[Timfish]

I'm in the camp for using live sand and using sand over a bare tank as there's a lot of biology going on with endoliths and lower pH micro environments that are probably beneficial. Sea horses are not an easy fish but a couple reasons is they easily get infections and really are a temporate fish water and should be kept in cooler waters than a typical reef is kept. One major issue I've seen with people who are successful keeping seahorses is what to do with all the babies produced, it can be pretty disheartening to see a couple dozen baby seahorses starve to death every month. Better choices in IMO are Royal Grammas (3), a lot more colorful and active especialyl with ther penchance for swimming on thier side, nose up or down or even upside down. Mix in one Azure Damsel and one Talboti damsel for more color (don't do more and avoid any bigger damsels to minimize aggression), a pair of clowns and a cherub dwarf angel and you'll have a nice mix of color and activity