sea horses

[knobber]

Does anyone here keep sea horses in there nano reed?Does any one have any info on seahorses. I want to keep some in a 12 gallon tank. Any suggestions?

[printerdown01]

I don't know how much you know about seahorses, so I'll start with the basics... These and pipefish are VERY difficult to keep. First, they require extremely stable water parameters. Second their feeding habits are also extremely difficult to accommodate. Unfortunately these guys are sold like hotcakes in the aquarium market. I say unfortunately because several species of sea horse are teetering on the verge of extinction in the wild. These guys are caught and brought into captivity, where they are purchased by people who are unaware of their dietary requirements, and thus they starve to death. Fortunately, many of the seahorses, in my area at least, are now farm raised. It is VERY possible to keep these guys in captivity, as long as you are willing to feed them various live foods several times a day -They will NOT survive on brineshrimp... even live enriched brineshrimp will eventually spell malnutrition and starvation... Other foods include guppy fry, mysid shrimp, amphipods, and I have heard (but cannot attest to) rotifers being used for smaller seahorses... A general rule is that larger seahorses require better water quality and are intolerant of parameter swings, but will accept a larger variety of foods (simply because they are large enough to eat them), while smaller seahorses are harder to accommodate in terms of food but can cope (a little bit better) with parameter swings... Note: it is not only possible to keep seahorses and pipefish they ARE successfully bread all the time! You just have to be willing to put in a lot of extra work to keep these guys... And no worries, if you go on vacation for a week they will not die if only fed once a day... but would require extra attention when you got back, lol. -If you have any questions let me know! If you are still interested in keeping these guys let me know and I will try to find you a breeder that you can talk to (these guys obviously know more than the rest of us)... Another Note: I have seen pipefish in a nano, and they were kept successfully-Hope this helps

[knobber]

Thanks printerdown01 very very much for your information that you provided me with. I am very much still interested in keeping seahorses. It would be great if you help me with more information i if you have any or mabe get myself in contact with a breeder. thanks again.

[NanoReefer53]

Here's a better source for seahorse info from experienced ppl

[printerdown01]

Nice NanoReefer I didn't know stuff like this existed, lol.... I havn't been to that site before...

[Fletch]

also seahorses.org

 

:woot:

[tinyreef]

annnd...oceanrider.com (i know commercial site but they eat frozen foods and aquacultured).

 

i'd get at least the via aqua for the height as a tank or better yet one of the ag tall tanks. the height is needed for breeding and comfort for the horses. it allows true movement on their part. remember anchor points and currents (direction and speeds).

 

you should basically setup a nnr/jaubert system first and slowly bring it to handle significant live bio-loads (more for the foods than the horses). be aware of the limitations of corals and fishes that can co-exist. good luck!

[Strife]

keeping a seahorse is a very challenging, regardless the tank size.

they should be fed often.

AND i mean more than once a day. they have a very small stomach, and some people say that they dont even have one at all.

what im trying to say is, whatever they eat, comes out right away..so if you dont feed them, they will starve..they also like it where theres lil or no flow at all.

 

if you ever attempt anyways, keep us posted