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

Sea~Horse~Whisperer · 09-18-2006, 05:00 PM

Here I go again. Yet another tank. (to replace the 47G column I can't reach the bottom on, lol)

I'm setting up this tank to house "captive bred H. Erectus". NONE of my current seahorses will go into this tank. I don't know what the seahorses I currently have are carriers of (vibro, glugea, ect.) I haven't had the best of luck with the seahorses I got from the pet store, so I decided to start this tank for the seahorses that I will be getting, all from the same breeder and disease free. All of my other seahorses that I currently have will be going into the 65G that is next to this one. I will not be using the same nets or any utensils between the tanks to ensure that no pathogens are transferred from one tank to another. I'm not even using the same water change buckets. I've had my fill of unhealthy horses from pet stores.

Anyways, here is the pics of the tank and stand. I'm ordering 100% live sand shipped overnight to add to this tank. No seahorses will go into this tank untill well after the cycle completes and all of the macros have grown in. It could be 6 months before that happens. I don't care how long it takes. I'm also cooking some live rock to ensure there are no nasties on it. I won't be seeding the sand with sand from another tank either. Like I said, I'm not taking any chances of transferring anything bad into this tank. I will seed it with critters from inland aquatics and such.

Angie

Whoyah · 09-18-2006, 06:16 PM

Sounds awesome. Good luck. It seems as though you have an soem serious bad mojo on current ponies.

Sea~Horse~Whisperer · 09-18-2006, 08:01 PM

Yup, I have had bad luck. It's because of WHERE I got them from. 12 of the SW tanks there are empty due to a complete crash. I no longer buy livestock there. Not fish, corals, nothing live at all.

Angie

mutts · 09-18-2006, 11:10 PM

good luck i will be following you shortly with my 55!

Sea~Horse~Whisperer · 09-20-2006, 06:09 PM

Good 2 hear Mutts! We can never have too many seahorse keepers. Just a bit of warning.....they are addictive. Buy from a breeder, do not make the mistakes I made. They were very costly mistakes, trust me. The org has a list of breeders. Maybe Reef_Angel will post a list of CB seahorse suppliers.
Good luck!
Angie

Sea~Horse~Whisperer · 09-20-2006, 06:26 PM

I ordered the sand for this tank. It will ship on Monday the 25th. I also ordered the lights. (48" 4-65w Power compact) I will have a sump on this tank for the ASM G3 skimmer and the return pump. I will NOT have any macros in the sump. I also will not be running the skimmer 24/7. I will have a lush forrest of macros intank and I don't want the macros in the sump competing for the nutrients the ones in the tank need. Because I plan to have this tank filled with macros, I think the pods will have sufficient breeding areas where the seahorses can't deplete the populations. I want to try to get down to just 2 seahorse tanks. One will have my current "LFS bought seahorses" in it and this one will have the CB seahorses purchased direct from the breeder. (I also have my 65G soft reef tank.) Then I will start on the breeding and fry rearing room.

I'm working on my list or cleaners. So far it includes ceriths, turbos, astrea, nass, micro hermits, micro stars, and peppermint shrimp.

Angie

dakar · 09-20-2006, 08:18 PM

Angie sounds like your getting it all planned out, sounds like a far better time than the marathon running trying to get things together when you started with your first pair. We tried to learn from your experiences, though still found ourselves scavaging for items over looked.

Amanda's going to join the group of super elite (Not! but it sounds better than group of super insane and broke) seahorse keepers? Excellent!!!

Oddly enough they have proven to be some of the easiest animals for us to keep.

Sea~Horse~Whisperer · 09-20-2006, 08:20 PM

Here's a rough sketch of the plans for this tank. Gotta love paint, lol.

Sea~Horse~Whisperer · 09-20-2006, 08:26 PM

I received my "dragon's Tongue" macro today for this tank. I hope it grows quick since it is beautiful and bright red.

My biggest problem right now where to put yet another fish tank, lol. I have no idea. I'm sure I will end up rearrangeing the entire lower floor to make room for it. I better figure it out quick since the sand will be here Tuesday. I don't want to move the tank after that.

Angie