Dear Zach:
Okay, sir, that sounds like a good start.
Your Amphiprion occelaris clownfish is one of the species that is generally compatible with seahorses, so that should work out fine. Adding pre-cycled water from your reef tank is a good way to seed your aquarium with beneficial bacteria, but it will not automatically cycle the new seahorse setup. The beneficial nitrifying bacteria that carry out biological filtration require a substrate on which to grow, such as the porous surface and interior of live rock or a sand bed or the biological filtration media within an external filter; relatively few of these bacteria are suspended within the water column. So it is very likely that the new seahorse tank still needs to complete the cycling process and build up a large population of the beneficial Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter bacteria within a suitable substrate, Zach.
I will be keeping an eye out for your e-mail ([email protected]), sir, so I can get you started out with the lessons in the seahorse training course. Lesson 1 explains how to optimize your aquarium to create ideal conditions for the seahorses and Lesson 2 explains how to cycle the aquarium and install a good cleanup crew, for best results.
Best wishes with all your fishes (and invertebrates), Zach!
Happy Trails!
Pete Giwojna
Ocean Rider, Inc. is an Organic Hawaiian-Based Seahorse Aqua-Farm & Aquarium that Follows Strict Good Farming Practices in Raising Seahorses and Other Aquatic Life.
