Starting a pony tank

jdhlonghorn

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On the advice of a fellow member, I'm looking for advice on starting a pony tank. My wife wants to convert her 14g biocube (stock) to a pony tank. From what we are reading that means a small herd of pygmies and lots of live food. There seems to be several conflicting opinions on how to set up the tank on several other sites, so we need some imput. Thanks! Jerry Don
 
I would not recommend keeping seahorses in one of the JBJ or Oceanic cubes. I would look for a 40g breeder or something that size and drill it yourself to have a sump. I have to run a HOB skimmer on my JBJ 28g and had to take the lid off to keep the temp at 75 degrees. It's a major eyesore compared to my 75g since it now looks like Frankencube. Plus the in sump skimmers are better that HOB skimmers.

As far as the my tank, I run chaeto in the fuge section of the JBJ and feather caulerpa in the display section. Mine seem to love to teather to the vines and spend a good part of the day there or around the larger branches of the Kenya tree. I have a few acros, gorgonias, Kenya tree, xenia, and zoas. As far as tank mates...a yellow headed sleeper goby, scooter blenny, and CUC. I feed frozen mysis once a day. I havent had any luck with "feeding stantions". The goby usually out competes for food, but after he gets full the seahorse can eat. I use a kent sea squirt to target feed around him. It takes about 5 min, but ensures feeding. I have a small population of pods, but I think between the blenny and the pony this is as much as I'll get.

I absolutely love seahorses, but before you set up a tank, know that they have to eat 1-2 times a day. Mine is now a fat healthy adult, but we never leave the house for more than 1 day. I'm too paranoid to go away for longer than that. I would recommend seeing them eat before buying them.
 
I believe he is looking at getting dwarf horses not full size. Fperkins hads some dwarfs, hopefully he will chime in. Here's his tank thread - viewtopic.php?f=46&t=99125&p=759077

Biocube 14 still might not be the best setup for dwarfs. Flow/filtration might but a little hard to slow down enough for the little guys. Good luck!
 
Thanks for the pointers!! We had looked at fperkins thread and liked what he did; just trying to use what we had. We'll probably just wait until we can start from scratch on it. The AIO tanks work for us because we both work an hour+ away from our home. In case of a leak, it just has to keep leaking until we get in that evening. Thanks again!
 
Sorry, I wasn't trying to discourage you. I just look back at my setup which was purchased new, except for the lighting...

JBJ 28g Nano and stand...$399
Reef Oct BH1000...$170

For ~$600 you can get an awesome used (or drill your own) tank and stand which would let you run better filtration. If you are diligent on your water changes and willing to take the lid off your cube, I'm sure you could keep some dwarf seahorses as long as you can properly feed them.
 
We asked for help and we got good, solid advice from people who want our pony tank to be a success. You're in that group. We appreciate your feedback and help. Putting off the project until we can do it the best way for the seahorses is not a problem. We had rather wait, follow the advice, and have healthy, happy ponies! Thanks to all and I'll post pics when we get into a position we can do it right!
 
i am looking to start a pony tank as well.. taking it slow is the hardest part. Picked up a 47 tall for the tank, next will be filtration and a protein skimmer. am open to all suggestions. i know this will be difficult but am looking forward to the challenge.
 
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