If I were to start a Seahorse Tank

[Mike612]

A couple of months ago, I was interested in starting a seahorse tank. I did a lot of research and after a couple of weeks of researching, I decided not to get them because they were going extinct and I didn't want to contribute to this. After doing some more research recently, I've learned that for one thing seahorses are going extinct because people are collecting them and then drying them and selling them as little items. Also, I learned that the majority of seahorses (if not all) in the hobby are bred in captivity and aren't caught in the wild. After learning these small facts, I'm interested in starting up a tank for them again.

I was planning on keeping 5 seahorses (2 males 3 females). I was hoping to get Hippocampus Reidi but my lfs told me that he'll only be able to get Hippocampus Kuda (a bit of a downer but I'll settle for what I could get). My lfs told me that for 5 seahorses I should get a tank anywhere between 25 and 33 gallons. He said I should use 2 aquaclear filters. I should get crushed coral as substrate. I should have a minimal amount of live rock and plenty of plants or gorgonian skeletons for the seahorses to attach to. I'll probably get lots of plants though. For invertebrates, he said I could get shrimps, snails, and starfish but I think that if I get inverts I would just get some snails and maybe one starfish.

So even though I trust this lfs a lot, would these plans work?

Also, my 75 gallon reef took 3 months to cycle. How long would a 30 gallon take (keep in mind that the live rock will be uncured when I buy it)?

Lastly, he said a small amount of live rock but he didn't say exactly how many pounds. Anybody got any ideas?

Heater and lighting recommendations are appreciated.

I'm not starting up this tank until I feel I've learned enough. I've been studing mostly from the site http://www.seahorses.de/seahorses.htm

 

[Ben1]

You want a tall tank and not a wide tank. You also want a lot of hitchs as already stated.

Many seahorses in the hobby are wild caught and are very difficult to train on frozen foods. Seahorse have a short digestive tract and therefor dont absord nutrients from food. Thus it is very important to feed them on high quality food. Like PE Mysis soaked in selcon. And they need to be feed atleast once a day with preference going to three times a day.

Substrate of CC will cause a lot of detritus to build up and although this will casue your pod population to grow and give the seahorse something to pick at during the day the water quality will drop unless the bed is vacuumed during water changes.

Make sure the horses you get are TR and not WC, make sure they feed on frozen food before you accept them.

Good luck

http://www.seahorse.org/

 

[Mike612]

So for substrate, are you suggesting I get something else or do you recommend I keep the bottom bare?

 

[bradl.]

For the simple reason of regular feedings I chose to go BB with alot of Live Rock,sump with skimmer, Regular water changes which include bottom cleaning every couple of days.

 

[Anonymous]

Your best bet, is to PM a member here named greenighs. She is an 'expert" at seahorse tanks. Her name is Clare, and she is very sweet.

The CC bed is not a problem. CC is fine, and the fallacy people perpetuate about it being difficult to care for is nonsense. All I ever had has been cc, as many of the people I know.

Evry few years, people say some bottom is better...deep sand beds were the end all be all a few years back, now they have fallen out of favor. Then shallow sand beds. Lately bare bottom is the way to go, but now people are discovering that they are finding the tank becomes too "clinical" to support any pods or other needed substrate creatures.

I have yet heard of anyone having a problem with cc. I suggest that because of its composition, it allows 1. pods and other substrate creatures to thrive unbothered by fish and inverts. 2. Because it is "porous" it does not create "dead zones" that when leached (like a dsb) creates a poisonous slurry in the water column. 3. It is easy to clean if need be with a vacuum, but I have noticed since I stopped vacuuming a year ago or so, i have thriving life in the form of pods, small brittle starfish, bristle worms, feather dusters (though they have been getting picked off by something lately) and so many other forms of life, that it does not have that "dead zone" look of say a dsb.

I will stick with cc for now on. It seems to work the best for a captive life cube.

 

[Mike612]

Alright thanks for the info. I'm going to PM Clare now.

 

[Meloco14]

I have recently been looking into a seahorse tank as well. I have found a lot of great info at seahorse.org. There is a FAQ and library, along with some good sticky threads. I highly recommend it. Also, greenighs is a member there (and possibly moderator?) so I am sure she will be able to help a lot. To me it seems like a 29 tall is the smallest recommended tank for most species of seahorse. As mentioned, height is more important than length. For live rock or sand bed there really are no rules. A lot of the tanks I have seen are a reef combined with seahorses. There is a stickied thread on what corals are seahorse safe at the other site. So how you aquascape your tank is really up to you. The only requirement is having lots of places to hitch, and nothing that will harm the seahorses. When you purchase your seahorses make sure they are captive bred. I have gotten the impression that many LFS's will claim to have captive bred seahorses, but they really aren't. For this reason many people recommend buying from a known breeder, like seahorsesource.com. Also, a lot of captive raised seahorses are pen raised in the ocean, not tank raised, so they potentially can have diseases or parasites. If you decide to buy at your LFS, make sure you see them feeding on frozen mysis shrimp, as Ben said. Cycling your tank can depend on a lot of things, but I would plan for a minimum of a month, and even longer before the seahorses go in. For a heater, any heater you would use on your reef tank is fine. I like Ebo-jager and visitherm personally, but there are a lot of good ones out there. One often overlooked factor is a chiller. Most seahorses available to us are from cooler waters than our reef inhabitants. It depends on species, but most seahorse tanks are between 72-75 degrees, and usually on the lower end of that. If you are in a hot climate or have heat issues from lights you may need a chiller. For lighting, there is no requirement. I would just use whatever you like, or use whatever is best for corals if you choose to house them. The only real seahorse compatible corals are soft corals and some LPS, so you won't need a whole lot of light. Filtration is still important, I would get a skimmer, and maybe a filter if you arent using live rock and sand. A refugium would be great, it could provide a steady source of copepods and amphipods for your seahorses to feed on. And lastly, remember to have fairly low flow. Many people use only the filter/skimmer return as their movement. A powerhead or two is a good idea if you make sure the flow is spread out and can't hit a seahorse full on. HTH and good luck.

