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Starting a 29 macro/seahorse tank have questions!


twintrades

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I have a 29 with black tahitain sand , prizim skimmer, and a reef breeders led fixture. Temp is 75 deg. Have some soft corals. Will have 1 pair of erectus and mabey a pair of pipe fish. NO sump.

 

Im wondering what would be a good CUC for it? Id rather not have to try and clean the sand by hand. If im going to have macros planted in it. LOL

 

Would a conch work in there? Or a sand sifting star? (i dont want to starve anything or kill off my macros with a bad invert)

 

I hope some one will see this and answer me..... Im new on here.

 

And wheres a good area to get some macros from. I'm not adding till the horses are in creating waist to feed the macros. 3 more days !!!

 

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Also what are some types of macro to stay away from. (Asexual) or that are more invasive.

 

Most all fast growing Caulerpa will go asexual if you deprive them of nutrients. In a seahorse tank ,that is not likely to happen. They are messy eaters. I like Caulerupa Paspaloides. It is a feather that resembles an arrow with three blades. The stems would make good hitching post for your ponies.

Patrick

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Gulf Coast Ecosystems is one of the best places to get macro algae; they have the broadest variety of macro algae I have seen, and it is very reasonably priced. LA Reefs also has a broad selection of macro algae, and some of them are ones which Gulf Coast Ecosystems does not offer, but the caveat is that it is more expensive; the money which will buy 12 oz of an algae from GCE will only net you a frag of an algae from LA Reefs. For info on husbandry etc of a variety of species and genus, take a look at marineplantbook.com.

 

As for specific algae recommendations, I would consider Caulerpa Ashmeadii. It is a tall, "feather" algae which grows slowly, and I think that a patch of it would compliment the height of your tank quite nicely. Also, check out ORA's Blue Hypnea. I have heard that Codium Sp. are a good macro for a seahorse tank, too. Botryocladia Sp are faster growers that the ones I have mentioned above, but still easily manageable, and would make a valuable addition. Dragon's Breath Algae is another lovely red algae that you should consider. With respect to seahorses, I would say that the majority of your algae and corals should be relatively tall; taller species, generally speaking, are easier for seahorses to hitch on than ones which form short, dense mats (such as Blue Hypnea, or Blue Ochtodes).

 

On the subject of a CUC, small starfish (Asterina) are a good choice. Lots of snails will be very helpful, too. Hermit crabs are nice, but I would not get very many in a tank like this.

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I also have a 29 gal seahorse tank. I've got a small conch, several hermits, several algae eating snails and a bunch of nassarius snails.

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Will a conch eat macros ?

 

And im planning on nass snails and some cerths. I have one pep shrimp in there now i thought i got rid of it lol.

 

Im just afraid that the sand will get to much crud in it and not stay "clean" the conch seems like a good "plow" to move sand with the nass snails.

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I think for the conch it really depends on whether or not you plan to grow macros which anchor to the sandbed. (Caulerpa Prolifera, for example.) If so, I would stick with the snails, because a conch, at least once it grew larger, would probably cause a lot of damage to the algae as it moved around on the sand by "standing" on top of them. If not, go for it, although I am not sure if conches actually do any sand plowing. If that is your intent, I think a healthy population of worms in the sand would be a better idea. TBH, I think 29g is pretty small for a conch- just think of the big conch shells you can buy at stores! It seems to me that 29g would be very cramped for a creature that can reach that size. Just my 2 cents.

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