Shaz Posted October 9, 2004 Share Posted October 9, 2004 I have lately been thinknig I would like to do a sea horse aquarium. I am totaly aware they are harder to take care of than most fish, and I am up for the challenge. I was wondering if anyone has had experiences with them, and if so what would a good pre made setup be? I know they cant have a lot of water flow, and I am not certain on their lighting needs. Could I put some zoanthids and mushrooms with the seahorses? Ive heard corals that sting arnt good with the seahorses. Would any of the eclipse or nanocube systems work? I know that a lot of the pre made setups dont come with high lighting, but are there any that would let me keep some soft corals, and what are some seahorse safe corals? Thanks and by the way, I did a search on on this website on seahorses, but nothing came up that specifically answered my questions. Link to comment
slaeyer Posted October 9, 2004 Share Posted October 9, 2004 Typically, most seahorse species require larger tanks than what is considered nanos. The main exception to this rule is the dwarf species H. Zosterae (sp?), they can be comfortably kept in as small a 1-2 gallon tanks. As you've already stated, larger water flows do not normally go hand in hand w/ seahorses, and the smaller species need even more protection from water flow. Lighting is not a big requirement for seahorses, and in more docile species can actually lead to problems w/ algae buildup on their tiny bodies. As for a premade setup for seahorses, I would venture that anything capable of running a FOWLR tank would work well, provided you modified the water flow to protect the seahorse's bodies. I have no experience w/ seahorses and corals so I cannot comment much, but from what I've read, I would not do anyting that may sting them, or may see them as a meal. Gorgonians, zoos, mushrooms should be ok if they are of the photosynthetic variety. If you are unsure, try placing a small piece of shrimp on the body of the shroom / zoo and see if it tries to eat the shrimp. If it does, it may also try to eat a hitching horse! Lastly, tank width is not as important as tank height for any seahorse species. On average, a tank height of 2 - 3 times the out-stretched height of your target horse would be recommended. If you're truly interested in setting up a seahorse tank, I'll direct you to www.seahorse.org - they have a wonderful forum setup very similar to that which you will find here. If you have any specific questions for me, feel free to pm. $0.02 Link to comment
Shaz Posted October 9, 2004 Author Share Posted October 9, 2004 So if I did the dwarf seahorses, do you think they would be good in a 10g eclipse? Or does it HAVE to be small like the 2gallon? Link to comment
slaeyer Posted October 9, 2004 Share Posted October 9, 2004 Dwarfs can be hard to keep in anything larger than a 10 gallon due to their extremely tiny size, and difficulty w/ providing enough food. I would personally look at something smaller for dwarves. For example, my 2 gallon hex, when I'm done w/ the cycle, will comfortably hold 4 - 6 dwarves plus a few fry. I would highly recommend that you read up on dwarf care at www.seahorse.org - I've been reading for nearly a year and am only now at the cycling stage of getting my dwarf horses! Link to comment
Shaz Posted October 9, 2004 Author Share Posted October 9, 2004 Ok thanks I was skimming threw that website earlier but I better take a deeper look Thanks!! Link to comment
Shaz Posted October 9, 2004 Author Share Posted October 9, 2004 By the way, Do you have any other things with the seahorses? I know you ost likely dont have fish, but what about invertebraes, sponges, ect ect Link to comment
slaeyer Posted October 10, 2004 Share Posted October 10, 2004 I have not yet added the horses to the tank, it's cycling right now. When I do add the horses, I plan on adding a few kinds of snails to the tank to aid in cleanup. I will not be adding any crabs or other inverts as they may see the docile horses as potential food. I had considered a photosynthic gorgonian as a hitching post, but I don't know how well it will do in my tiny tank. Instead, I added a small dried gorgonian epoxied to a piece of lace rock for them to hitch to. Also, there is a plastic plant in the background, and a small piece of base rock (not live rock) for further background esthetics. I will not be adding any live rock or live sand to the tank as I do not want to introduce unwanted nasties (hydroids, bristle worms, etc) to the tank, but have heard of some successes using live rock and live sand. Most of those successes require diligent cleaning and removal practices to rid the tank of hydroids and worms, etc. Link to comment
Shaz Posted October 10, 2004 Author Share Posted October 10, 2004 Ok cool, this is definitly something I may want to get into after I get my 30g reef set up Link to comment
manleyk Posted October 10, 2004 Share Posted October 10, 2004 H. zosterea are hard mostly due to the food issue; newly hatched brine at least once a day, every day. It's a pain. I wonder if they would eat cyclopese... I bred them in an 8gal that I built long ago. There were a couple of acros and a bunch of different types of polyps in there with them. It was a lot harder on the coral than the seahorses as they would hang on the corals and keep them from opening. Also, the flow was minimal for the coral, though enough. they grew, just slowly. Try a small tank and feed a lot. Plan to change the water at least once a week. Use an undergravel filter with an air pump for flow. It worked for me. If you really want to try a larger tank, do a skimmer box with netting over the slits and another barrier between the seahorses and the intake. Make a spray bar to pump the water out through. Use enough light for the coral, but just enough. Hope it helps, Link to comment
Shaz Posted October 10, 2004 Author Share Posted October 10, 2004 Thanks That sounds like a good plan Link to comment
slaeyer Posted October 10, 2004 Share Posted October 10, 2004 Originally posted by manleyk H. zosterea are hard mostly due to the food issue; newly hatched brine at least once a day, every day. It's a pain. I second this, but I have heard of people training them to eat cyclo & frozen baby mysis. Try a small tank and feed a lot. Plan to change the water at least once a week. Use an undergravel filter with an air pump for flow. It worked for me. If you really want to try a larger tank, do a skimmer box with netting over the slits and another barrier between the seahorses and the intake. Make a spray bar to pump the water out through. Use enough light for the coral, but just enough. My setup is a 2 gallon hex w/ the back painted blue to help capture more light & look good, ~2 lbs grey coast aragonite sand, a screwin 10 watt PC 50/50 bulb & an azoo palm filter w/ a filter sponge modded onto the intake to keep the horses from getting sucked up. I'll post pics another time in my gallery if you wanna see it Link to comment
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