smoothly it cracked. So one concerns is that the korses might get injured on the edge so i'll get another box and use a hot knife to carve the hole.

The male Hippocampus erectus, The lined seahorses, lives only 3-4 years bummer!

The female was the quickest to get in

Don't worri the hammerhead does it job in the morning so i'm getting my $ 80 worth of work out of this magnet per day lol

The 75 Gallons starfire display refugium is split in 2. On the right side is the seahorses pen , the left side will be the Angler side. Both in a Macroalgae collection.

The Angler side

SeahorseKeeper · Feb 2, 2014

Very cool! I like it. As long as your water parameters are in check, I would not worry too much about over feeding. Your seahorses look great! :)

jduck · Feb 2, 2014

Heavy duty kitchen scissors? take care of the jagged edge on left side. Then I would hit the opening with a torch just to get rid of the sharp edges.

Swine · Feb 2, 2014

I've got to go checkout your build thread again. Looks awesome

Gazog2 · Feb 3, 2014

First off let me say, what a beautiful tank!!! Looks to be an ideal seahorse habitat! as far as feeding them to much, you have to remember in the wild thats all they do, feed. if they are swimming they are eating, which is pretty much all day long.

What a heck of an Idea! I racked my brain for so long when I had my horses, trying to come up with something like that. I used to use a small bowel but them my mandarin found the bowel and he would sit in the middle of it and scare away the horses.

I agree is sucks, I had a total of 7 of them, 3 of them for almost a full 3 years. but when I lost my last one I took down the tank. One of these days I am going to start it back up and do it again. here is two pictures of mine.

There is 4 of them in this one

Feeding time

miyags · Feb 3, 2014

What a great refugium and home for seahorses. They look fat and happy.I wish PE. mysis wasn't so expensive!!!,0r I'd feed it more often. Is that miracle mud under the sand on your angler side?

basile · Feb 3, 2014

miyags said:
What a great refugium and home for seahorses. They look fat and happy.I wish PE. mysis wasn't so expensive!!!,0r I'd feed it more often. Is that miracle mud under the sand on your angler side?

Than you ; Yes i've put 2 gallons in the entire fuge for bateria purpouse only i don't beleive in miracles, i do my water changes lol.

basile · Feb 3, 2014

Gazog2 said:
First off let me say, what a beautiful tank!!! Looks to be an ideal seahorse habitat! as far as feeding them to much, you have to remember in the wild thats all they do, feed. if they are swimming they are eating, which is pretty much all day long.

What a heck of an Idea! I racked my brain for so long when I had my horses, trying to come up with something like that. I used to use a small bowel but them my mandarin found the bowel and he would sit in the middle of it and scare away the horses.

I agree is sucks, I had a total of 7 of them, 3 of them for almost a full 3 years. but when I lost my last one I took down the tank. One of these days I am going to start it back up and do it again. here is two pictures of mine.

There is 4 of them in this one

Feeding time

Hey thanks for sharing, they are beautifull! Well the idea was to be able to feed without turning the pumps OFF all the time . 15 minutes is not enough for those guys they take for ever, just the female took 40 min by herself. So the box is closed and has one entrance the same side as the waterflow so the water sort of push things inside so the foods stays in. I just put the frozen cubes of mysis in they stay in the animal goes in and feeds all day, no waste and they go through 2-3 cubes a day. They have a waiting station outside the box. It took about an afternoon for them to understand, by letting food come out and spill over the entrance and then they got it. Sometimes the snails get into it but as long as its not wasted. and at night i take it out. In the morning i use my Hammerhead to clean all my glass of my tanks and that its second uses at $ 80 its a good second job, lol.

vlangel · May 16, 2014

basile said:
Hey thanks for sharing, they are beautifull! Well the idea was to be able to feed without turning the pumps OFF all the time . 15 minutes is not enough for those guys they take for ever, just the female took 40 min by herself. So the box is closed and has one entrance the same side as the waterflow so the water sort of push things inside so the foods stays in. I just put the frozen cubes of mysis in they stay in the animal goes in and feeds all day, no waste and they go through 2-3 cubes a day. They have a waiting station outside the box. It took about an afternoon for them to understand, by letting food come out and spill over the entrance and then they got it. Sometimes the snails get into it but as long as its not wasted. and at night i take it out. In the morning i use my Hammerhead to clean all my glass of my tanks and that its second uses at $ 80 its a good second job, lol.

Wow, I just read your thread and what a brilliant idea! I am in the midst of setting up a planted seahorse tank and I really like the box idea for feeding them. That would make an important aspect of their care less of a chore.

funkytanks · May 17, 2014

good idea

This is a great idea and will make one of these for my seahorse tank. Although I don't know what kind of seahorse I have since I found it in brackish water by my house in fl. Another solution to getting rid of those sharp jagged edges is to hit them with 180 or 320 grit sandpaper. Or even 80 grit to straighten and smooth it a bit quicker then go over it with the 180 or 320. Should make it nice a smooth

MechEngineer · May 18, 2014

Hey Basile, nice feeding station idea. What brand frozen mysis do you use? Any reason you dont like to keep the pumps off for more than 15 mins? 40 mins sounds about right to eat, my feeding routine is about an hr long, first 20-30 mins broadcast feed at one of three feeding areas they gather, then Ill turn the MP pumps on for a min to get things stirring, then another 10 turn one MP on then another 10 the other, then wait about 20 mins to let the filter feeders eat before turning the return pump back on. Been working really well.

reefs4fun · Nov 17, 2014

Awesome idea! You might want to try a Dremel to smooth out the edges. If you don't have access to or want to pay the higher price of an actual Dremel, you can go to just about any drugstore, Target, Walmart, Bed Bath & Beyond, etc. and buy one of the cheap cordless rotary nail files in their beauty supply section. It will have everything you need and cost under $15.

FinzAquatics · Dec 2, 2014

I have copied your idea for my seahorses as well. I used a lighter to melt the cut out area, which left a nice smooth rounded opening.. Seems to work great.

basile · Dec 2, 2014

The video

Here's the video lol.

[video=youtube;nk7oX0LAetE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk7oX0LAetE&index=13&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFfzK1jNhN7rAilGwHaEzvH5[/video]

FishRForMe · Dec 26, 2015

Beautiful! What kind of lighting do you use?

vlangel · Dec 27, 2015

Hey basile, any updates?

Reefing Madness · Dec 27, 2015

I hope he's ok, he's hasn't been on since Sept 16 2015. Can't contact him either.

FishRForMe · Apr 20, 2016

FinzAquatics said:
I have copied your idea for my seahorses as well. I used a lighter to melt the cut out area, which left a nice smooth rounded opening.. Seems to work great.

That's what I did, too!