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Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster
Hey Minorhero and welcome! Glad you like the thread!
I like your idea of sea grasses and seahorses. I have to say though I think it will be a challenge. You said you are new to salt water. It's good to start with less difficult species to learn the skills and have some successes, before trying more difficult creatures.
Let's get into your questions. I never tested PAR, but considering the depths grasses inhabit, you'll need lighting on the brighter side - like lighting that would be considered bright reef lighting. If I were to test PAR, I'd test it at half depth to get an average for the length of the blades. My Manatee Grass has grown quite tall to reach brighter light. I'd agree a six inch substrate is good. You might be able to go a touch shallower if needed. I'm anti-hermit but that's just me. The emerald crab I tried ignored bubble algae, ate desirable macro algae and ignored the grasses.
I found fresh water planting methods worked great with grasses and macros. My concern would be combining fertilizers with seahorses. Dechlorinated tap water may be fine for the plants but probably not with seahorses. If you are serious about salt water, get a good RO/DI setup.
Good luck with your project!
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Thank your for the response! I am super excited for this project but information on the plants is very scarce. So getting some of these answers is absolutely priceless.
I get mixed responses when I tell people my first saltwater tank will be seahorses. They have a reputation for being very difficult (fairly earned) from historical keeping practices and especially the dwarf species. Modern keeping practices has made them a bit easier to keep. For one thing its super easy to get erectus as captive bred that are already eating frozen mysis. Additionally the old practice was to keep them in low flow but the modern thinking is to keep them in moderately high flow which helps with the rest of the tank as well. So the people in the seahorse groups tend to be very welcoming of first time saltwater folks while everyone else is like 'seahorses.... maybe reconsider?; ;P
I am not too worried about fertilizer with the seahorses either. If they are actually sensitive to it they will be the first animal I've heard of that is. Even the most sensitive freshwater species can be kept with liquid fertilizer and I personally keep aquatic newts in a freshwater planted tank with ferts administered once a week and the newts are thriving. Honestly I see a much bigger reaction to dechlorinator then to fertilizer with various species. This is not too surprising since the liquid fertilizer is just replicating what is in dirt and the amounts going in are tiny. But I will also be watching closely when the seahorses get added in and will take action if needed. It will be months after the tank is up and running before I add the seahorses. Really want to get the rhythm down of saltwater first when the stakes are lower.
The RO question is a bigger issue. Near as I can tell about 20% of seahorse owners are using tap water. Many of the ro users are folks who previously tried them with tap water and made the switch... le sigh, I just don't want to the hassle ;P But I might make the leap.