Designing a large seahorse setup

[bigreefnutt]

I am in the process of designing a 24 x 30 x 44 seahorse setup for a client that will be on the end of a 8ft long tank to look like one long setup. Just looking for ideas on flow and maybe links to other large seahorse setups to get ideas from.

 

[vlangel]

I am in the process of designing a 24 x 30 x 44 seahorse setup for a client that will be on the end of a 8ft long tank to look like one long setup. Just looking for ideas on flow and maybe links to other large seahorse setups to get ideas from.

Hi bigreefnutt, I also was an aquarium tech who set up and maintained tanks for clients. Unless your client totally understands how seahorses differ from other marine animals and is committed to meet those differences I would discourage it. Seahorses will not thrive unless their specific needs are met. I would encourage you to read the above stickies on 'Seahorses in Aquaria' so you know what is needed to be successful with ponies. They are very engaging charming pets but they are also very high maintenance.

 

[bigreefnutt]

Hi bigreefnutt, I also was an aquarium tech who set up and maintained tanks for clients. Unless your client totally understands how seahorses differ from other marine animals and is committed to meet those differences I would discourage it. Seahorses will not thrive unless their specific needs are met. I would encourage you to read the above stickies on 'Seahorses in Aquaria' so you know what is needed to be successful with ponies. They are very engaging charming pets but they are also very high maintenance.

I completely understand where you are coming from. I have had them very successfully in smaller setups. My client has one of them and they breed regularly. Im just trying to design something much larger then i am use to.

 

[vlangel]

2018-01-17_03-05-59 by Dawn Gilson, on Flickr

This is my tank which is a bit smaller at 30" x 18" x 24". I have 22Xs turnover with my return and powerheads combined. It was once thought that seahorses could not handle high flow but that is not true. They can be strong swimmers but are not endurance swimmers. Their tanks should have hitches in high, medium and low flow. The tank you are designing is very high at 44" so make sure there are no dead spots and also that the surface ripples a lot since the footprint is small for gas exchange.