Hippocampus kingdom

[Mrfresh]

My wife gave me the ok to set up a new tank.
Bc she let me set up a new one I asked what she would like.
SEAHORSES!!!!
So I decided to do something not normally seen.
This will be a tank for seahorse and frags to grow into mother colonies.
I am thinking just zoas and maybe some chalices... That's it.

Equipment:
60 gallon tank 48x15x17.5 tall
Stand will be 48x15x40. I don't want to look down to look at the tank. I want eye level.
Drain in corner. 2in
Return 1 in
40 gallon sump
Skimmer right side return in the middle and a fug as big as I can fit.
Fug will be cheato with a few bottles of tiger pods.
They will sit in there with no seahorses for a month so they can multiple and get in everywhere.
Also I will take pods from my tank to add in there to kick things off
Return pump 1200 maxi-jet. Or a small return pump if I can find one for cheap. Gph under 300
100lb sand
40lb rock. Very minimal look for rock
I don't want to use fake plants for the seahorses to hold on to,
so I will be looking for rocks that have algae growing on them.
Like feather calperia, sea grass ect.
Considering using a lot of mangroves.....and I mean a lot lol
Will consider sea fans but not wild about them....
Swd skimmer rater for over 100 gallons.
In flow tank movement wp-25. The smallest one with a short low pulse.
Pointed upward to defuse a lot of the power, so it's not blowing direct on anything
I will be taking a fine mesh bag and zip timing it onto the inlet of the pump,
We don't want anything to get the tail cut off.
Light
T-5 4 bulb built in timer
2 blues 10 hours ish, white and Fiji pink for 4 hours.

Thank should cover the info for now. Still deciding seahorse species.

Also if u don't have something nice to say about this please don't say anything
THANK YOU

TIME FOR PICS!!!!!!
Dirty tank, skimmer in the right.
Old stand. New ones being built tomorrow

First vinegar bath and scrub

Back painted black

Flipped around

Blues

Blues and whites

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Oh man this should be fun! Keep us updated!

 

[Mrfresh]

Will do revhtree

UPDATE TIME!!!!

I wanted a stand at eye level for me. I'm 6feet tall.
Here is what I did today.
Took about 2 1/2 hours, including shopping. And an extra trip back for more supplies. Lol

The plan

Drilling holes prevents wood from splitting

It's a box

Frame done

 

[Mrfresh]

I brought it inside and thought
Lets get fancy

2 tanks and a dirty place

Sump in still need to finish making it

Hope you enjoyed more to come

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Woohoo!! I love it!!

In addition to the tigger pods, I would also get amphipods for the seahorses to eat. It will add more diversity to their diet and seahorses don't typically eat copepods. They will munch on some tigger pods since they are on the larger side.

 

[Mrfresh]

Ive seen amphipods for sale on ebay. I guess I will have to place an orser for them once the systems up and cycled..

I got my holes drill tonight. 1 1/2 drain and a 1 inch return.

Tomorrow im going to go buy some sand and redip someold dry rock I have.
Srill need to baffle my sump... so much to do still!!!

Hope u reefers are enjoying!

 

[Mrfresh]

So not ,ich was done over the weekend
I try to spend time with the wife,
But I did get something's done today here's a little update

My buddy drilling my tank

To better keep an eye on the seahorse I did this instead of a normal overflow style
I will be putting a fine mesh net over the hole so no one goes down the drain

It's sand castle time

Sump built and drying

Skimmer left return center fug right

That's it for now. Water should be going in, in a few hours...

 

[LisaD]

Looking great!!! Tagging along. Can't wait to see the finished project.

Love the idea of macro algae instead of fake plants. I'm going to be redoing mine in a 46 bow front... I think I'll go that way too.... And a zoa garden

 

[Mrfresh]

Yeah, why not, they live in the reef in the wild.
Are we not trying to recreate nature in our tank?

I just hope I can find some nice looking Algae's for the tank.
I want it to be show quality not fug quality

I hope by tomorrow I will have the pump on and water flowing.
I hope by using the water from my main tank, ( water change water ) I can go though a fast cycle.
Not all 100 gallons I need will be from my tank, I will make some fresh water as well

 

[LisaD]

Sounds like a great plan.

I have some gorgeous fern caulerpa I'm gonna use and then find some nice red macros... Should add good color.

And like you ill just use rock and water from the 75 they are currently in. Plus the top inch or so of sand. Then just move the HOB over. Instant cycle.

 

[Squishie89]

I have seen some AMAZING macro algaes on ebay and at reefs2go

 

[nayrgaijin]

Great build going!!!
Looking forward to the progress!

 

[Mrfresh]

Thank you everyone I just hope the seahorses enjoy it as mush as I am building it and sharing it with everyone.

Squishie89 I have looked at eBay for mangrove I guess it's time to broaden the search and get some macro algae

Nayrgaijin I will try my best to keep this updated as much as I can


Update.
I did the water test on my sump and things look good. Time to put it back into place and start the slow fill up.

 

[Mrfresh]

Tank has water
I changed the plumbing out a little.
And sump size.

Waters pumping and skimmers skimming not a month of just waiting....

 

[LisaD]

Excruciating waiting isn't it. Just keep picturing those happy ponies!!!

 

[Mrfresh]

Lol

Yeah I am going to do a lrg water change on my reef tank and use that water in a water change for the phony tank...

Hopefully this will power cycle the tank.

 

[Mrfresh]

So not sure what it is but this sand had a lot of sut in it.
When I felled the tank up 2 days ago it was cloudy ( to be expected)
Once I turned on pumps it got milky again..
I have a filter sock and 2 skimmers going to try and clear this thing up....

Not sure it its the sand or what but very frustrating to not see the tank clearing up after a few hours / day at most.....

 

[MandarinGirl]

Macro algae?

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Coming along nicely. Hopefully, the sand will clear up soon. As far as the macro goes, check out Gulf Coast Ecosytems. They have some great display grade macros.

 

[Mrfresh]

So it's been close to a week and the sand hasn't cleared up. I put to skimmers in the sump and have a really fine mesh sox on it.

Not really sure what to do. I tossed in some dry rock I have, I can't even see it...
I am going to do a large water change. I think I will do a 50 gallon water change on my reef tank. And use that water for a water change on the 60dt seahorse tank. Before draining some water I will try and stir up as much sut as I can to hopefully remove as much as possible.

I was really hoping to have this thing starting its cycle already...........