Seahorse setup & ququestions

[Colton.]

I'm wanting to setup a seahorse aquarium and have LOTS of questions heres my setup ideas:

80 gallon SC aquariums tank

40 gallon breeder sump with large refugium

Reef octopus 150 OR simplicity 240 DC protein skimmer

60lbs live sand

80-120lbs dry base rock

2 SW4 Jebao wavemakers

Jebao DCS-2000 for sump return

Planned inhabitants:

Hippocampus Kuda or comes

1 Mandarinfish

1 diamond goby

Clean up crew:

Red or blue leg hermit crabs

Shrimp ( no clue of species)

Maybe a sand shifting starfish & urchin

Coral:
Acan coral
Blasto coral
Yellow Sun coral
Gorgonians

Questions:
Which seahorse species for first time seahorse keeper?

How many seahorses can i keep?

Is this a good setup for the seahorses?

What kind for coral & gorgonians can I have?

Can I keep feather dusters?

Will filter socks and filter sponges kill copepods?

What is a good online place to get the seahorses & coral/gorgonians?

 

[Colton.]

I'm also going to culture
4 1 gallon jugs of phytoplankton to culture 4 5 gallon buckets of copepods to feed my Mandarinfish

 

[Lana]

I'm wanting to setup a seahorse aquarium and have LOTS of questions heres my setup ideas:

80 gallon SC aquariums tank

40 gallon breeder sump with large refugium

Reef octopus 150 OR simplicity 240 DC protein skimmer

60lbs live sand

80-120lbs dry base rock

2 SW4 Jebao wavemakers

Jebao DCS-2000 for sump return

Planned inhabitants:

Hippocampus Kuda or comes

1 Mandarinfish

1 diamond goby

Clean up crew:

Red or blue leg hermit crabs

Shrimp ( no clue of species)

Maybe a sand shifting starfish & urchin

Coral:
Acan coral
Blasto coral
Yellow Sun coral
Gorgonians

Questions:
Which seahorse species for first time seahorse keeper?

How many seahorses can i keep?

Is this a good setup for the seahorses?

What kind for coral & gorgonians can I have?

Can I keep feather dusters?

Will filter socks and filter sponges kill copepods?

What is a good online place to get the seahorses & coral/gorgonians?

I would shoot for tank raised. I read tank raised ones usually will eat frozen foods where with non tank raised you just never know if they'll take non live food. I'm not super experienced though.

 

[Colton.]

I know I'm Getting Captive bred H comes from seahorse savvy

 

[pledosophy]

CB Comes you say, that is awesome. I didn't know anyone was breeding them now. They are more active at night IME when I was breeding them.

The tank is fine.

I would go with the Reef Octopus over the Simplicity. I have them both, Reef Octopus is much better IMO.

I would look into adding a dosing pump for vodka dosing.

6 seahorses would be pretty good in a tank that size.

Seahorses like wide spread flow. I find it is best when it alternates and moves through the rocks (as opposed to over them) so the uneaten food does not get in the rocks and rot. If you have two different flow patterns I find it works best. Rotate, 4 hours on one, 4 hours on the other, etc. Quick 20 second switches or faster will just tick off the seahorses and make them stay still.

I don't see a chiller on your list. Those seahorses need a temp of 74 or under, 72 is a good place to start. The temperature is the biggest indicator of a seahorses lifespan IME (about 20 years). They live MUCH longer at low temps. 10 years is not unheard of. I can go into details about why (vibrio bacteria reproduction and virulence basically) , but 74 is tops. 75 I would consider dangerous. No difference really between 75 and 81 IME.

Peppermint shrimp would be my choice, I would get half a dozen.

I tried very hard with gorgs but long term they just don't like seahorses hitching to them. A friend and I wrote up a little tankmate guide with pictures might help:

seahorse.org - Tankmates

Your list of corals is good, kenya trees are also pretty popular as is xenia. Macro algae was great for me to as it helped with nutrients. When you are feeding 3-4 cubes of mysis a day, you need to plan for nutrients and corals and macros can help them break down more.

Sand sifting starfish are cool, but they don't last wrong. If I remember right the Pencil urchin was the one that people had the best luck with.

For your base rock if you can get fake tongan it will make lots of hitches for them. They like to swim from hitch to hitch, so they need something pointy every few inches.


HTH

 

[Colton.]

Ok. I hope I dont need chiller cos on Amazon its 400-600+
And I'm at $2500-3000 right now. Is that normal cost for a seahorse tank? If not what's the average $ of a 80 gallon seahorse tank?

 

[pledosophy]

Ok. I hope I dont need chiller cos on Amazon its 400-600+
And I'm at $2500-3000 right now. Is that normal cost for a seahorse tank? If not what's the average $ of a 80 gallon seahorse tank?

If your house gets above 72F, ever; then you need a chiller.

It's the difference between seahorses living 6 months or 8 years.

 

[Colton.]

Ok Thanks.
What is the average cost for a 80-135 gallon seahorse tank?

 

[Weasel1960]

Recommend this web site They have lots of great articles, sell tank raised and also compatible tank mates. I have pretty much settled on buying mine from this site once I get to building.

Alyssa's Seahorse Savvy

Welcome to Seahorse Savvy. We are a Maryland Seahorse Farm producing high quality captive bred Seahorses for retail and wholesale markets.

seahorsesavvy.com

 

[Sigmund]

I agree with much of what has already been said. I have a Pinto and a Sunburst horse I got from Ocean Rider. Keep my tank at 72/73 other fish and corals do not mind. Actually it is at the top range I should have for my Blue Spotted Jawfish. I though have had great luck with horses and Gorgonians. Have a 60 Deep Blue rimless for my seahorse tank. Here’s a not so good pic from my phone.

 

[Colton.]

Awesome tank!