seahorses???

[cuteios]

Ok so I'm still in the planning stages of my own nano reef, but I'm just wondering...does anyone keep seahorses? Would it be possible to keep them in a nano?

 

Dio:)

[krysis]

From what I've heard, the liverock that goes into nanos can contain hydroid jellyfishes. These jellyfishes sting the sea horses, so it can be done, but it's tough. Sorry I don't have more info for you, I'm sure someone will be in here soon to give you a breakdown of what I'm hinting at.

[Reefy]

I've heard that seahorses can't survive stings of corals so it might be put in tanks with some corals which aren't agressive. Put plenty of macro and a hitching post for seahorses to wrap around on. Get the OR seahorses or some other seahorse that was aquacultured because wild caught ones don't eat anything but live Brine shrimp and that food won't keep them healthy for long.

[tinyreef]

i believe the current preference for the gals over at seahorse.org is frozen mysis for the CB horses. that gets a little pricey tho (bit of advice, don't mention WC horses there w/o covering your balls first : )

 

may want to try www.mariculturetechnology.com for live foods but make sure you have a couple of systems running first, one for the horses and one for the food imo.

 

if the horses are too expensive (and they are imo) you may want to try trading coral frags for hobbyist bred horses. you get to know the genealogy and maybe get some advice from the breeder.

[Crakeur]

you might want to consider a seahorse only tank as the water flow in a seahorse tank is very low, more like that of a refugium. I am installing a large fuge in the office and we have been toying with the idea of tossing a couple of horses in there to appease the female clientelle. Ok, we think it might be pretty cool. There I said it. Does it make me less of a man?

[cuteios]

ok I guess I should look into the topic more

[duckhuntboy]

Cuteios, sea horses are harder to keep than you'd think. Don't get one until you've had some experience. I had a seahorse tank twice (kuda, and the dwarf ones) and they are pretty touchy about water quality, etc.

[cuteios]

so the general consensus would be to get some hands on experioence before trying to get into the seahorse tank huh?

[BlackSumbel]

Bascially, the care and setup for these guys is all about delicate.

 

The flow rate has to be very calm and slow for these guys because they lact a tail fin and move primarily with their pectorals. They're also rather slow (they putter, sort've like pufferfish), timid, and stress easily. If you pay really close attention to them, take the time to get suitable cleanup crews, and provide ample hitching posts, they do allright.

 

Now, the thing about them doing poorly under bright light is absurd (IMO) because they are generally shallow water animals. Some live naturally on gorgonians. Nature provides a lumen output that we will never match.

 

Another important thing is not to place anything in the tank which is tempting for their little tails, but unsafe for wrapping. In other words, a clam may be a tempting perch, ending in a broken tail.

If you use anything with an intake, wrap it in mesh too fine for them to hitch to (otherwise they might get stuck there...etc).

 

I have heard half the time that nasties in the LR can kill ponies, but Seahorse.org suggests the use of live rock in tanks, so ... if it works for them, chances are...