View Full Version : seahorse tank aquascapes
Marc Foord
17-11-08, 22:00
just set up a d&d 24 with a view to keeping a few small seahorses, some small gobies and perhaps a couple of pipefish :)
no rock as yet - and needing some inspiration on how people have their rockwork and also other seahorse related scaping e.g. hitching posts etc.
pics would be very welcome :)
thanks in advance.
marc
Peculiar_Clown
17-11-08, 22:08
Here's my red sea max Marc.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l167/Peculiar_Clown/Max/Picture065a.jpg
4 horses, 2 pipefish, 1 yasha and pistol, 2 neon gobies, 2 jawfish.
HTH
Marc Foord
17-11-08, 22:13
in a word....nice :D
what's the tall green stuff on the right - artificial or ?
cheers
marc
Ooh - pair of jawfish! Nice! :)
John
The pic doesn't really do the tank justice but it gives you an idea. Plenty of large gaps in the rocks so the seahorses don't get stuck and can forage around.
http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp336/2yellowseahorses/DSC00688.jpg
Er, lots of seahorses, 1 Alligator Pipefish, 1 Snake Pipefish, 1 Blue-Stripe Pipefish, 1 Pearly Jawfish, 2 Yellow Coral Gobies, 1 Feather Duster, 2 Cleaner Shrimps and some Red-Legged Hermits and snails. Oh and I nearly forgot the Electric Flame Scallop that I can only see if I peer down the side of the tank.
Here's two of mine
The Kuda tank
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff178/flagfin/Rioaugust2008.jpg
The Comes tank
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff178/flagfin/Vision260.jpg
Just bare in mind that in the wild seahorses are not usually found clinging onto reef walls/faces. AFAIK they frequent algae beds etc more (she says having far too much rock in the tanks).
Peculiar_Clown
18-11-08, 11:51
in a word....nice :D
what's the tall green stuff on the right - artificial or ?
cheers
marc
Yep afraid so Marc, it's artificial, I understand TMC get seagrasses in, so I'm going to investigate this with my LFS However, I found these and liked the look of them. And they don't look too bad in the tank either, not immediately identifiable as falsies, unlike some of the women I've known.
marc I have a very original idea if you are interested and its not been done before
it involves the use of mangrove roots as the sole filtration method and natural algae and just a little live rock as well as bacteria such as ultralith/zeovit
it would require a bit more work to get the system working but it would certainly be different.
i wanted to do it myself but don't think I'll have time.
mariusz621
18-11-08, 12:26
marc I have a very original idea if you are interested and its not been done before
it involves the use of mangrove roots as the sole filtration method and natural algae and just a little live rock as well as bacteria such as ultralith/zeovit
it would require a bit more work to get the system working but it would certainly be different.
i wanted to do it myself but don't think I'll have time.
I like this idea a lot...
newreefman
18-11-08, 12:57
theres some great inspiration in those tanks. :applause: il be watching this one marc :cool:
Marc Foord
18-11-08, 13:44
thanks all !
andy - tbh i've little or no faith in magroves in terms of actually doing much in the way of filtration, hence buying the nano skimmer to go in the back of the d&d 24......don't really want to go zeo/fm - only went for fm on the 5 footer to try to bottom out the nitrate problem once and for all (desperation more than anything else lol) - think this will be little skimmer and rock, plus 'live sand' starting it off (oh and chaeto/calerpa from the main tank to get a bit of life injection too)
the most immediate issue is a local source of decent/suitable rock hence the post in the wlrc section - don't have time to get to stm weekends, and ideally don't want to wait 2 weeks for the stm meet to get the rock........ looks like a problem locally really - no great sources of live rock now that watford and reef encounters are gone......
cheers
marc
Sailfin
Are those Garden Eels in your Comes tank?
Joanna
how do your seahorses cope with the chromis?
marc I get you mate, but the mangroves would be used for aquascaping more than filtration(sorry should have made that clear)
Reidi seahorses live in mangrove areas and Ive yet to see that replicated in the home aquarium....
but fair point, best thing I can suggest then is branching rock as you said. WOW in staines had some when I was there a few weeks back, not sure about NO3 and PO4 though...
Joanna - yes they are garden eels in the comes tank - no problems with them their different feeding styles actually compliment each other.
Cyber - the chromis and seahorses are fine together - the chromis go through the spawning motions and chase the bangaiis but I don't think they recognise the seahorses as fish. They don't chase them anyway. The flow is designed to a lot of food settles on the bottom by the eels so the chromis get it on the way down then its a free for all between the eels and the s/h
[QUOTE=Sailfin;2276626]Joanna - yes they are garden eels in the comes tank - no problems with them their different feeding styles actually compliment each other.
Cool, I really wanted some of those but didn't know if they would be okay with seahorses. How deep is your sandbed for them and are they aggressive at all? Also, do they move around under the sand a lot or do they stay put? I syphon the sand to make sure it's nice and clean so thought they would get in the way plus I have rather a lot in my tank now so eels will be too much. But they are really fab and they look great in your tank. :applause: I am envious.
Joanna
Thanks Joanna - they are pretty cool fish (I spend far too much time watching them). The sandbed should really be at least 8" but mine keeps moving so it averages about 6" but they have been fine, (and paired up). They don't move too much unless they're getting a bit fruity and the males start scrapping. They try to be aggressive but fail miserably - no one takes any notice of them at all! I syphon the top layer of their sand out once a week and it pees them off a bit but not excessively so. After I've finished they just come to the surface and spit sand out in a really disgruntled manner!
Thanks Joanna - they are pretty cool fish (I spend far too much time watching them). The sandbed should really be at least 8" but mine keeps moving so it averages about 6" but they have been fine, (and paired up). They don't move too much unless they're getting a bit fruity and the males start scrapping. They try to be aggressive but fail miserably - no one takes any notice of them at all! I syphon the top layer of their sand out once a week and it pees them off a bit but not excessively so. After I've finished they just come to the surface and spit sand out in a really disgruntled manner!
Thanks for the info. I love them! I would spend ages watching them too. What with them and seahorses I don't think I'd ever get anything done! :p Maybe one day I'll have some.
Joanna
dam im now really interested in garden eels and after my other post of the horse tank im thinking it could be good as long as they dont mind a snake pipefish
I have snake pipefish in with mine......(I think thats the same as a scribbled isn't it?)
my seahorse and algae trigon 350 corner tank
http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2008Q4/194_2.jpg
lots of over hangs, caves and places for my horses to chill out of view if they feel the need.
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