SH Build

[CoralBeauty58]

Hi All,
I have FINALLY made the leap. For 2 years I have wanted to do a SH build and have not had the courage. But, about two weeks ago I decided to think about it again and started to plot and dream. Yesterday my BF and I found a 25 Gal tank. It is a POC but we are going to mod the heck out of it and we are very excited. I dont have pics yet but I am working on it. So, here is my plan so far.

Take the bio weel and mechanical filtration out of the tank and gut the tank. Soak the tank in fresh RO and vinegar to make sure there isn't anything in the tank that could hurt the horses. Scrape the ugly blue off the back of the glass and paint it black. Purchase a HOB fuge and use our HOB skimmer that is rated to 75 gallons. Hook up the chiller and heater and put mesh on all intakes, pumps and filters. Use black live sand, Dry rock from Fish heads (it is beautiful), and homemade salt water along with macro algea and 2 chromis' from our 250 Gallon system to start the cycle. Use Dr. Tims product to cycle and WAIT TO CYCLE the tank. Then start adding the soft corals (non stinging) like Zoa's, Ric's and Mushrooms.

I would like to have about 4 months of just corals and a fish or two before switching the tank over for the SH's. Once we feel that the tank is cycled and doing well the plan is to take the fish out and put them back in the reef tank. While the above is happening we are planning on getting 2 H Erectus from SH Source, one male and one female, and putting them in QT. Once the QT is done we can add the SH's to the system! I do have some questions:

How long should I QT horses?
Do I need to if I buy from SH Source and the tank is dedicated only for them?
Can I buy a trio of SH? If so, what mixture of Male and Female is best?
What other corals are good for SH's? I dont like leathers because I think they are ugly, are there any other brightly colored corals I could put in?

Before you tell me simple basics please note that I have read several times the following:

Beginners guide to SH's
Tank Mate Guide
And a lot of the forums on RC, SH.org, SH Source and pretty much anything I can find.

I do want feedback and help but I dont want to be slammed with the basics like make sure to use RO, dont put a tang in the tank or dont put hammer corals in the tank. What I am looking for is critique on the plan above and idea's to make it better.

-Elissa

[rayjay]

Unfortunately you ask a basic question and then say you don't want to be slammed on basics. Hopefully this isn't considered slamming.

Can I buy a trio of SH?

You've read the Beginners Care Guide so you already know that the tank is slightly smaller than recommended for a pair of erectus but then you ask if you can have 3 in it.
The only negative about the rest that I would have a comment on would be the cycling of the tank with chromis.
There is NO need to use live fish for cycling a tank. Any ammonia source will do the same thing for you without stressing a fish or fishes.
Also, there IS a chance that the fish you put in the tank might leave behind pathogens that the seahorses cannot accommodate when added, leaving them at risk for infestation and possible death.
You certainly couldn't have made a better decision on where to buy from as SS is regarded as tops by most people on most seahorse forums.

[pledosophy]

I mix fish and seahroses and do not worry about it myself.

25g is O.K. for a pair, but 3 is kinda pushing it with erectus.

HOB refugiums and skimmers are nice, you can put your heating and cooling intakes in the HOB refugium. Ice probe chiller will most likely do for a tank that small.

Go for one fast growing macro like prolifera to help balance the nutrients and then supplement other slow growing pretty ones for color.

Some leathers are nice like the Neon Green Sinularia's IMO, i think they call it kryptonite. I have a green one and a kryptonite one the color difference is crazy. Depending on your lighting you could probably do some photosynthetic gorgonia's, but I would stay away from non photo's as feeding them will increase your bioload. I have also kept blasto's acans, and ricordia with seahorses and like the look for color. Really after a time I think the various macro aglaes are the best and a good departure from your reef tank.

Can you post some pics of this fish head rock? i am intrigued.

[namxas]

Hi Elissa,

Beyond what has been said, something to consider is that pure black sand starts to look really dirty after awhile. Most folks are happier going with a "salt 'n' pepper" look, so there's the feel of a dark substrate, but not the dirty look.

I agree with Kevin (pledosophy) on the live macro algae...it's one of the best things you can do for a SH setup. There are several species and many shapes and colors. The C. prolifera he mentioned works really nicely as a "grass bed" substitute.

Here's a SH/macro setup we were running before we moved: