carznkats Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 Hi, I'm thinking of turning my 90L hexagonal tank into a seahorse tank. It's currently running as a freshwater community tank with a Fluval 204 filter. Any ideas on this? Also what other things would I need to get? Cheers, Erica Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 Alot... Seahorses are hard creatures to maintain in an artificial environment. In Saying that Some Seahorses are far easier to maintain than others. The easiest seahorses to maintain are the tropical seahorses as you won't require a chiller (Which are expensive and suck power). Kudas and pot-bellies would require good filtration through live rock and/or protein skimming. Lighting is not an issue unless you are wanting to keep corals. Water movement should be very light and you should be able to provide a decent supply of various foods including Mysid and Brine-Shrimp. If you have good quality water they are not that difficult to look after if you house them in a species tank (I'e not in a reef tank with heavy water flow, aggressive fish etc). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carznkats Posted July 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 I'm thinking of making it as a species only tank. The tank is currently in our hallway and it doesn't really warm up there except in the height of summer. So what type of live rock do you think I should use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockerpeller Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 theres some on trademe you can use. pick up only in christchurch and its pretty cheap in regards to normal liverock prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markoshark Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 Call Jansens in Mt Eden, they MAY still have some left at uber special prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilson Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 Call Jansens in Mt Eden, they MAY still have some left at uber special prices. the bad thing with that marko is that carznkats lives in the best city... ... christchurch i would go for the stuff on trademe in most chch shops its about $10 a kg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockerpeller Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 also by the look of the pics, its absolutely covered in coraline. and its been in the tank for 4 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carznkats Posted July 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2007 Is that bad rockerpellar? I don't know that much about marine tanks yet, must go to the library and read up about them... if I do go ahead with this, i'll have to get rid of the tanks current inhaitants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockerpeller Posted July 29, 2007 Report Share Posted July 29, 2007 coraline is good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djsurfs Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 Just wondering, are there still any captive bred seahorses available down there? And if you are thinking of catching your own, caring for and feeding wildcaughts is a Whole different "kettle of fish"! Please research thoroughly 1st. Heat in the summer is a big cause of stress for seahorses, causing illness & death. For potbellies, you will need a chiller. Tropical tanks are cheaper/ easier to maintain correct temp. Don't get in a rush and keep reading up! I'm not trying to discourage you, just want to hear a success story later and not a sad one. I made my share of mistakes! I have a temperate with Potbellies and a troppo with kuda. Yes, I am a seahorse nut, LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockerpeller Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 yea theres few people on here that has some i suspect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carznkats Posted July 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 Yeah, I'm doing the research now, but will slowly set it up. From what i've read it will take a few months to get everything sorted before I add the seahorses. Considering I was going to do this about a year ago, I think I can wait a few more months! :lol: :lol: I think livingart has some potbellies which will be ready in a few months time, but other than that I might go for some kuda's...just depends on how things go... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somethin fishy Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 I used to keep seahorse.. Remember your salt water tank will take alot longer to cycle.. I gave mine two months.. Getting a good supply of mysis shrimps can be hard at time as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carznkats Posted July 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 What do people think of this skimmer? Would it be good enough? http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=110637165 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockerpeller Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 I have one. it needs a powerful pump tho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carznkats Posted July 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 What type of pump? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockerpeller Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 one with at least 3000lph, and a high head height limit. at least 3m. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockerpeller Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 running an aquamedic t1000 or a reef octopus would probably be easier and cheaper for you. retail is around the $350. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 unless you are running a sump you would be better on a 90L tank with seahorses (thus lightly stocked) to get a decent Reef Octopus skimmer or the like... Maybe a AquaC remora Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carznkats Posted July 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 Rockerpellar, would it be ok to get those live rocks before I have set things up or should I wait till I get a skimmer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockerpeller Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 you can try cooking the live rock but as that stuff sounds pretty good, it'd be a waste of time. but not a waste of money as liverock usually sells from $10 and higher. as long as you have a big enough container, saltwater, a powerhead, and/or airpump to circulate the water around the liverock you should be able to get it now. also need to keep up with regular water changes. just make sure you get a refractometer to check the salinity of the water if your going to use red sea salt etc. also NSW is slightly high on the salinity scale and you may have to water it down with some RO/DI water. maybe someone on here can run your liverock in their sump or something for you til you have everything you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilson Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 sorry carznkats i wont be able to keep it in my sump 1 because i dont have one and 2 because my tank is going up next weekend will you be at Totally Tanked? http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/august ... 23179.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carznkats Posted July 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 Yeah Wilson, will try to be there...unless my cold gets worse in which case I don't want to let others get it :oops: By the way what is a refractometer? is it a hydrometer? :oops: Also what does NSW and RO/DI stand for? I do have a bag of red salt and a large plastic tub which I could possibly use until I get things set up as well as a spare fluval 204 filter, but I would need to get another pump as all of mine are in use at the moment Thanks for all your help so far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilson Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 I would need to get another pump as all of mine are in use at the moment i have a 450 l/h pump you could use i dont know how good it it i got it for $10 new lol RO/DI i dont know about DI but RO means reverse osmosis and NSW means natural sea water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockerpeller Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 RO/DI means reverse osmosis/deionization refractometer is way more accurate then a hydrometer. looks like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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