look at this thread

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

I have been following this thread http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...17#post7877417

on Reef central and I read on Paage 7 that they are planning a 200 G sea horse tank. I believe it will be in a restraunt. What do you all think? I can't imagine keeping the sea horses healthy and well fed in a system that large. What happens if they get ill? How the Heck are they going to feed them in a system that large? In a tank that size, and in a restraunt...who is going to feed them 3 times a day and siphon out the uneaten foods? Check daily for illness, and ensure ALL are eating. Not to mention medicating if they get ill. Grrrrr I just don't see it boading well for the sea horses.
Unless they are all Males or all Females, the fry will just die and pollute the tank.

Has anyone ever done a sea horse tank this large before?

[graphixx]

I agree, you would have to hire 2 or 3 people full time to just care for the tank!!!

[mummra]

i wonder if there would be a sustainable amphipod,copepod and other mini critters in a such a large tank to supplement the sea horses diet. i do not have a lot of experience with sea horses but it would seem that a tank that size could almost keep the sea horses well fed naturally.

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

I thought of that (amphipods, etc.) but they would have to seed the tank first and the sheer numbers the sea horses could consume would be staggering. I feed live feeder shrimp to my sea horses and they will eat more than they can digest. I have seen them poop out full shrimp ! They have no stomach so it doesn't take long for it to come out the other end. They will eat as long as food is available. Sea pigs is a better name for them.

[graphixx]

it sounds like they will supplement with prepared foods along with the live food. this is a very interesting thread. I bookmarked it . will be interesting to see how the little guys fair in such a large tank. sure would be neat to see!

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

I'm also concerned about the number of sea horses they may put in the tank. The tanks are for display in a restraunt. In order for the tank to be appealing they will need a large number of sea horses in a tank that size. People want to "see" the sea horses when they look at it. They don't want to have to search for them. That usually leads to overstocking. As we all know, If a saltwater tank "looks full" it is overstocked. Not a good thing in any saltwater tank.

[mutts]

good attention getter for their resturant if they can keep it maintained though

[JustDavidP]

It's all a numbers game. I've seen 75G+ seahorse systems that are stocked properly and allow for a healthy system. I'd certainly NOT put just a few pair in a tank that large.

Typically, once the ponies settle in, they find their own "territory" to hunt. They will most likely disburse and inhabit most of the tank.

My concern would be in keeping it clean. You 'd need a lot of flow to keep a largish tank clean. Too much flow can stress the ponies.

Dave

[dakar]

I dunno, I think if I gave Angel the green light she'd set the 180g back up to keep her ponies (only a lot more than half a dozen). But that could quickly turn into a big job to maintain. Though any fry that came about might have a chance to survive on their own in that big of a system.

[Reef_Angel]

I read through the thread and even followed it back quite a ways. I can honestly say, I didn't see them saying to much about their experience with Seahorses at all! If they decide to do this, I see a big disaster waiting to happen. Sure, you can stock with pods all you want, but they don't even mention if they know what type of pods would be needed from the small fry stage on up. This sounds like someone with a big dream, and a lack of practical experience. I hate it when I see people encourage this kind of thing to take place. It's the seahorses from his undisclosed source that will just start dropping like flys. They won't notice due to the large amt of ponies in the tank to start. They will finally realize when the clean up crew that also wasn't mentions can't handle the waste load. Eventually, they will lose the whole tank and blame it on the seller of the ponies. I would not sell my ponies to an irresponsible buyer making a huge decision like that. I owe more to my ponies than that. It would take a lot of work and constant care by an expert to maintain the water quality and their food. This plan is a real hard sell to me, and it worries me that he's being ooohed & ahhhhed over for doing this. I wish him luck.

I wonder if this individual has even raised a few seahorses. He's also got a lot of big ideas about the other tanks as well. This sounds to me like someone that thinks you can put anything in the water and it will work itself out and be like an ocean environment, as long as you have big equipment. Have you ever seen fish tanks in resturants? Some are beautiful, but they have a specialist coming in all the time doing the proper care needed. I've seen others where the tanks looked so slimy that I could hardly make out the fish, and after talking to the owner about it, I find out that they think they are doing everything right. Scary thought! This is a case of to many dream tanks! This is not something I would do, but to each his own I guess! ....Angel