Seahorses...anyone keep them?

oddsbotkins said:
seahorses are very easy to keep. Have many myself. Water quality is a must. ANY nitrite or ammonia and they are dead. Live food is not necessary, but they do much better with live mysis. Sachs aquaculture in Florida has the best prices I have seen. I get weekly drop shipments. Tank must have great water flow, very few dead spots, and peaceful tankmates. A lot of people try to keep clowns or gobies ect, but they still compete for the food source, expecially if it's live. i use a clear plastic trap, the horses get used to it, and will swim right into it, I put the food in, they eat what they want, then I release them. I always have lots of live mysis shrimp in the tank, along with LOTS of pods. Horses will change color due to mood, or colors in tank. I was reading someone elses remarks about having lots of medicine for them. THIS IS A MAJOR NO NO. NEVER GIVE ANY FISH ANY TYPE OF MEDICINE. If you have to medicate your fish or your tank, there is another problem, and its not the fish. If you slowly lower your salinity down to 10-15 (specific gravity to 1.008-1.012) your tank will NEVER get sick. I know what people are saying "OH my god he's nuts". Everything will survive, and thrive. All fish, corals and inverts will do just fine and reproduce. When you lower the gravity and salinity, it raises the allowable oxygen levels. No parasite can survive in the hyposalinity. The colors of your fish and corals will explode. They will eat more, and grow and reproduce faster. I have been doing this for nearly twenty five years, it works, and works very well. I have NEVER lost a fish due to disease.
Dont go do a massive water change overnight and drop your salinity, it will cause shock. (think this is a no brainer, cant tell you how many morons due just this, even at your local fish store). If your salinity/gravity is around say 35 and 1.022, next time you do your 10% water change, use water with the gravity of 1.010-1.015 and do this every change there after. This will SLOWLY bring the levels down. Try it it woks wonders.
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Hmm, I haven't heard of these practices working for too many other people. Honestly, people that have done some of these that I know of have ended up losing things. It also depends upon the seahorse species, too. Brackish conditions like you recommend are not ideal for all species (not to mention it would exclude other animals and organisms from doing as well). Not having medicine on hand is just reckless, IMHO. I never actually had to deal with any diseases with my own seahorses, but I dealt with them in other circumstances and trust me--the diseases act quickly and you must be quicker. But to each his/her own.
 
Seahorses.org had a showing at our frag swap this weekend. I asked them about getting an all-in-one and keeping seahorses.

They reminded me that seahorses thrive in colder temps, so a chiller would probably be necessary during some months.

Other than that, I don't think they're hard to keep in a species tank (from what I understand).
 
Subliminal said:
Seahorses.org had a showing at our frag swap this weekend. I asked them about getting an all-in-one and keeping seahorses.

They reminded me that seahorses thrive in colder temps, so a chiller would probably be necessary during some months.

Other than that, I don't think they're hard to keep in a species tank (from what I understand).
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That is true for most species, but again not all. Several more popular species are tropical. A lot of these blanket statements get used, even by more experienced hobbyists, and they simply don't hold true all across the board.
 
Although I prefer to use prevention over treatment when dealing with marine health I do believe it is sometimes neccessary..just as it is with humans. On the salinity are you suggesting to run hypo on your tanks always? I can't agree with that if so. I beleive in it for a treatment but not as the normal status quo for them to thrive.
 
Amphiprion said:
That is true for most species, but again not all. Several more popular species are tropical. A lot of these blanket statements get used, even by more experienced hobbyists, and they simply don't hold true all across the board.
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I'd agree with that. Amp, when you kept seahorses did you try pipefish with them too? I actually like them more than the horses.
 
I never kept pipefish, actually (it was an option though). Looking back, it would have been interesting. If I didn't have my sea anemone in my 75, I may have even placed one of the reef dwelling pipefishes in my tank. The pipefish are a much larger, more diverse group than the sea horses and they do deserve more attention than they get.
 
Grins said:
Although I prefer to use prevention over treatment when dealing with marine health I do believe it is sometimes neccessary..just as it is with humans. On the salinity are you suggesting to run hypo on your tanks always? I can't agree with that if so. I beleive in it for a treatment but not as the normal status quo for them to thrive.
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Don't get me wrong--I'm all for prevention, but if/when something happens, ignoring (except in a few circumstances) a problem is a good way to lose your seahorses. Acting quickly in these situations makes a HUGE difference.
 
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