Jake's seahorse reef
 

Starting a new tank!

It will feature two 24”x24”x22” cube(ish) tanks,, a 36”x16”x16” sump/DSB refugium, and two standard ten gallon tanks for ATO and easy water changes.

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...ndandtanks.jpg

My goals:
1) Very quiet tank(s).
2) Keep power consumption low.
3) Reduce tank maintenance/ make maintenance easy.

Tank #1: Soft coral, macro algae, sea grass and seahorse tank. I have no experience keeping sea horses and sea grasses, so this build has required some reading on my part. I guess that is the main reason for this tank… I just wanted to try something new! Over time, I plan on adding a pair of Mandarin dragonets and harlequin shrimp. All of these species require special attention, and I will be adding them slowly to ensure I have a good grasp on the husbandry techniques needed to keep them healthy.

Tank #2: It will depend on the water chemistry I am able to achieve in the sea horse tank alone. This tank will be added to the system next year. I am open to theme ideas! I have not even ordered this tank yet.

Details:

Custom Concept Aquatics 24”x24”x22” starfire tank with external Bean Animal Overflow (12” long), one piece euro brace, and a blue ABS background. The return line will come back through the overflow, so there will be four holes in the external overflow box. I should get it in within a month. Like everyone else I have talked to, I have only good things to say about my experience working with Dave.

The display will have a 2.5” DSB (mixture of mud and aragonite sugar sand) for seagrass and ~20-30 lbs of Bali live rock. A Maxspect Razor will light the tank. I like the sleek form, lack of fans, and price. They are not, however, available in Canada yet.

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...22onepiece.jpg (rendering by Concept Aquatics).

I was going to build my own sump, but I decided to order an Eshopps R-300 today from Ray at Reef Supplies.ca (amazing service so far by the way! I have no idea how he can ship a 40 gallon tank across the country for $25). The sump will have a 4” DSB of aragonite sugar sand. Above it, suspended by egg crate, will be a frag rack for clams and soft corals. I love clams, and I can’t let my old ones go! They are apparently not sea horse safe. They are great water filters, so why not put them in the sump. My sump light will be an AI nano I already own.

The return pump will be an RLSS DC5000. Additional flow will be provided by an MP10 on the lowest possible setting. Heating/ATO/dosing/monitoring will be controlled by a Profilux IIIex.

Some of the gear :) I try telling myself I'm not a gear-guy... but not convincingly.
http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...graas/Gear.jpg

Proposed stand: 80”x24”x36” power coated 2" steel. I know this is overbuilt. I thought having two separated tanks on the same stand would call for some special structural considerations. Also, I want it to hold an 80” long tank if I ever decide to get a single big tank. The bars on the bottom are to keep the sump off the floor. There will be feet on the bottom of the stand for easy leveling and to allow airflow beneath the stand. Any input on this topic would be appreciated.

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...raas/Stand.jpg

Thanks for reading!
Jake

PS. This was posted on one other forum, hope that is OK!

If your dead set on 2" tubing you can easily eliminate all the front vertical tubes and just have one in the center. I use 1.5" tube for all my stands, never any issues. Realistically if you skin the top of the stand with 1" plywood and screw it down solid you don't need all the bracing. To simplify the stand put 2 cross supports in the top, back & bottom, one in the center front. More then enough support & cost much less.


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looks like it is going to be an awesome setup.

Looks good, as a side note we had clams and seahorses without any issues. I did it for a few years and know of others, some say the seahorse hanging on the clam may cause it to close and I think that's people's reasoning on it.

Thanks for the advice Grizz - I think I will reduce to 1.5" with 0.188" wall, and reduce the supports, as you suggested.

Good to know BlueTang! I was surprised when I read that clams were definitely not sea horse safe. I'll keep one in the tank and monitor it closely.

I had a seahorse tank for a couple years as well. If you want to keep dragonets with the seahorses make sure you get ponies that are already eating frozen otherwise they will compete for food. And see for yourself at the store that they will actually take frozen foods, I had one that was advertised as eating frozen but that wasn't true. Luckily I had a well established pod population and it wasn't an issue. Of course you can also grow your own live food but I wasn't interested in doing that.

Yup, had seahorses with large Squamosas, Derasas & other clams. No problem. Of course that was just my experience and other clams may be more sensitive to a curious or passing pony.

I'm really happy about this news regarding the clams! If all goes well, clams will be a big part of the display.

Here is the new stand...

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...psdfe0b21e.jpg

I added in a 2nd vertical support in the front in case I ever want to up size to single 80"x24" tank.

What program are you using for the stand sketch? Looks good to go!!

Thanks!

I'm using Google Sketchup. I took a couple of 20 minute tutorials on it last year (free on Google). It is really easy to use. That rendering took me about 5 minutes. If you need help making a rendering, let me know.