Quote:
Originally posted by FishGrrl
Thanks for the information. Very interesting! Would you recommend that stocking density for the average aquarist? I would think it's a little high and most people would have trouble keeping the water quality in check. I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the matter before I take the plunge. 
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I think it would really depend on your setup... I generally run an RDSB, with charcoal and floss in a sump on most of our tanks. I used to use bioballs(!) in the sump(s), (not in a wet/dry config, but just floating, for surface area) but I've been converting over to Marco Rock rubble as I've found that the rubble is more efficient than the bio balls and I still don't mind bleaching it if necessary.
Our three growout tanks have a total water volume of ~85 gallons (60 gallons for the tank, 25 gallons for the sump), ~100lbs of Home Depot play sand in the sump (~14" deep RDSB), ~20lbs of Marco Rock Rubble and/or 2-3 gallons of bio balls. Once the RDSB is cycled (takes 6-8 weeks before it has a noticeable effect), a daily siphoning of detritus from the bottom (roughly 2-4 gallons/day) keeps the nitrates <20. I suspect that adding a skimmer would help a lot also.
We also have a 29 gallon mixed reef that used to have an attached sump/RDSB, which used to have no problem with 12 young adult H. comes and assorted tankmates. It used to get a 25% water change once a month - I'm in the process of renovating the fish room and had to take the RDSB and skimmer off-line. Since then, it requires 2 25% water changes/week to keep the nitrates in check.
That said, without a harvestable refugium, DSB, remote DSB, or some form of denitrator, I would expect to have nitrate problems even with moderate-to-low stocking levels. So, if you have an adequate setup, I think you should be able to handle a reasonable bioload - maybe 1 'horse per 2-3 gallons. If you do not have an adequate setup, you'll have problems even with a really light bioload.
Keep in mind, H. comes are smaller, both in length and girth, than most of the more common 'horses (H. erectus, H. reidi). A full grown H. comes is going to be about 75% or slightly less, of the body mass of an H. erectus or H. reidi.
Pete Giwojna lists H. comes as a "medium" size 'horse, compared to "large" for H. erectus or H. reidi. His recommended stocking level for a medium size 'horse, in a 25 gallon "tall" tank is 6-10 (captive bred/tank raised), which works out to 2.5-4 gallons/horse. 14-18 for a 55 gallon tank, which is 3-4 gallons/horse.
*However* I would not go with anything smaller than a 15 gallon tall for any number of 'horses! In my opinion a 25 gallon tall tank (24x12x24) is the smallest 'reasonable' sized tank, and with a 10-15 gallon sump with refugium or RDSB, would be perfectly satisfactory for 6-12 'horses.
In general, I would look for tanks that are a minimum of 21-24" tall - 25 gallon tall, 45 gallon (36x12x24), 65 gallon (36x18x24), 90 gallon (48x18x24) are reasonable seahorse dimensions. Hex tanks are available in tall sizes, but my understanding is that getting decent flow in them is hard - I've never had a hex myself.
Keep in mind that ALL of this (except for Pete's advice) is my opinion and there are probably quite a few 'horse owners that would completely disagree with me.
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Now, the next thing I'm going to say, I should probably never admit in public, nor should this be considered a recommendation or endorsement! My personal H. comes (13 adults, ranging in length from 12cm to 14cm, a neon goby and 4-5 peppermint shrimp) have been in a 15 gallon tall tank w/5 gallon sump for almost 3 months now. It was supposed to be temporary, but for various reasons I just haven't had time to finish their ultimate home.
The 5 gallon sump has a refugium and approximately 4-5" deep sand bed, there's about 10lbs of live rock in the sump, the display is barebottom and mostly empty except for hitches.. With a 25% water change every 2 weeks, nitrates stay below ~30. I do have filter floss on the output from the return, but do not usually run carbon. However, the sump has been on-line for about 6-7 months and works very efficiently as a denitrator. I haven't been able to ask them (well, I have asked them, but they haven't answered
) if they feel overly crowded, but they are very active and appear quite happy... They also all tend to congregate at the front of the tank (they usually only use the front third of the tank). At least they do when anyone is watching. With any luck they will be moving to a 45 or 65 shortly and ultimately a 165.
The only reason why I mention this is, I don't think 'ability' is important so much as having things setup properly..