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Dwarf Seahorse Tank Talk


TheKleinReef

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Throw out your ideas, success stories, methodology and such here. Cause i'm trying to learn as much as i can before i think about pulling any sort of trigger.

 

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(http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+40+283&pcatid=283)

I've been reading up on dwarf seahorses and liveaquaria.com says that you can keep one in a 2-5 gallon tank. I'm in love with seahorse, but i'm not exactly sure about how sensitive they really are. I've read that you can't have cured live rock because it could contain stinging critters. Is that true? Is it something i should worry about? My plan would be:

-flval edge 6gal
-mr16 led bulbs & maybe another light
-6 pounds of live rock
-low light, low care, non aggressive corals (maybe even 0 corals)
-live sand

what are your guy's opinions on this? I have a 10 gallon tank, but it'd would be much easier to keep the seahorse in the edge. but i could probably have 3 or 4 in the 10.

also, how hard is it to breed brine shrimp? I've read they only eat live baby brine shrimp.

thanks guys!

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you could probably keep 3 in the edge and let them multiplie. i think you should do 1 piece of lr for filtration and fill the rest of the tank up with macros. brine shrimp breeding is easy, i did it in school, and only needing babies make it even easier. i am gonna do a seahores tank sooner or later. good luck!

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you could probably keep 3 in the edge and let them multiplie. i think you should do 1 piece of lr for filtration and fill the rest of the tank up with macros. brine shrimp breeding is easy, i did it in school, and only needing babies make it even easier. i am gonna do a seahores tank sooner or later. good luck!

 

3! having them breed would be insanely cool, i would have no idea what i would do with the babies. the only think i'm worrying about is feeding the brine shrimp. I'll just have to research it. thanks for the advice.

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they dont care that much about spce and can brred like hamsters. you could sell the babies to the lfs or you could keep a big breeding colony in a 10g. they are also great trade bait! :lol:

 

brine shrimp will live of of a teeny bit of yeast. they are easy to feed.

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(http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+40+283&pcatid=283)

 

I've been reading up on dwarf seahorses and liveaquaria.com says that you can keep one in a 2-5 gallon tank. I'm in love with seahorse, but i'm not exactly sure about how sensitive they really are. I've read that you can't have cured live rock because it could contain stinging critters. Is that true? Is it something i should worry about? My plan would be:

 

-flval edge 6gal

-mr16 led bulbs & maybe another light

-6 pounds of live rock

-low light, low care, non aggressive corals (maybe even 0 corals)

-live sand

 

what are your guy's opinions on this? I have a 10 gallon tank, but it'd would be much easier to keep the seahorse in the edge. but i could probably have 3 or 4 in the 10.

 

also, how hard is it to breed brine shrimp? I've read they only eat live baby brine shrimp.

 

thanks guys!

Greetings,

I've been thinking about setting up a 5.5G as a dwarf Seahorse tank but I don't think it is quite tall enough for successful spawning of Seahorses.

I saw the same thing about the live rock but I think you might be able to do a fresh water dip on it to remove any unwanted critters. I believe I'm going to try it when I set mine up.

You don't breed brine shrimp, you hatch them. It's easy to do. I currently hatch them to feed to my reef tanks.

I was thinking about keeping a few Sexy Shrimp along with my SH's.

 

Keep us posted on you set up, I'd like to follow along.

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Join forum.seahorse.org It is dedicated to the care of seahorses and will give you vital information on dwarfs. To be honest, the forum is mainly full of horror stories and what not to do, but you will learn plenty from others mistakes. It is still active so don't be shy to join and think its a dud.

 

I will now ramble on about my year experience with dwarf seahorses.

 

Dwarf seahorses are extremely delicate things. So delicate, I hate to say I love them. Buying three will not support your appetite for them. This, and it is common for at least one to die from stress while being shipped. I would suggest at least 12 in a six gallon tank. Preferably more, but that is your choice.

 

Currently live brine shrimp are the only thing they will eat. If you join the seahorse forum you can look up a thread by imortaldemonic about the reasons why they refuse to eat frozen. The key to keeping dwarf seahorses alive, the one thing you must remember is to enrich the live brine shrimp. If you do not enrich the brine shrimp, it does not matter how pristine your water is or how clean you keep their tank. They will quickly starve to death and you will begin panicking when they start dieing. When you panic, you will give them an endless supply of unneeded medication when all they needed was some substance in their diet.

 

The reason why you need to start off with dry rock is the threat of hydroids. More in depth information can be found on the forum. They are stinging individuals that live both in the water column and on rocks. Their random appearance can cause the death of all your dwarfs.

