New 75G....H. Erectus seahorse tank

[seahorsedreams]

What are the down sides of only having a 2" sandbed? What problems will it cause?

You should never consider a 2" sand bed because that would give you an "intermediate" sand bed. You should shoot for either a shallow sand bed or a deep sand bed. A shallow is less than 1" and a deep is greater than 3". You want to avoid the intermediate sand bed which is between 1" and 3". If you were going for the deep make sure you go a little deeper than 3" so you won't slip into the intermediate stage over time as your sand dissolves. If you are using aragonite I would recommend using between 5 - 6" because it dissolves quite easily in the scheme of things.

Deep sand beds functionally help remove nitrates from your system through denitrification. If you have between 1-3" it will be too shallow to serve this purpose and it too deep to be fully aerobic which can cause an oxygen debt. Basically a deep sand bed can export nitrates when utilized properly where the intermediate depth does nothing but trap nutrients and results in raised nitrates. The <1" neither traps nor denitrifies.

I would always go with a shallow sand bed in a seahorse tank unless you have an extra tall tank.

[JustDavidP]

Your lighting plan is more than adequate to keep macro algae. I have just 2X55W over my 26 Bow and harvest algae at least once a week. I also have Xenia, mushrooms, zoas and other button type polyps in there. For what it's worth, I have caulerpas growing under simple CF lightbulbs I bought at Home Depot.



The pink sand is a nice idea.. yeah it is expensive. It's hard to find because, well.. there just aren't a lot of pink sand beaches..or at least as many as the white sand beaches. Pink sand is pretty interesting. Unless it is "treated" to make it pink, it's a result of the calcium/shells of dead Forams. You may even have some of these neat lil' creatures in your tank. They are quite common on Tonga Branch. Here's some more info on Foraminifera: [ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foraminifera[/ame]

I use a Mag7 as a return from a 5 gallon DIY acrylic sump on my 26 Bow. It's not too much flow at all. I point the returns in a way that they chop the water surface and stir the oils and such towards the overflow. I'm just about ready to tie "Sumpzilla" back into my system and to push the water back from the basement to the display upstairs, I bought a Mag18

Dave

[Whoyah]

Saw this article and thought of your tank. I hope it helps.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-04/sl/index.php

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

Thanks for the link, It was a great read! I guess my next step will be researching C02 injection. Thank goodness I've already added the mud.

I added my raw shrimp to the tank today. Let the cycle begin

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

The 75G is almost cycled now. Ammonia 0 Ph 8.3 Nitrites 0 Nitrates 10 There is still a small pile of "goo" from the decomposing piece of shrimp. Yuck. I don't dare pull it out (stinky!!!)

I have copepods and amphipods in the tank!! I hope to have the macros planted in there by next week. I will only be adding 1 or 2 kinds of macro to the tank at a time. I want to give them time to adjust so they don't go sexual. It seems everytime I add larger amounts all at once, it all dies off. The first two will be the red dragons tongue and the prolifera. Next will be the red and yellow graceleria (spelled that wrong I'm sure). Then I will add the green and red feather. Last will be the blues / purples. If there is any room left after that I will add some of the razor caulerpa and red kelp.
In about 6 months or so I will add the seagrasses. I will have to wait and see how it goes till then.

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

Here are some updated pics of the 75G. There are a few strands of macros that were attached to the rocks when I put them in there.

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

Dugh!! forgot the pics.