seahorse setup, critique please

[homegrowncichlid]

I've set up a simple 5 gallon tank for these seahorses, with the following ideas in mind.
I have a amphipod population, which feeds off the ulva. The sea horses then feed off the amphipods. I am adding fresh ulva seaweed and amphipods from the algae scrubber, every 2 weeks, which I can do indefinitely. In order to maintain the in tank amphipod population and prevent complete wipe out by the horses, I have created a refugium using an egg crate barrier. This barrier forms the bottom of the tank. Light keeps whatever ulva from rotting out, as the amphipods feed upon it from underneath. The weight of the barrier presses the ulva down loosely.
In order to maintain water quality, I'm using a simple sponge filter, and finally I'll perform 25 to 50% water changes every 2 weeks, to remove detritus.
A small fan will try to keep the water temperature below 75.

 

[jaBX1]

5 gallons is a pretty small. How many sea horses are you planning on keeping?

The tank is also pretty empty, seahorses like things to grab onto with their tail. I'd suggest adding sticks or branch rock for them to hang out on.

I cannot comment on the feeding as the only seahorse I ever kept was trained to eat frozen foods.

Best of luck

 

[homegrowncichlid]

All the algae is packed under the eggcrate, but this set up didn't work, the eggcrate does give the amphipods a refuge, but the production isn't anywhere near enough to feed them. I had to add another bag full of seaweed from the ocean at 2 week mark (this past weekend), to replenish the amphipods. Also cut the population of 3 to 2 horses to lighten the predation, but at most it may just stretch out the amphipods a few days. When the tank was empty, there were amphipods a plenty. Also, my algae scrubber isn't providing as much amphipods as I hoped in the last harvest. I think I would need 4 or 5 separate tanks of algae/amphipod farms to support 1 horse and simply move the horse each week. With all this work, I may have well just stuck to frozen mysis and an established 30 gallon with full filtration setup.