Looking for seahorse information
- Thread starter Sarra
- Start date
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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