View Full Version : Looking for seahorse information
Sarra
03-17-2008, 12:11 AM
I keep finding the same exact webpage, copied word for word over and over, which has great detailed information about what can be kept with them, but not general information like food and tank sizes.
i've only got 10 gallons to work with, will a seahorse even be a viable option? Filtration will be handled via my 10 gallon reef tank, I'm simply going to use a gravel filtration system (a sponge filter under the sand in the tank) for a water supply, with water draining back into my reef tank. I've got a thread about this in the DIY/equipment forum if you want to read my ramblings about plans.
I'm not set on a seahorse, I'm just trying to find something that will go well in my 'fuge tank. So far, 10 lbs of live rock and maybe some marine plants are planned, possibly even a blue legged hermit (since they don't seem to eat copepods anyway).
Yadokari
03-17-2008, 4:14 AM
Look up Pygmy (or dwarf) Seahorse if you're interested in seahorses. 10G tank is perfect for the pygmy type. In fact, bigger than a 10G makes it more difficult to keep them :)
They'll need to be fed baby brine everyday. You'll also need a sponge filter because of their small size. Babies will be TINY! A sponge filter will eliminate the possibility of them getting sucked in. You can't keep them with many other fish though, because they're really slow at eating so competing for food is hard for them. This is why the smaller the tank, the better for them.
I used to keep pygmy seahorses a few years ago in a 10G. You can easily fit up to 20 of them plus their babies. Super cute too!
I'm a FW person now though, so I probably will never come back to the SW area again. I don't even know how I stumbled upon here...
Well, hope that helps though! :)
fsn77
03-17-2008, 11:45 AM
When I looked into getting seahorses, I found that they are not recommended to be kept in a tank that is less than 18" tall due to their shape / orientation compared to typical fish. A standard 10g tank would be too small for regular seahorses.
Was this the site you visited: http://www.seahorse.org/ ?
They have a discussion forum there where should be able to find more specific answers to questions.
mandy21
03-17-2008, 12:32 PM
http://www.syngnathid.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php
I'd not start with dwarf seahorses due to their often difficult feedings - requiring live small foods much like mandarins. I kept going back and forth on putting a pair of female reidi horses in my 29g, but finally decided against it because I'd prefer to get an ideal sized tank (30g XXtall right now is what I'd be looking into) and not have to move them since they aren't long-lived anyways and i'm sure the stress of a definite tank move in the coming year would cut that down a bit.
They are amazing, but not suitable, IMO, for a 10g as fsn said.
nycsicktank
03-17-2008, 12:51 PM
how tall is it recommended?
mandy21
03-17-2008, 1:07 PM
3 times the maximum height of an adult seahorse.
nycsicktank
03-17-2008, 1:12 PM
3 times the maximum height of an adult seahorse.
:eek3: geeezz... thats one pretty tall tank :grinyes:
mandy21
03-17-2008, 1:43 PM
not all that tall when you consider that readily available horses that are captive bred, the largest gets at most 12 inches. 36" tall tank is pretty tall, but commonly the horses range from 4-8 inches. Can't really plan on the 4 inch side, so 24 inches is ideal. Most tall or extra tall tanks are that deep in the smaller sizes. 2.5 times the adult height isn't ideal but it isn't going to stress them to mass amounts.
That's one reason why you really have to plan ahead for a specific seahorse tank.
nycsicktank
03-17-2008, 1:46 PM
not all that tall when you consider that readily available horses that are captive bred, the largest gets at most 12 inches. 36" tall tank is pretty tall, but commonly the horses range from 4-8 inches. Can't really plan on the 4 inch side, so 24 inches is ideal. Most tall or extra tall tanks are that deep in the smaller sizes. 2.5 times the adult height isn't ideal but it isn't going to stress them to mass amounts.
