First off, let me warn you, this is a little long winded. If you need the summary, re-read the title and skip down to the last paragraph. Secondly, thanks to anyone who can give me a little feedback, its always appreciated.

I've been thinking about setting up a dwarf seahorse tank for years, but I've been talked out of it more than once by friends who felt I'd be bored with seahorses or that there were many "better" choices out there. As a result, I stayed with my freshwater rainbows and angelfish and never really got into saltwater whatsoever.

About the time I stumbled on this forum, people were posting awesome pictures of their 25gal Cube reefs, and namely PurpleUp's pictures really caught my eye, and I've been letting it run in the background for a couple of years now.

I recently moved to Virginia, and my 75 gallon tank ended up getting broken on the move, and while I was looking for a replacement tank (The only LFS within 50 miles of where I'm at is a Petsmart) I came across the Fluval Edge and figured I'd give it a try.



I'm not really interested in corals, if they happen to show up, fine. If not, I'm happier not having them, really. I pretty much want to have a nice sandbed, some appropriate live plants (caulerpa perhaps?) and a bunch of dwarf seahorses. Maybe some cured liverock for looks.




I've read up on feeding needs, brine shrimp and amphipods and although I haven't ever checked the specific density of a tank before, I'm sure its not that far off from checking the ammonia or the pH. Most importantly I'm willing to let this thing cycle for months if thats what it needs.

What I need to know is, do you think this tank would be practical for this endeavor? Whats good, whats bad, what needs to be changed to make bad become good? Most of the complaints I've seen have to do with the opening and with inadequete lighting for corals, neither of which are a problem (I stuck my hand in one at the store, plenty of room for a 5'2 girl to work with). What I am worried about most is the filtration... I don't want these little guys sucked up, or their food.

What are your opinions, first hand experiences, concerns, speculations and conjectures?

I've never used a Fluval Edge, but I've seen them. Very sharp looking.


I cannot speak to their filtration but I'm sure it's plenty sufficient for dwarf seahorses provided you don't overfeed them (which may happen if you get finicky eaters).


First is the light. I cannot say if I trust the light to grow caulerpa. You can try it, but you may end up having to use a larger light. Over a tank like that, I'd want to use a small spiral flourescent lamp (6500K daylight, you can get them at Lowes pretty cheap) but it wouldn't be pretty to mount it over the Fluval.


You could always use plastic plants, the seahorses won't care either way. But the big drawback to plastic plants (other than looking plastic) is that they don't provide nutrient export like live caulerpa does.

In that small of a tank you need ALL the nutrient (nitrate esp) export you can get, and caulerpa can go a long way to that.



I'd recommend you start slow on this. Set the tank up, get it cycled with a few small chunks of live rock. Toss in a few small hermit crabs and snails for the cleanup crew.

Meanwhile get the hang of keeping the salinity right. The lid design of the Fluval is nice in that it reduces evaporation, but you may still have to watch the salinity. You don't want it varying any more than 1ppt (or 0.002 specific gravity) per day. If so, it won't kill anything but it's stressful if it's habitual and continuous.
EDIT: spend the $50 and get a refractometer for checking salinity. Hydrometers (the swing-arm types) are OK but not the best. Get a refractometer and a bottle of Pinpoint 53mS calibrating fluid, and follow the instructions on how to calibrate it to 35ppt, which is your goal salinity. The Pinpoint solution works GREAT and is fairly cheap since a little goes a very long way for refractometers.


Be sure to have a nitrate test kit, and try not to let nitrates get over 5ppm. Also, be sure you are using purified water of some sort, such as RO/DI water, or distilled water from Wal-Mart. Tap water will contain compounds you do NOT want in the reef.


Finally, and most critically, research those seahorses AS MUCH as you can. They aren't really all that hard if you are dedicated and diligent. But you have to be dedicated and diligent

Be sure to give us a build thread when you pull the trigger!

Any updates? You can check my threads for additional info as well