Chamkeeper Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 Does anyone have a seahorse nano? I am thinking of starting one for dwarfs. From what I read a sponge/air filter is the best, lighting is needed to grow some plants, and a sand bed can be an aid in filteration. Live Rock is a bad idea so what is the best plan to cycle the tank? Seed with live sand? Damsels? Any advice on this idea? Link to comment
jdsabin1 Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 I currently have a 5.5 gallon Dwarf nano. Check out seahorse.org for info/help. Link to comment
BlackSumbel Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 Seahorse.org personally, I'm about to set up a 5.5 for Dwarves. I -strongly- suggest a compact type of air-driven sponge filter. NO diffuser or air stone though. This is -mega- important to keep them from snicking or sucking the bubbles into their pouches. I also suggest getting some kind of rubble rock (KILL the rock first) to burry a bottom-sitting sponge filter, or like... Lava Rock (boil tha hell out of it). I only say this out of asthetic value, mind you. Alot of people also use HOBs with sponge over the intake. These work probably just as well. The only thing is to make sure you aren't blasting the little ponies about with the outflow. Using a HOB means less in the tank, and less obstacles to look around to see the little buggers. HOBs also mean you can (sometimes) stuff the heater in there to keep it out of the tank, thus out of the way and also keeping the horsies from hitching on it (and they do, which someimes results in a burned tail). I suggest just going with like a 1 1/2" sand bed (black is good for seeing the pale horses against, but isn't LAW or anything lol), some caulerpa, coral skeletons (gorgs mostly). Some little bits of rubble rock, some shells... you know, junk like that. As far as other stuff you can put in there, you have to stick to things like smooth mushrooms, xenias, gorgonians. Only the most minute of hermits (we're talking 1/4th inch), snails (herbivores only). Red Shrimp (Hawaiian/Volcanic Red Shrimp), peppermints have been known to harass fry, so beware. Uhh... small clams (not Maximas nor their less expensive counterparts), scallops, fan worms, featherdusters. Companion fish should be kept to Firefish, Clown Gobies, and Neon Gobies. Though, IMO, Neons are too fast (and may steal food). Just... well, I'm going to experiment with putting other critters in there, and see just what ceases to be safe, but... definately, checkout seahorse.org, lots of info and really wonderful people. I should know, i'm one of them -Sumbel. Link to comment
Xwhite Posted June 15, 2003 Share Posted June 15, 2003 Just out of curiosity. Why is live rock a bad thing? I've never investigated keeping sea horses. John Link to comment
BlackSumbel Posted June 15, 2003 Share Posted June 15, 2003 Originally posted by Xwhite Just out of curiosity. Why is live rock a bad thing? I've never investigated keeping sea horses. John Live rock has hitchikers. Some are okay, but some are bad. Certain starfish, crabs, anemones, hydroids, shrimp, other predatory animals. They can all do harm to, or kill, seahorses. In the wild they have a chance to flee, in captivity , they don't. -Sumbel. Link to comment
Chamkeeper Posted June 16, 2003 Author Share Posted June 16, 2003 How do I go about cycling the ~5 gallon tank? I can't use live rock, and stuffing a damsel in there is cruel. What are the options to properly get the tank balanced for what should be very small bioload? I would think one small fish would be a much larger bioload than a small herd of horses. Link to comment
microreefer Posted June 16, 2003 Share Posted June 16, 2003 For starters, I haven't kept seahorses. I would think, however, that whoever said to seed LS was on the right track. I would fill the tank with water from an established system (good bacteria) and spread a layer of LS from the same up-and-running healthy system. I've had good luck with Marine T.L.C. (bacteria in a bottle) for speeding up cycles and getting a balance back in my tank should something horrible happen (oh, never. Bad things never happen in nano reefs........DIE EBO JAGER DIE DIE DIE Link to comment
BlackSumbel Posted June 16, 2003 Share Posted June 16, 2003 I would think, however, that whoever said to seed LS was on the right track. That's what I did. A nifty idea might be to get the sand from someone who is successfully keeping well-established seahorse tanks. Seed your own with that. Personally, I seeded with comercially availible LS, and I'm going to have to pick through it when I transfer sand to the seahorse tanks. I've got some wicked strange snails and a couple of nudi's popping up, so... better safe than sorry. -Sumbel. Link to comment
Chamkeeper Posted July 1, 2003 Author Share Posted July 1, 2003 I have two other nanos, (one is a 30G) tha I could get god LS from. I seeded the 7g MB from the thirty and used a small piece of liverock, it cycled in 3 weeks. I am thinking the LS seed will take a couple of months, but how do I feed the LS to promote the cycle? Link to comment
cjm033 Posted July 11, 2003 Share Posted July 11, 2003 i hearits not good to keep ne corals with horses wit the probibility of the horses getting stung ive heard of someones horse being stung by a gorg and killed not sure how true that is tho. just a thought for the rock do you think dry base rocwol do for the fact it owult have hitchikers and would ventually become live? justt a thought,Chris Link to comment
Kalanianaole Posted July 14, 2003 Share Posted July 14, 2003 Does anyone have pics of a dwarf seahorse nano? I've wanted to see a setup for a while now and can't find any pics on seahorse.org. Link to comment
T?@7 Posted July 15, 2003 Share Posted July 15, 2003 J- Do a search on RC, something like "pics of the babies", its a thread by a lady who just succesfully bred seahorses in captivity, some cool pics. Or I can find a link if ya want. Link to comment
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