 

Hatching brine shrimp is fairly easy. Go buy some decapsulated brine shrimp eggs from seahorse source (or do it yourself with bleach), throw few drops to 1ml into an inverted soda bottle, fill with a liter of water, add 1 table spoon of marine salt. Put in air line until rolling bubble, but not enough for the bubbles to pop along the side of the bottle. Add light, wait 24 hours and presto! You have baby brine shrimp! Buy you can not enrich until 24 hours later.

 

Also cover up all intakes on your pumps with sponge. Does not matter how small the gap is, dwarf seahorses are like octopus. They just can not wait to get stuck somewhere and starve to death.

 

In summary: Join forum.seahorse.org, Educate yourself on decapuslating brine shrimp, Brine shrimp hatcheries, Different types of enrichment for brine shrimp, Captive breed vs. Wild and hydroids.

 

Research, research, research!

Also, never ignore the experience of a dwarf keeper >.> No matter how insane they sound <.<

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i gotta admit, that long ramble made me apprehensive about starting one. hahaha

i researched for my reef tank for 3 years. i'm gonna research this thoroughly as well. thanks for the tips though (everyone)

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Seahorses will eat copepods. They have an appetite for them like Mandarin's. However, they do not actively search the tank for them. Instead, if they see one while perched, they will stretch and devour it. If the copepod scurries out of range, the dwarf will give up.

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  • 1 year later...
TheKleinReef

i really still want to do this. anyone have set up pics? like tank, filter, and hatchery pics?

 

I have the 2g fluval spec, and i really want to try this.

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sillycupid

Disclaimer: I do not have any pictures, sorry, but here are my plans.

 

After shutting down my dwarf seahorse tank because school was getting too hectic, I've decided to set up another. Hehehe. This is my finals week and after I've kicked ass on tests I will have MUCH time to focus on dwarf seahorses.

 

My new set up I am planning on putting together involves two high clarity glass cube 2.11 gallon, it is the cheapest cube I've found. One tank will be all natural with white sand, capulera, mangroves, xenia and various macro algae. In the all natural tank, I will be feeding ONLY copepods. Mainly Tisbe and Tigriopus californicus because I am able to culture them in high enough densities to sell extra (I sell them now to support my college food fund). There is a risk with Tigriopus californicus because they can eat through the stomach of baby seahorses, but this is a rumor and I've never seen it actually happen so I am willing to take the risk to see if it is true. Attached to the tank will be a marina hang on breeder box where I will put my heater and various chemicals. I love this breeder box because it is completely air drive. Anything with a motor is your worse nightmare with dwarf seahorses. Even sponge filters are instant death. Dwarf seahorses are not good swimmers, and if they get stuck anywhere on the filter and can not swim away- INSTANT DEATH. I lost three this way. Very sad. One modification I will be doing to the breeder box is placing a tube on the end into the box. It makes this weird noise as bubbles pop and water *drips* into the HOB box. I dont know why they just didn't do a U tube.

 

The second tank will be BARE BOTTOM, fake plants, fake everything where I will be feeding brine shrimp on emergencies. You need bare bottom if you are feeding brine shrimp to vacuum out any dead or wasting shrimp. BS are notorious for chasing tanks and causing algae blooms because they die fast, and you feed in high quantities. Those two are just a recipie for disaster if you do not keep up on your cleaning and husbandry. Personaly, I hate hatching brine shrimp. I'm not good at keeping a schedule and I would rather do the set it and forget it method for copepods. However, if you join the searhose forum look at this post by Rab. Rab enriches his brine shrimp for coral frenzy, which I will also be doing because he has GREAT results! He is currently my idol, hehehe. On the seahorse forum, everyone is pretty a*** about how they do stuff. Cross your t's and dot you i's because constantly hatching brine shrimp is a pain. But if you really love dwarf seahorses like I do, you will still do it. lol. Also, on this second tank I will be attaching the marina with my heater and chemical stuff on it too.

 

Note: NO MOTORS. Ever. Just don't do it. I don't. You shouldn't. Trust me, just don't. Use an air pump and many air lines for flow. Much safer for the dwarfs, and your brine shrimp are not constantly being sucked into the filter to die and rot away.

 

Do frequent water changes, 25% weekly. My favorite hatchers are san fransico brand, super easy to clean, just use conical soda or water bottles. My favorite bottles are the sparkling water ones with the extremely long slanted necks. Brine shrimp eggs tend to gather and bunch on regular soda bottles and are not properly circulated.

