Setting up 10g Hex... need advice?

[J Crew]

well, my wife really wants me to help her setup a seahorse tank. we've both in involved in reef tanks for about 9 months but have only had ours setup for about 6 months. will the 10g hex be enough for a few seahorses? if so, what species would be best?... especially for first timers.
also, my LFS has told me that they do not like sand because it can harm them... they said instead to use crushed coral. they also said to use an airpump connected to a sponge filter instead of a powerhead... is this true? i wanted to do some LR and some LS... would this be good? and should i get a protein skimmer?... this uses a powerhead. if so what kind? sorry for all the questions, but i'm trying to get some ideas running through me head. my wife's birthday in next month and would like to get things started as a surprise for her. thanks again, peace :)

[Oze Reefer]

I'd go for a small to medium sp. like kuda . Sand is fine for horses and so is crushed coral so do what you like for the sub. Sponges are a good idea as horses really don't like fast current also sponges are safe for babies too. LR and LS are fine, protein skimmers are not essential but if not used regular water changes are needed. Air driven ones are pobably better then powerhead driven

[J Crew]

i did a crap load of reading last night... up until almost 4am... anyways, with a 10 gallon hex will i have to get dwarfs? or will kudos work? i was also thinking about barouris? i'd rather buy her regular seahorses because it seems as if the dwarfs are harder to keep, can get desease easier, there's more limations on circulation, hydroids are a major problem, etc... am i correct on this? if kudos or barouri will be ok for a 10g hex... how many would you suggest?

also, the setup i'd like to run would be a:
approx. 10lbs LR
approx. 4" LS
crp bakpak II skimmer
two 13watt PC lights (both 50/50) <---- anyone suggest different


with this, would i need any other circulation besides the bakpak skimmer? if so, what would you suggest? any more suggestions are welcome, thanks :)

[getinjr]

check this site out, I think they have everything you need!! oceanrider.com

[MarkS]

Are you a member of SeaHorse.org (www.seahorse.org)? If not, I would recommend that you register.

Mark

[Will]

you might also want to come to www.wetwebfotos.com and join our message board. we've got a new but rapidly growing seahorse forum where many of your questions can be answered.
fourhand2

[trybka]

Welcome to the world of seahorses. I would recommend first going to www.seahorse.org and www.oceanrider.com.

I just started a seahorse tank in April (35g hex). I bought oceanrider horses from a LFS. I strongly recommend you either buy them or the captive bred horses available on www.ffexpress.com.

The sand thing is an old wives tale. I used black tahitian sand for my tank. A lot of others have used regular sand and some even use the dsb method of filtration. Check out people's tank profiles on seahorse.org to give you an idea.

Hope this helps... if you have more questions... just ask or e-mail.

[J Crew]

thanks everyone for all the info. i've already been a member at seahorses.org... so all my post here have also been over there. my wife will be the one buying the seahorses, but i'm pretty sure she's going with kudos... and i know she's getting captive raised ones from ffe. after doing some more reading, i definetly am going to put a DSB in there and use a cpr bakpak II for both skimming and circulation. it will use a rio 600 and that will be my only pump. i'm going to buy 10lbs of marshall island rock because of it's shape, quality, and variations of macro algaes. thanks again, and any more suggestions are much appreciated. if there's anything you see that i've forgotten please let me know, peace :)