Need some marine plants for a tall Seahorse tank

[flypenfly]

Temps will be at ~74-75F.

 

Flow will be indirect and pretty light. I plan to just aim 2 nano powerheads hidden in rockwork to be flowing directly at the walls.

 

Lighting can be high as it will be an AI Nano. I was looking at Kelp on rock, grape. Essentially it needs to be somewhat tall, something the seahorses can wrap their tails around.

 

If you can recommend some sources to buy plants online, that would be appreciated.

 

The other inhabitants in the tank will be 2 baby Picassos and a mandarin.

[flypenfly]

Thabks for your concern but I did a lot more reading and talked to people who keep them. The dwarfs can't handle any current but indirect current is okay with with hkuda, hcomes, and a few others. In fact it would be unnatrual for a tank to be current free. Worst comes to worst removing power heads isn't a big deal.

 

The important part is making sure the intakes are not reachable.

 

Where you find them in the wild, there are in fact some strong currents.

[dtitus1]

http://marineplantbook.com/marinebookpaspaloides.htm

[Julian_blnc]

Are you joking? Have you read anything about seahorses?

 

"Seahorses like a fairly turbulence free tank"

 

"There are very few tank mates that are suitable for a seahorse tank."

 

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/12/fish2

That's a blind statement

You don't know which species of sea horse he planning on keeping

 

All of the sea horses that we have in the tank at work have a fairly high flow, not sps high, but a decent turnover

 

Personally I think some gorgonians would look good in a seahorse tank and make a good hitching post

[William]

Are you joking? Have you read anything about seahorses?

 

"Seahorses like a fairly turbulence free tank"

 

"There are very few tank mates that are suitable for a seahorse tank."

 

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/12/fish2

 

there is waterflow in the areas of the ocean they are found, they do not like highly concentrated flow. And seahorses can be kept with a wide variety of tank mates, assuming they are docile and will not compete for food. Cardinalfish, pipefish, and some small species of wrasse (possum wrasse) among a few. Another interesting tank mate is a Wartskin anglerfish, assuming the seahorses are one of the larger species.

[fretfreak13]

From my experience, Caulerpa Prolifera is the best seahorse hitch.

 

I've heard of some people buying from http://live-plants.com/'>here. Lots of options.

[yoshii]

I would recommend Red Grape "Kelp" (Botryocladia sp.), various species of Caulerpa, some species of Gracilaria (the thicker branched ones) and dead gorg "skeletons" make great hitching posts. Some other species of macro like Codium make work too, depending on your species of seahorse.

For buying macros, I like live-plants.com, reefcleaners.org (when macros are in season), and reefs2go.com. Also, I think keydiver is a sponsor now, his site is coralpros.net

And check out the classifieds for other users selling macros

 

 

All of the sea horses that we have in the tank at work have a fairly high flow, not sps high, but a decent turnover

Personally I think some gorgonians would look good in a seahorse tank and make a good hitching post

 

 

+1, they need flow, especially to help keep the tank clean

Edit: Oh I forgot about the lower temps, make sure whatever macros you get are ok with it, some species really don't like it

[TeflonTomDosh]

Thabks for your concern but I did a lot more reading and talked to people who keep them. The dwarfs can't handle any current but indirect current is okay with with hkuda, hcomes, and a few others. In fact it would be unnatrual for a tank to be current free. Worst comes to worst removing power heads isn't a big deal.

 

The important part is making sure the intakes are not reachable.

 

Where you find them in the wild, there are in fact some strong currents.

I think he/she was more referring to the placement of other animals in the tank with the seahorses, notably the clowns. Seahorses are VERY slow moving so they often times can't compete for the food that comes into the tank, therefore starving and becoming souvenirs.

[flypenfly]

I think it depends if the clownfish will be a problem in competing for food. I've found that ocellaris really can't eat that much per session at least for the primary food that captive bred seahorses eat especially when the food will be served in a feeding tray and not at the top of the tank.