 

All my suggestions are just a summary. Brine shrimp hatching is extremely detailed, so I highly suggest joining the seahorse forum and doing some research. Everyone has their own way of doing it, but the main points are: decapsulate your eggs, sterilize everything, change your water every 12 hours, and you must enrich or else your just feeding your dwarfs potato chips.

 

Also, everyone has different husbandry tactics that work for them. This is just what I am trying and works for me. Some breeders have a lot of success with filters, but their cleaning regiments are completely different. Research everything, and take everyones advice AS advice, not do or die.

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fretfreak13

Just poking my head in here. I am currently also switching my 2g fluval spec to dwarf seahorses, although its currently housing my mantis. They're not good tankmates. LOL

 

Once my 80 is up and running, I'll wave goodbye to my little mantis into the display tank where she can go nuts on my CUC if she wants and live out her days in there. I'll probably never see her again, but it'll be heaven. lol

 

I already hatch brine daily for the store I work for, as well as care for the dwarfs we occasionally have there. Its fun stuff, just don't plan on going on vacation.

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sillycupid
I already hatch brine daily for the store I work for, as well as care for the dwarfs we occasionally have there. Its fun stuff, just don't plan on going on vacation.

 

Exactly right for vacations. Difficult to find a tank baby sitter who will go through the trouble of hatching brine shrimp and doing it correctly. Luckily the tanks are usually small enough to pick up and take to someone's house.

 

Are the dwarfs you get wild caught or captive breed? I've found huge coloration and behavioral differences between the two. Both seem to have difficulty catching brine shrimp since they swim in a sweeping motion with the current. Copepods are easier to catch and eat because they have short bursts of motion. Swimming A to B, pause, swim. However captive bred are better at catching moving brine shrimp while wild caught are more adapt at copepods. I remember my captive bred would not recognize a copepods as food.

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fretfreak13

We get wild caught at the store from our wholesaler, and I will also be attempting them first because I can get them for so much cheaper not only because they are wild caught, but because of my employee discount. They always come in with such beautiful cirri, which I know tends to disappear in the captive bred specimens. In the fluval spec, the small return pump is all you need for flow for these little guys and I will actually have it on a timer, 8 min on 8 min off. That way it'll make it easier for the BBS to not be swept away from the brine.

 

If for some reason the wild caught specimens perish because they weren't dewormed or something, I will sterilize the tank and switch to captive bred.

 

Once my dwarves are breeding, I will be supplying the store with my stock rather than the wholesalers. Then they'll be captive bred. ;) However, I still may order a new pair every few months from the wholesaler just to broaden my gene pool.

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sillycupid

Sounds like fun! I would love to work in a pet store, sadly too much competition where I live so getting a job at a fish store is like winning the lottery. I love the cirri the females come in with. Some of my wild caught girls had grown their own when housed with macro algae. All my males were very reserved and shy. I would suggest puting a DIY felt filter on the intake or on the grate to catch the brine shrimp and change it out daily. The brine shrimp will eventually get caught in what ever filteration you are using, so mind as well get the dead ones out before they start to rot and pollute the tank. I have never had a problem with worms within dwarf seahorses. Nutrition is the main killer of dwarfs when you get lazy with hatching, or your batches go bad and they are without food for A day. A day without food is a death sentence, sadly, because their digestive tracts are so short. Especially for the babies. Double sided sword actually. If you feed too much and the tank becomes polluted too quickly and you may not give the dwarfs enough time to digest the food they eat, so all their poop are actually live brine shrimp. Do not feed them enough and they will quickly starve, especially babies, they are so delicate.

 

Dwarf seahorses are delicate, difficult, and the most rewarding experience I have had. I am in college and can not afford to have a huge system since I have no permanente residence so dwarf seahorses help calm my pico jitters.

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We get wild caught at the store from our wholesaler, and I will also be attempting them first because I can get them for so much cheaper not only because they are wild caught, but because of my employee discount. They always come in with such beautiful cirri, which I know tends to disappear in the captive bred specimens. In the fluval spec, the small return pump is all you need for flow for these little guys and I will actually have it on a timer, 8 min on 8 min off. That way it'll make it easier for the BBS to not be swept away from the brine.

 

If for some reason the wild caught specimens perish because they weren't dewormed or something, I will sterilize the tank and switch to captive bred.

 

Once my dwarves are breeding, I will be supplying the store with my stock rather than the wholesalers. Then they'll be captive bred. ;) However, I still may order a new pair every few months from the wholesaler just to broaden my gene pool.

