Sea Horse in a pico

[Sitarangi]

Im deliberating getting the JBJ 3g picotope for my college room. Inspired by Melev's pico, I was thinking about a seahorse.

The tank would be mostly mushrooms and zoos, so I don't have to swap out the 9w light.

What species of seahorses would be alright? Im thinking the Hippocampus sp.

Also what are some good 'grips' for the horse? Im thinking some small tonga branches and the zoos themselves.

Also, could I keep him with a goby? Id could spot feed the horse with a pipette so he wouldn't get outfed.

Also, assuming the horse is a bad idea, would an angler work in a pico or do they just get to big?

[audio101]

You could do dwarf seahorses.

[EdKruzel]

Even a dwarf seahorse would be cramped in a pico. Many of the zoo's can sting a horse so other holdfast would be required.

On something that small I'd try to stay away from any fish and stick to inverts only. If you really must have a swimming friend in the tank, then maybe a pistol shrimp and a goby.

[Illuminati]

The only species that would work would be Dwarf Seahorses. Someone in a local reef club had 7 in his pico.

Dwarf seahorses need daily fresh hatch baby brine shrimp. Seems like a PITA for all the work and like ED said Zoa's will sting the seahorses.

[leezer]

I was looking into doing a small seahorse tank for my wife, but ended up nixing the project due to the extremely intense feeding schedule.

The dwarf seahorses are the only ones that would be acceptable in such a small tank. Actually, it is suggested that they be kept in a tank between 2.5 and 5.5 gallons because it makes it easier for them to catch food without having to flood the tank with a ton of live brine.

Illuminati is correct, though. You will need to be hatching live brine on an almost daily basis. Also, keeping a large amount of chaeto full of little critters can also serve as a supplemental food source. But this requires a separate tank, since the seahorses will eat all the critters in a very short time if kept in their tank.

Oh, and you need to be feeding these guys 3 or 4 times a day.

All other seahorses besides the dwarfs need to be in at least 20 gallons (the taller and bigger, the better).

[Sitarangi]

Dwarfs only accept live brine? Feeding frozen wouldn't be a problem. Well I guess there goes that idea. Well maybe ill do a clown goby then, the only snag is those buggers get huge and one jumped out of my brother in law's pico. Maybe a nice goby and pistol combo would be best.... I had one in my 29g, they are pretty fun to watch.

[Illuminati]

I have a Pom Pom Crab in my pico, a cool little invert. Sexy Shrimp would make another Pico friendly tankmate.

[Sitarangi]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14463878#post14463878 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Illuminati
I have a Pom Pom Crab in my pico, a cool little invert. Sexy Shrimp would make another Pico friendly tankmate.

I have a pom pom, and i've seen them in picos before, their one of those inverts IMO, that hide and never like to be seen. I wish I could find a way to get some starfish so I can keep some Hali shrimps.

I've been looking around and have found no stories about feeding frozen mysis to dwarf sea horsies, ill make a thread on the sea horse forum.

[decent37]

yea you should do that I would be really interested to see what they all have to say about it

[leezer]

Pretty much every reliable source of information will tell you the same thing: live baby brine only.

[The Reef Expert]

Melev's Pico 2.5g with a reidi...
http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/05/10/pico_1004.jpg