55 gallon pony tank

[tgoeujon]

not started yet but im thinking in the near future of setting the 55 back up for seahorses and pipefish. i dont want to have a tank filled with liverock and the tank isnt drillable, so unless an overflow is possible i cant run a sump. could someone suggest a good overflow to try or possibly give me an idea of a reliable DIY setup? ive got everything i need to set up so if the overflow is easy enough i could get it started right away.

[gobytron]

Theres a couple for sale around this site.
I have a hurricane quiet flo (600gph) for 50$..
There is a lifereef one on here as well.


Do a classifieds search.

[fishytime]

If you have to go with an external overflow, get the life-reef....no ifs, ands or buts...

[gobytron]

I know lots of people like t believe that the only option is the one they use...lol
or because they've never used one before and are just going off of what they've heard or seen is the most expensive or best...lol

I used the hurricane overflow for 2 years and it never broke siphon once.
It's just your typical utube design nothing special only the hurricanes are designed dead silent.

IMO, there isn't a whole lot of difference between one utube overflow and the next but maybe i can be enlightened here?
I know for a euoro braced tank, lifereef can do some custom work that you might not have an easy time finding elsewhere but as for there being no ifs ands or buts...well, consider this comment all of the above.

[tgoeujon]

in a 55 gallon with only one pair of seahorses ( probably kuda or reiddi ) and a pair of pipefish ( jans or dragons) would i really need to run a sump, other than estheticly to hide equipment. There is going to be 60 lbs of LR and 80 lbs of LS so biologically i should be alright shouldnt I? It would be nice to hide the rock and have a wide open tank. Is it very hard to install an overflow down the road?

[gobytron]

an overflow i an easy install.
No hardware involved so you can add one anytime without much change to your system.

With seahorses though, you have to be very careful with your intake/outtake as seahorses suck at a=swimming and are very easily sucked into anything that offers the chance.

A sump is convenient, and you're right gives a great place to hide equipment in addition to adding extra water to the system as a general buffer against error (consider in your 55 gallon with all the LR and LS you're really only looking at about 30 gallons of water capacity). I don't think they are necessary though by any means.

Like a lot of other things in this hobby, just another choice in what works for you and your needs.

and as you've already noted, a sump/overflow would be an easy add on later.

[tgoeujon]

tank started and cycling:biggrin: ill try to figure out an overflow later. the tank has till the middle of february before i add anything other than maybe a few snails. when would be the time to add macros? and is there any good supplies of macros or CB ponies in BC?

[Leah]

J&L sometimes has them. You could call and see if they could get some for you.

[Leah]

A sump is nice but it would be fine without one. I had Seahorses in a 25 gal with a hang-
on skimmer and I used a Aqua-clear (filter) And used the foam part off a Remora pro to
cover the intake. Can not say for sure how Pipefish would be with them, I only had Seahorses. They are a bit of work but worth it.

Leah

[tgoeujon]

Im kinda curious what people have for flow in there seahorse tanks? right now im just running a koralia nano, as well as the flow from the skimmer ( coralife super skimmer 65 ) it doesnt seem like enough but i dont want to go overboard. I want the end result to be as comfortable as possible for the ponies so any and all advice welcomed.

Trevor

[Leah]

You could always add an extra koralia nano and direct to the top of the tank. I used an airstone and pump as everything else was to much flow.

[tgoeujon]

out of curiousity after the tank cycles im thinking since im gonna wait quite awhile before adding anything other than snails i am going to add a few bottles of tigger pods and see if they reproduce enough to become a steady food source in the tank. has anyone tried that and if so is there anything in specific i should do to help make it work? or is it just a pointless idea? like i said before any advice helps and im planning on alot of questions before i get the livestock.

[Leah]

Never worked for me, I tried many times.

[tgoeujon]

thanks for telling me leah, it would suck to through a bunch of pods in just to have them die off or something. ill probably still try one bottle just for my own knowledge but i wont have high hopes.:biggrin:

[tgoeujon]

leah did you try the pods before the seahorses were in?

[Madreefer]

I've kept seahorses for the last year and a half. Tried tigger pods, artic pods and rotifers. I see the pods thriving in my SH tank, my sump and my refugium. The only food that mine have ever ate is frozen mysis. Tank is plumbed into my system but flow is very low in their tank with just a koralia nano. As for rocks you should have some that have "points" sticking out so they can wrap their tails around it to anchor themselves. Good luck as keeping seahorses is a bit of a challenge to figure out.

[Leah]

I did try before and during with the pods. Mine would only eat frozen Mysis or frozen Brine shrimp.

[tgoeujon]

its not my first attempt its just i want it set up so its easier than the last time, i had a pair of reiddis in a 12 gallon eclipse tank for 2 years ( i went away for a week and it didnt work out to well having a friend take care of them ) but i dont want to constantly be breeding brine shrimp and buying live food. i figure if i take my time and let a food source build up or find some ponies that eat frozen it will give me more of an opportunity to enjoy it without it just being work.

[Rotifer]

The two biggest problems people run into with culturing Tigger-Pods is 1) they put them in a system where they get eaten faster than than they can reproduce, and 2) they don't add extra microalgae to feed them. Pods in reef systems are usually regulated by the amount of microalgae that is naturally produced by the system, and that's not very much. If you want a higher population of pods or are going to introduce more (from a bottle), add extra microalgae so they won't starve.

[tgoeujon]

ok so ive got a problem already and ive barely got this tank up and running yet. i switched the pos css 65 for the css 220 which is what i have on my other tank and really like. unfortunately the pump for the 220 must be screwed since its been running for just about a week and doesnt seem to have enough force to create the micro bubbles for the skimmer to work. so now i have to either find a used pump (i cant find a listing for the pumps on any sites) or get suggestions from canreefers on a different pump to replace it:biggrin:

[tgoeujon]

so its the middle of february, ive got one reiddi in the tank and im searching for more. so far hes doing really well, eating everything i throw at him as well as constantly hunting pods. Hes a nice bright yellow that i got from interior reef, ill post pics when i have time. I added some caulerpa for hitching, do i need to add anything for it to spread? Also what would be a good, pretty, calm and small fish that would work for cleaning up anything the seahorse misses?

[tgoeujon]

kinda thinkin about adding some corals but im not sure what ill get away with. ive already got a few mushrooms, gsp and a few zoas in there but i plan on adding a sun coral and a duncan. im pretty sure all of those are fine but i also want to add a donut coral, some acans, lobophylia, symphilia, oulophylia and favia. any one got some helpful input on those ones. I already have all of them on my frag rack so its just a matter of figuring out what is realisticaly useable in the pony tank, what goes in my reef and what gets sold. thanks for any input
Trevor

[imcosmokramer]

any pics?
________
Los angeles dispensaries (http://dispensaries.org/)

[tgoeujon]

i will add some pics when i can get my wifes help, im pretty close too computer illiterate.