seahorse/pipefish in refugium

W

Wes

Premium Member
i am setting up a new tank soon and i really want some of these critters.

my plan is to have a 55 gallon refugium directly under my new 180 gallon tank and i want it to be viewable through the stand. the main tank will drain 25% of its total drain amount into it, the rest will go to a seperate sump next to it. the refugium will have 2 drilled holes to drain into the seperate sump that is just out of view.

what i was wondering is if i could do some nice aquascaping with the DSB and macro algae and maybe a few rocks so that i could add some of these guys and have a nice display fuge.

would this work? is there any concerns or anything i need to be aware of or make sure i do? any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
Hrmm.. only problam I see offhand is that you probably couldn't have a mandarin in the main tank (if you plan on it.) Sounds like it would be a pod eater's paradise.
 
good point, i love those guys, but i could have the madarin down there right? that would be fine since it will be viewable...

also, could a couple sea horses and a couple pipe fish really deplete a 55 gallon fuge?
 
Yup, he could live down there. I don't know about the amount of food sea horses or pipefish eat, someone whose kept them would be better suited to answer that.
 
Seahorses and pipefish can decimate a pod population in a hurry. I'm sure you'd have to supplement with frozen, in fact plan on it.

The biggest issue with plumbing a seahorse tank in with a reef is temperature issues. What temperature do you run your reef tanks at? Seahorses are optimum below 76. They can be kept at a bit higher but they are definitely more prone to bacterial infections when kept at higher temperatures.

I'm not sure how visible the seahorse would be in the refugium. I have to really play "wheres waldo" with mine in my dedicated hex tank. They really do camouflage themselves in the rock and macro. Pipefish would probably be a better choice IMO.
 
yea, my tank stays in the 79-81 range, i could keep it lower with fans, but anytime i do that (like in the heat of summer) my evaporation is crazy, isnt everyones! ah! are pipe fish better for this temp range? will sea horses work just have to be more careful? frozen cyclopeeze or krill, both, or something completely different? im new with these guys so be patient, i want to make sure they do well...

to help visibility and try to control its looks and functionality i was thinking about segregating the majority of my microalgae in the back away from the animals with an acrylic divider that has holes all through out it so that pods can move thorugh it but the seahorse and pipefish can not. then have just a large rock in the middle (was looking at some of that stuff that has good growth like the florida stuff, doesnt look presentable but has alot of stuff on it) and then just the grass style micro algae in the front. keep thier area way less dense than the back so they are more visible. (see the top pic of my idea for the fuge below)
 
It wouldn't be fuge (the very name derives from refuge aka prtected from peditors) at that point. A pipefish and a manderin could easily wipe the population in that down to not much. I think you could have 1 seahourse/pipefish in there and one manderin in the display and may be ok but realize that the more that get eaten in the fuge the less there is to feed the main tank. If you put the manderin and the pipefish in the fuge I think they would decimate the population.

A seahorse eating frozen and a manderin in the display would be your best option.
 
if i am not concerned about pods for the main tank, but just the nutrient assistance, i should be ok right? i mean if the main animals that neeed pods are down there, then y worry? maybe i am missin the pt of a fuge
 
Depending on the macro and / or sea grass, you'll spend a lot of time keeping it placed where you want it. the tap roots can go through the tiniest of cracks. It would look cool, though.
 
anything new on this? I just put together a 29g seahorse tank with a built-in fuge (so to speak). I started mine up about 4 weeks ago and have quite a bit of macro algae growing (and then some) but would like to compare notes etc. My in tank fuge is basically a eggcrate seperator filled with live rock rubble and macro algea. With hopes that the eggcrate wall will eventually grow over with the macro algea. We seeded the fuge with pods from a couple tanks and I bought some tiger pods.

We bought some wild seahorses and are still training them to eat frozen brine. They hand out on the fuge wall most of the day looking for pods. So far so good, marc got a couple pics of the setup from the tank tour.
 
im still debating, the tank will not be set up until we move, another month or so...i like the idea of using eggcrate to seperate and hold the macro...could be useful...i saw the tank and thought it was a good idea...ill update as i know more, thanks
 
i know it has been a while, but i have decided not to do this, and am now debating using my 33 gallon as a seahorse tank by plumbing it in with the main tank, ill simply have a small part of the return on the main tank diverted to the 33, 150 gph or so, and then let that drain back to the sump, i know a couple others do this, so i doubt it will be a big deal, thoughts, concerns, anything i need to know before looking at pursuing this further?
 
Just be careful on temperature...on the most part seahorses need temps lower than what we keep our reef tanks at. 76 or less is ideal.
 
thats right, i remember you saying that before, do you know any particular species that would do better at the higher temps, my tank stays around 80
 
80 is tough...that would work if it was a "high" but a constant 80 would be tough. Seahorses are prone to bacterial infections and the higher temps just seem to be a trigger...

For even the tropical seahorses a max temp of 76 is recommended...truthfully I would not plumb into a reef tank...too many variables to consider AND anytime you add new fish to the reef you could potentially bring new bacterias to your seahorses...

I would go stand alone if it were me -a seahorse setup doesn't need to be complicated - my first was a 30 gallon eclipse, no skimmer no sump just lots of live rock and all my horses did well.
 
hmmm, something to think about, i was not real fond of the idea having the 33 downstairs with the main tank anyways, so maybe ill get a hand on back fuge setup and stick with that...
 
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