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vlangel · 03/26/2018, 05:38 AM

Hi ctoms, I have a 56g column tank with 3 seahorses, 2 captive bred pajama cardinals and 2 captive bred mandarins. I also have 4 large peppermint shrimp. With the sand, coral and macro algae plus the mandarins, I never see shrimp larvae but I am guessing that they are in there. My erectus prefer bigger food and I do see them hunting amphipods that get shot into the tank from the sump with a fuge.

I feed the frozen food in a bowl so that less is wasted because my display has sand, rock, coral and macro algae. It also has fairly high flow (22Xs turnover) with the powerheads and return combined to help keep detritus/excess food in suspension.

My 20g sump contains an oversized skimmer rated for 180g tank in the drain chamber, the 2nd chamber is a fuge with a dsb, rock and macro algae, and the last chamber has my return pump and more rock.

My system with so many things to catch and trap food requires very diligent husbandry on the DT several times a week. I also syphon the sump every sevetal months. I do not run a UV sterilizer anymore for the reasons that rayjay stated.

I painted the floor of my DT and ran it bare bottom blasting the floor with flow for over a year and the seahorses were very healthy. I also did not have any fish in the tank with the seahorses, just snails and peppermint shrimp. I basically had 2 large rock structures with coral and macro algae that could be easily moved for cleaning and rescaping. It looked nice but a bit sterile without sand. I would recommend it for a new seahorse keeper who still wants coral too. Adding sand adds more chance of trapping detritus/excess food.

There are multiple ways to keep seahorses but the most important aspect is not to allow accumulation of detritus/excess food to collect anywhere and to keep water quality up by husbandry and large frequent water changes.

03/26/2018, 05:38 AM	#5
vlangel Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 2,409	Hi ctoms, I have a 56g column tank with 3 seahorses, 2 captive bred pajama cardinals and 2 captive bred mandarins. I also have 4 large peppermint shrimp. With the sand, coral and macro algae plus the mandarins, I never see shrimp larvae but I am guessing that they are in there. My erectus prefer bigger food and I do see them hunting amphipods that get shot into the tank from the sump with a fuge. I feed the frozen food in a bowl so that less is wasted because my display has sand, rock, coral and macro algae. It also has fairly high flow (22Xs turnover) with the powerheads and return combined to help keep detritus/excess food in suspension. My 20g sump contains an oversized skimmer rated for 180g tank in the drain chamber, the 2nd chamber is a fuge with a dsb, rock and macro algae, and the last chamber has my return pump and more rock. My system with so many things to catch and trap food requires very diligent husbandry on the DT several times a week. I also syphon the sump every sevetal months. I do not run a UV sterilizer anymore for the reasons that rayjay stated. I painted the floor of my DT and ran it bare bottom blasting the floor with flow for over a year and the seahorses were very healthy. I also did not have any fish in the tank with the seahorses, just snails and peppermint shrimp. I basically had 2 large rock structures with coral and macro algae that could be easily moved for cleaning and rescaping. It looked nice but a bit sterile without sand. I would recommend it for a new seahorse keeper who still wants coral too. Adding sand adds more chance of trapping detritus/excess food. There are multiple ways to keep seahorses but the most important aspect is not to allow accumulation of detritus/excess food to collect anywhere and to keep water quality up by husbandry and large frequent water changes.