That's one reason why you really have to plan ahead for a specific seahorse tank.
great info! planning is always needed if you want to success :thumbsup:
blinxxpunk182
03-17-2008, 1:56 PM
i have 4 seahorses in a 20 tall. theyve been living happily in it for 1 and a half months.
blinxxpunk182
03-17-2008, 2:01 PM
mine live off of brine shrimp, macroalgae, and coepods.
mandy21
03-17-2008, 2:03 PM
i have 4 seahorses in a 20 tall. theyve been living happily in it for 1 and a half months.
I forget, what kind of seahorses are they?
not all that tall when you consider that readily available horses that are captive bred, the largest gets at most 12 inches. 36" tall tank is pretty tall, but commonly the horses range from 4-8 inches. Can't really plan on the 4 inch side, so 24 inches is ideal. Most tall or extra tall tanks are that deep in the smaller sizes. 2.5 times the adult height isn't ideal but it isn't going to stress them to mass amounts.
That's one reason why you really have to plan ahead for a specific seahorse tank.
Wow, 3X the height of the seahorse.
How long do the pixies/pygmy live?
It would be super easy to put a sponge filter on the outlet and inlet of the tank, to prevent them from going down into the reef tank.
Thinking about brine shrimp and pygmy seahorses now... Going to do some more reading. Also going to ask around at my LFS to see what they recommend, they had a seahorse tank for a good 6 months.
I may be able to do a tall tank, but it would require me to revamp plans quite a bit... :( I'm limited to a rather small space for this, I think 10 gallons is about max unless I can find a cheap 29 XXTall tank that has the same footprint as a 10 gallon tank.
I also have a tank divider for the 10 gallon tank. I could use it to turn the 10 into a 4 and 6 gallon tanks, put the little seahorses on one side and something else on the other side of the tank.
Regardless of what I decide to do, this tank will be getting set up for a good week for leak testing, then another week for pump testing and algae/'pod growth. I'll update this as I get closer to a decision. I'll try breeding the brine shrimp for a week daily before I commit to buying a seahorse. I want to make sure I can feed the buggers consistently, daily.
mandy21
03-17-2008, 2:32 PM
the larger seahorses live around 4 years, that's under ideal conditions. I don't recall a time frame on the dwarf horses, but I remember reading it's shorter. Remember, that's under ideal conditions. I did a months' worth of research and was going to wait at least another month before getting any, if I did that.
I certainly would not consider attempting seahorses in anything smaller than a 10g. Even the dwarf/pgymy/pixie.
I have seen a 20g tall tank that was a little larger than a 10g in terms of footprint. That could work for 2 (but don't do male and female unless you want to breed them) of the smaller horses, like the H. breviceps, potentially H. erectus.
Hmm, a 20XTall. I'm going to consider that. I'll toss the tank divider back into the drawer then. :p
Almondsaz
03-17-2008, 5:24 PM
One other site worth mentioning is http://www.seahorse.org/ I prefer the one that Mandy mentioned earlier. While I don'thave seahorses...I have pipefish which are also Syngnathids. Please note that temp is as important if not more so than tank size. They are key, critical characteristics of maintaining seahorses.
Amphiprion
03-17-2008, 5:41 PM
I actually had my pair for 5 years. The older they get, the more disease prone they become. This is all pretty good info. The only thing I would add is to be sure you have a fully stocked "medicine cabinet" on hand in case there is an issue. You have to deal with any problems quickly.
Blinxxpunk182, it is impossible for them to live off of macroalgae--they are strict carnivores. I'd still be worried that they aren't getting enough nutrition and 1.5 months isn't enough time to tell. You really need to look into enriched mysid shrimp. I'd be worried that they aren't getting enough as it is. Do you have a picture of them--I'd like to see how their bellies look from a focused side shot.
@Almondsaz: Out of experience, temp has less to do with it than one might think. I had no trouble raising mine in temps ranging from 75-80 degrees--mine were hybrids from oceanrider. And the (over)generalization about cooler temperatures only apply to certain species. The most popular species (minus H. erectus and H. zosterae) like H. kuda are actually fully tropical. Other less popular (but no less beautiful) species are indeed temperate and/or coldwater.