75g Seahorse tank

[Mikee]

Hi everyone, this is not the first time ive had a seahorse setup but its been about 3+ years since the last time we had seahorses so i need some help please . I am setting this tank up in the living room for my parents and for me as well because... i missed them!

This tank will have no sump since the tank is not drilled and cannot be drilled so i will have a HOB skimmer and using prob a majijet or tunze 6025/6045 for some flow. As for lighting i will be using T5's and prob going with the sunlight supply fixture 4x54w. I will be keeping mushrooms in this tank and zoas along with a few other safe corals and lots of macro algae.

My questions are;

Flow? how many GPH? and what do most use for circulation?
Lighting? Which bulbs? (first time using T5')
HOB skimmer? Which is best HOB nowadays?
Sand bed? Which sand? SSB? DSB?
LR? what type of LR? I like the look of that branchy LR (not sure what you call it)

As for seahorse they will be captive bred but not sure which i want to go with Erectus? or ???

Thanks

[Simon]

Hi Mikee,
Sounds like a plan :)

With regards to flow its generally recommended to have around 3 - 5 x tank volume turnover an hour, multiple small low volume powerheads fitted with defusers are widely used, its better to use a few small units rather than one or two bigger ones as this will disperse the flow over a greater area and help reduce any powerfull jets or suction problems that can arise from using the larger types.
As for the T5's, With the unit your using and suggested stocking I'd go with a broad spectrum mix of 1x Daylight 6500k 1x Marine-White 14000k and 2x Actinic 420 tubes.

Can only give my opinion on the MCE600 skimmer (this is what i've used myself as a HOB) Imo there a good allround performer, very easy to mount onto just about any tank, easy to setup and the optional media box is very usefull, however can be quite noisey even after fitting of the dampening kit.

I tend to use a finer grade sand in my seahorse tanks, this mainly to reduce the risk of the horses getting larger particles lodged in their snouts whilst snicking food from the substrate,
I haven't used a DSB within a tank myself, instead always prefuring to use about 1 inch (25mm) SSB / DSB is really a matter of personal choice Imo.

Tonga Branch is ideal for use in seahorse tanks, provides lots of hitching posts and hiding places aswell as an excellent host for denitrifying bacteria,
many keepers use both normal LR and Tonga branch together to aquascape their tanks.

HTH

Keep us posted on the progress :)

Si