 

[Mike612]

Thanks a lot. I'm not planning on keeping coral in this tank. Concerning temperature and the heater, I live in Montreal so it could be freezing outside during the winter and boiling outside during the summer. The outdoors doesn't affect the temperature in my house though because my house is always set at 70 degrees F so it's warm in the house during the winter and cool during the summer. For the cycling time, I really only asked because I was thinking maybe if it take say a month to cycle, I could at that time add the plants to the tank and then a couple of weeks later add some astrea snails. After maybe two or three more months I was thinking I could start adding the seahorses. I just want to ensure that there is a pod population in there before I add them. Also, I don't understand the water flow thing. I know that they don't like much water flow but the lfs recommended I use 2 aquaclear filters and you're recommending a filter and protein skimmer and possibly some powerheads. What would be better? Right away I think I would ditch the powerheads out of fear that there would be too much current. Also, I've already seen seahorses feed millions of times at my lfs on frozen mysis and he says they're tank reared and I believe him because he has helped me out a lot so I trust him. Also I think he might breed some of the seahorses himself because I know he breeds damsels and believe it or not nautilus at his place. He just seems to have a constant seahorse supply so I think he breeds them himself and they're always eating and looking very healthy.

 

[Meloco14]

Since your house is well climate controlled, you will probably only need a heater. While your tank is cycling, you wont want to add anything in the beginning. Towards the end while your nutrients are lower you can add some algae, and then snails as the cycle ends. And that is a great idea to give it a couple months to gain a decent pod population. If you want you can also buy live copepods and amphipods from online sources now. If you are not keeping any corals, lighting can be a simple fluorescent fixture, but I would recommend PC's. They aren't too expensive and you don't need anything fancy, but the PC's are nice and compact and will give you good plant growth. You also don't need much flow since you dont have corals, so using just the flow from a filter and skimmer might be enough, depending on the size of tank you end up with. While seahorses do not like much flow, adult specimens can still handle a bit of flow and it is good for keeping them active. You definitely don't want a stagnant tank. But I would check out the other forum or greenighs for more information regarding flow. The seahorses your LFS carries sound great. Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[Mike612]

Will do. I'm still waiting for greenighs to write back and like I said it could still be a few months before I even start up the tank, just to ensure that I get enough information. Stupid question because I honestly don't remember what I did with my 75 gallon, do I add some of the uncured live rock the same day I add the water on the first day or do I give it a couple of weeks? So if this happens, my plan is to let the tank cycle. Then I will add the plants (probably caulpera). I'll then add some astrea snails. Two or three months later I'll add the seahorses. Are these plans good?

 

[Meloco14]

There are a few different methods to curing rock. I would search the forum for curing threads to get ideas. But simply put, it is fine to add the rock on the first day. Freshly mixed saltwater normally needs to settle for 24 hours or so before you use it but this is not as important during the cycle. But you might as well get in this habit from the start, so maybe fill the tank with saltwater and sand on day 1, then day 2 add the rock and start the cycle. Your plan sounds good, just make sure you have a selection of test kits to check the parameters. GL

 

[Mike612]

Alright thanks a lot.

 

[Anonymous]

I'd also go for captive bred seahorses. They will usually be eating frozen mysis from the get go. I also recommend a heater for tropical species, but try to keep the tank at the 74-76 range, rather than the 78-82 range most tropical tanks are kept at. We've found that bacterial infections are greatly reduced that way. Also, unless you're keeping seagrasses or soft corals, you can use regular PC lights, you won't need anything special like metal halides or T5s.

Choose cleanup crew and tank mates with care, too. A couple of benthic fishes (ones that linger on the sandbed or perch on the rocks) are preferable to pelagic fishes (ones that swim in the open water colum) or fast-moving, darting fishes will inhibit your horses' behaviors, cause stress and generally bum them out. Fast, aggressive feeders will out compete them, too. Stick with an algae blennie, a goby or such.

 

[pwj1286]

Very important note!

Be careful with skimmers and microbubbles they sometimes produce in your display. The microbubbles will attach to the seahorses and float them to the top and killing them.

Be careful about putting some gobies/psuedochromis/small wrasses, they will compete for food with the seahorses. They will eat off the live rock, where the seahorses get some of their food.

Add some non-sexual reproductive macro aglea, for microcrustation production.

If possiable buy tank raise/bred horse. If you are interested, we have some for sale at the place that I work. I am not sure of their breed because they are still small. They are either "Black Mustangs" and "Dwarf" species.
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