 

Since they breed so well in captivity that sounds like a great idea to supply your store with captive. Seems kind of senseless to sell wild caught when they breed like rabbits in home tanks. Makes sense to start with a wild caught pair for specific desirable breeding traits. Good Luck, sounds fun.

 

 

Sounds like fun! I would love to work in a pet store, sadly too much competition where I live so getting a job at a fish store is like winning the lottery. I love the cirri the females come in with. Some of my wild caught girls had grown their own when housed with macro algae. All my males were very reserved and shy. I would suggest puting a DIY felt filter on the intake or on the grate to catch the brine shrimp and change it out daily. The brine shrimp will eventually get caught in what ever filteration you are using, so mind as well get the dead ones out before they start to rot and pollute the tank. I have never had a problem with worms within dwarf seahorses. Nutrition is the main killer of dwarfs when you get lazy with hatching, or your batches go bad and they are without food for A day. A day without food is a death sentence, sadly, because their digestive tracts are so short. Especially for the babies. Double sided sword actually. If you feed too much and the tank becomes polluted too quickly and you may not give the dwarfs enough time to digest the food they eat, so all their poop are actually live brine shrimp. Do not feed them enough and they will quickly starve, especially babies, they are so delicate.

 

Dwarf seahorses are delicate, difficult, and the most rewarding experience I have had. I am in college and can not afford to have a huge system since I have no permanente residence so dwarf seahorses help calm my pico jitters.

So i need to start hatching brine on a regular for my seahorse and dragonettes I'm a complete noob on where to start. I know its not rocket science, but im sure there's easier more turn key hatching systems and techniques out there. Can you steer to a place to buy a good noob proof starter system.

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TheKleinReef

Since they breed so well in captivity that sounds like a great idea to supply your store with captive. Seems kind of senseless to sell wild caught when they breed like rabbits in home tanks. Makes sense to start with a wild caught pair for specific desirable breeding traits. Good Luck, sounds fun.

 

 

So i need to start hatching brine on a regular for my seahorse and dragonettes I'm a complete noob on where to start. I know its not rocket science, but im sure there's easier more turn key hatching systems and techniques out there. Can you steer to a place to buy a good noob proof starter system.

 

 

i was looking through this guys bog, he seems to have a nice setup for brine culturing:

http://dwarfseahorsekeeper.blogspot.com/2011/07/brine-shrimp-setup.html

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There is a massive trick to raising brine shrimp that nobody ever talks about. I don't know why or how veterans say you can raise them in marine water, because I am CONVINCED that you cant. I have tried to grow baby brine out sooooo many times, with every method Ive ever read up on and had very little success. THen I read an article from Livebrineshrimp.com and they told me why.

 

Brine shrimp are not marine critters. They are not found in the ocean, or any marine body of water. They are only found in salty lakes. You will have far better luck in raising live brine if you use non anodized table salt, or rock salt as long as it is not fragranced. You can hatch them just fine in marine water, and they will live for a while, but im talking about growing them out to adults.

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I read that sponge filters are okay for dwarves; those were suggested on the seahorse forum. And IMO a heater is pretty much unnecessary b/c they live at room temperatures. I think a chiller and temp sensor would be more in order.

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There is a massive trick to raising brine shrimp that nobody ever talks about. I don't know why or how veterans say you can raise them in marine water, because I am CONVINCED that you cant. I have tried to grow baby brine out sooooo many times, with every method Ive ever read up on and had very little success. THen I read an article from Livebrineshrimp.com and they told me why.

 

Brine shrimp are not marine critters. They are not found in the ocean, or any marine body of water. They are only found in salty lakes. You will have far better luck in raising live brine if you use non anodized table salt, or rock salt as long as it is not fragranced. You can hatch them just fine in marine water, and they will live for a while, but im talking about growing them out to adults.

Huh, that's interesting and possibly saved me lots of time,money and headache trying to figure this out. Makes sense to me.

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There is a massive trick to raising brine shrimp that nobody ever talks about. I don't know why or how veterans say you can raise them in marine water, because I am CONVINCED that you cant. I have tried to grow baby brine out sooooo many times, with every method Ive ever read up on and had very little success. THen I read an article from Livebrineshrimp.com and they told me why.

 

Brine shrimp are not marine critters. They are not found in the ocean, or any marine body of water. They are only found in salty lakes. You will have far better luck in raising live brine if you use non anodized table salt, or rock salt as long as it is not fragranced. You can hatch them just fine in marine water, and they will live for a while, but im talking about growing them out to adults.

What's funny is that they live in the salt evaporation ponds, where you get the salt to raise them in from...

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