natalia_la_loca Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 I've been posting for a while about my little zoa/paly garden, but I have another tank too. This was my first reef tank, and I made lots of mistakes, some of which I'm still dealing with today. But most of my tank inhabitants seem happy, with a few big exceptions discussed below. So here I talk about how it’s set up, how I’ve messed up, and the lessons I’ve learned and am learning. I actually haven't had seahorses for most of the time I've had this tank. My first attempt with seahorses ended in disaster in 2010, and I stayed away from seahorses until last spring, when I finally finished my master's degree and started making gradual improvements to the tank. It's a work in progress. The scape leaning against the back wall is definitely not the best design (dead spots), but I do like how the tank has a foreground, middle ground, background. There are lots of caves that the seahorses and other fish use. TANK 37 gallon column, recommended by LFS for seahorses (Jan. 2009) STAND Factory built stand designed to fit 37 column noob mistake: not big enough to hold a sump! FLOW Koralia 1 & 2 (the old ones) The old Koralias are ugly, clunky and hard to maneuver, especially in a column tank. The one advantage: They have a flow-director attachment that makes them very safe for most seahorses. SKIMMER AquaC Remora; Reef Octopus BH2000 (Jul. 2013) FILTRATION Eheim ECCO canister filter cleaned weekly with: floss (replaced weekly) BRS small particle lignite carbon (monthly) Polyfilter (replaced when it turns brown) Purigen (recharged when it turns brown) Oxydator Found oxydator unnecessary now that I'm dosing carbon. Mangroves (the seahorses like the roots) CHILLER JBJ Arctica 1/10 HP (May 2010) LIGHT power compacts Skyye Lights Reef Radiance Lumentek 120 (Aug. 2013) SCAPE Cured LR from LFS LIVESTOCK -1 male mandarin (May 2009-May 2014...RIP ) -1 hector’s goby (Dec 2012) -Two female h. erectus seahorses (April 2013) -Inverts and CUC: featherduster worm, blue leg hermits, turbo snails, nassarius snails LPS: -Caulastrea/neon trumpet (early 2012 I think) -6 acan lordhowensis (late 2013/early 2014) -1 sun coral (Dec. 2012) SPS: -1 orange/pink monti cap (Dec. 2012) -1 birdsnest (Jun. 2013) Softies: -GSP (Aug. 2010) -Kenya tree (Aug. 2010) -Blue shrooms (forget when) -1 paly (Jan. 2013) -Various hitchhiker button polyps Gorgs: -1 purple bottlebrush (muricea sp.) (Dec. 2012) -1 eunicea spp. (2013) -2 purple candelabra (2013) Inverts, CUC: -2 hermits -3-4 nassarius snails -5 turbo snails -1 feather duster worm (Dec. 2012) FEEDING -Seahorses: Hikari mysis 2-3x daily -Hector's goby: Leftovers and detritus -Coral: Coral Frenzy, Rod's Food, Aquavitro Fuel, Phyto Feast 2-3x weekly DOSING/TOPOFF -Manual topoff with RODI -Manual cal/alk 1 tsp each daily -5 ml vodka Zeobak, Zeostart3 and Biomate -1/8 tsp Sanolife MIC-F (probiotic recommended for seahorses) Right now, my biggest problems with this tank are detritus (I'm way overdue on replacing the sandbed), a sick gorg, and a birdsnest that is growing well but has been brown since a heat spike last summer (the pump feeding the chiller died). Then in February I accidentally OD'd the tank on vinegar after cleaning the inside of my chiller, and the birdsnest bleached a little. I used to have terrible algae problems, but I've gotten that under control with carbon dosing, H202, turbo snails and especially a better skimmer. And last but not least...POSSIBLE UPGRADES $: Soft reset (just replace sand & water and rescape) $$: New pumps (Jebao maybe? Vortechs would shred seahorse tails) $$$: DSLR camera so I can take photos that don't suck $$$$: Brand new tank, sump and stand More pics... Justa and Rufina gettin it on--they do the mating dance once or twice a month Murat the mandy in summer 2009, not long after I got him... Justa inspects the new acans Browned out birdsnest...help!!! The birdsnest is starting to recover thanks to Zeovit LPS love my tank...this is what my trumpets looked like in Dec 2012. It was a four polyp frag when I bought it Hector has fattened up a lot since this pic My new acan garden a week or so after I glued it down This FTS shows how I feed the fish. The seahorses have a mag-float feeding station that I remove after each feeding, and the mandy had a feeding tube. Good for not sticking hands in tank all the time. now if you don't mind, we'd like some time to ourselves...hasta mañana Link to comment
natalia_la_loca Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 BTW, all the coralline on the side and back walls was intentional. I thought it would be cool. maybe I should dust off that razor blade... Link to comment
Angel<3Nanos Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Your seahorses I've been told that seahorses need a tall tank. Maybe that wasn't a noob mistake after all! The stand was tho lol Link to comment
natalia_la_loca Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Yeah, there's debate on that. The seahorses do use every inch of the tank, and it's really neat to see them dance up the water column.. I'd just rather it were a few inches shorter so I could reach in there. It would also make it easier to get a good circulation with the powerheads. Link to comment
natalia_la_loca Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Maybe that wasn't a noob mistake after all! The stand was tho lol Yeah yeah yeah i know... Link to comment
Angel<3Nanos Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 I still like your tank. Love those neon trumpets Link to comment
natalia_la_loca Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 I still like your tank. Love those neon trumpets Aaaw thanks Link to comment
TigerLily Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 That's all? This thread needs updates! Beautiful! Link to comment
natalia_la_loca Posted August 4, 2014 Author Share Posted August 4, 2014 That's all? This thread needs updates! Beautiful! hehe...funny you should mention that, i just logged in My babies are doing great. Still boinking like little gay bunny rabbits every two weeks. I don't have any super recent pics of Justa and Rufina, but here's one from a few months ago that I never posted before. CANNONBALL!!! Here's a couple of current seahorse tank pics that I posted yesterday in my Nuvo 8 thread--thank you Zeovit: This is kind of a neat thing. This was a DOA gorg from Aquascapers/Coral Morphologic. The whole thing was rotting to pieces when it arrived last summer, but there were three itty-bitty polyps still alive on the tips of two branches. This is what it it looks like today. Link to comment
Curry02 Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Awesome Tank!! I miss my seahorse =( Link to comment
natalia_la_loca Posted August 4, 2014 Author Share Posted August 4, 2014 thank you...i love my little horsies Link to comment
Justind823 Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Hi there! Any updates on this tank? I'd say it's one of the best nanos (and probably one of the oldest) on NR. I NEED more pictures! Link to comment
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