Florida Seahorse/Seagrass Biotope

[Supernaturalist]

Well, when the fall semester rolls around again I'll be moving off campus into a new apartment so I'll finally be able to keep something bigger than a ten gallon tank. The tank I'm imagining will primarily be a seahorse tank for H. Erectus. I'm thinking of something along the lines of a 30 long with hang on refugium, plenty of macros, a handful of seagrasses and small gorgonians. What kind of lighting and filtration would you suggest? What other kinds of fish or coral species would fit this biotope, with regards to the fragility of the seahorses?

[clownfish1124]

No 30 long, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too short. try a 20h. im no seahorse pro but then you can get 1 pair. Go to seahorse.com or seahorse.org for help with your new seahorses and good luck!

[dtfleming]

Yea look for a taller tank for seahorse like 30H or 40H.

[Mr. Fosi]

What fertilizer will you use in the substrate for the seagrasses?

[shawnjmccrea]

Most or all gorgonians are impossible to keep over a few months. They will slowly starve to death so you may want to rethink the gorgonian part of the setup.

[jeremai]

Don't listen to him ^ he's misinformed.

[johnmaloney]

Seagrasses if you can get them, (their collection is illegal for aquarium purposes, but people seem to sell them anyway), need extremely bright lighting. There is a good thread on them somewhere around here, I will try to find it for you, but it says basically 5 watts plus at least. 8-10 is ideal. Good luck.

[yardboy]

I'm glad my gorgonians can't read this thread. I've had some for over three years and they grow quite well, and I've never spot fed them.

[zhubbell]

I agree on the gorgonian front: not hard - especially with the feeding regiment that a seahorse tank requires, and while perhaps a small, simplified seahorse tank with just HOB filtration and or fuges are incorporated may be possible - I would never try it.

I would just skip setting that up and then 2 months later wanting to pay for a setup with a full refuge, just go with the ideal right away.

Ive built a few different seahorse enclosures during the past year or two, and could give you some good advice...

pm me - I actually have a few used tanks right now even that would be perfect for AIO erectus setups....

let me know....

[SPS20]

For seagrasses, you will want to light this like a reef, I.e., lots of flourescent or a MH light. You won't need high-K bulbs, however, 10k or lower will do fine.

 

As for the comment about gorgonians, that is just dumb. Many of the photosynthetic varieties are extremely hardy, and even the heterotrophic ones aren't too bad if you go the extra mile to feed them and keep the water clean. Since you will be keeping seahorses with them, there will be plenty of food available for the gorgonians. The only caution I would offer would be to keep in mind that seahorses tend to like calmer water, while most gorgonians like a stronger water flow. Keep this in mind when designing the tank.