 

My couple of pairs of occellaris clowns (in diff tanks) can eat seemingly ten-twelve pellets but about maybe 2 or 3 small pieces of mysis.

 

 

there is waterflow in the areas of the ocean they are found, they do not like highly concentrated flow. And seahorses can be kept with a wide variety of tank mates, assuming they are docile and will not compete for food. Cardinalfish, pipefish, and some small species of wrasse (possum wrasse) among a few. Another interesting tank mate is a Wartskin anglerfish, assuming the seahorses are one of the larger species.

 

 

 

I've thought about wartfish it but I'm not sure I want to risk it. Apparently even the smaller anglers can gobble up fish more than twice their size? One day, I'd love to keep an angler but I think I might start with a species only tank for that until I can see just how big of a morsel they can consume.

[yoshii]

Clownfish are usually pretty fast when it comes to getting to the food first. Clownfish in with the seahorses will make it much harder to feed. If you do it, you'll probably end up overfeeding the tank just so the seahorses can get food, obviously resulting in degrading your water quality and being a pain overall.

[William]

I kept one with my kudas for about two years before moving him. i bought him when he was about .75" and took him out of the tank when he was 3.5" the sea horses were 5+" so there was very really an issue.

What size tank is this in BTW?

[flypenfly]

Mandarins are hard to keep because they eat tons of pods and are slow eaters. Seahorses are hard to keep because they eat tons of pods and are slow eaters. Putting both of those things together isn't going to work in a small tank where the pod population can't keep up, and where it will be impossible to feed the slower eaters because you have clownfish that will gobble up every morsel of frozen food.

 

Sorry, but this was researched as well as your plan to put a McCorskers Wrasse in a 10 gallon.

 

I don't believe I ever indicated I would put a McCorkser's Wrasse in a 10 gallon.

 

My mandarin actually eats quite well in his diner and is even eating pellets now.

 

Captive bred seahorses eat mysis and cyclops.

 

The occellaris clownfish I keep do not venture far from the very top of the tank during feeding. If it actually becomes a problem I have another tank I can move them to.

 

Sorry you're wrong about everything.

 

 

I kept one with my kudas for about two years before moving him. i bought him when he was about .75" and took him out of the tank when he was 3.5" the sea horses were 5+" so there was very really an issue.

 

What size tank is this in BTW?

 

 

 

A 30 gallon tall with a 10 gallon sump is what I ended up ordering.

[flypenfly]

Ah. OK. You know everything already. Looking forward to reading your "is my mandarin is skinny" and "my seahorses keep dying" posts in the near future.

 

No problem, the problem I had actually got answered in this thread despite the snark. I'm glad the guy who lost 3 fish to jumping before he even thought about putting a top on his aquarium can be so snotty about his replies.

 

Coralpros.net seems to have just what I need. Thanks yoshii.

[Jamiewardme]

This is a terrible stocking plan. Absolutely terrible.

[keydiver]

Thanks for the shout out Yoshi.

 

What type of seahorses are you planning on keeping? I've never housed any, so I can't really offer you much advice there, but I do have a lot of macros available when you're ready. From what I've read the clowns might be a bit aggressive, but if you're set on the idea you can always just watch them closely and if you notice water quality going downhill due to overfeeding, it sounds like you've got other tanks you can move them over to.

 

Shoot me a PM when you're getting ready to stock macros, I can definitely offer advice in that respect.

 

-Tim

[Subsea]

http://marineplantbook.com/marinebookpaspaloides.htm]http://marineplantbook.com/marinebookpaspaloides.htm[/url]

This fast growing Caulerpa would work well if you want green instead of red. Under intense light, it will develop a third lacy frond on the main stem. In all the macros that I use, it is the most favorite for eating: tangs and drawf angels will leap tall buildings to eat it.

Patrick

 

PS. unless you want roots in your substrate, your thread title is misleading. The macros and the micro algae would technically be seaweed as opposed to marine plants. A savy competitor in Austin, for red ogo as a food source, used sea veggies as a good substitute word for seaweed.