Greygirl77
01/14/2011, 11:04 PM
I've just started back into the SW hobby and have always wanted Seahorses. What is a good starter seahorse?
I have a 36 corner bow, a 40 breeder tank, and a regular old 10 gallon basic tank that are sitting empty right now.
What filters would work for a good seahorse set up? And all those other questions that I can't even begin to think to ask....just toss me up some basic advice. I've turned this idea over and over in my head, changed my mind, been scared off by what I've read and everything else...But now I'm ready to start prepping this tank, but I need to decide what to prep it for!!!
rayjay
01/14/2011, 11:08 PM
The ten gallon would work for dwarfs or for a sump on the larger tanks.
I have placed links that I think are important to people wanting to start into the seahorse hobby, on the bottom of a page on my website.
MY THOUGHTS ON SEAHORSE KEEPING PLUS LINKS (http://www.angelfire.com/ab/rayjay/seahorsekeeping.html)
LisaD
01/15/2011, 06:02 AM
A good starter seahorse is captive bred H erectus, a reliable supplier is seahorsesource, and they have good advice for keeping them and other species. Their customer support is very good. If the 36 corner tank is fairly tall (at least 20 inches, taller is better) I'd use it. Second choice would be the breeder tank, maybe with a smaller species such as fuscus.
If you can set up a sump, as stated by rayjay, the 10 gallon would be a good size, and you could put some equipment, such as skimmer and/or refugium, under the tank.
Temperatures should be cooler, at least in the mid-70s. Rayjay and I recently had a debate about the acceptable range, but I think we agree that 74-745 is an acceptable temperature. Avoid abrupt swings between warm and cool, these can be very stressful.
Feed daily, frozen mysis (I like PE and Hikari brands) should be the base of the diet. Enrich, see seahorsesource site for one enrichment. Additional food, like ghost for variety is good, but avoid brine shrimp. (Unlike newly hatched brine shrimp, which are too small, adult brine shrimp has very little nutritional value, and is best not used.)
There are many ways to set up a successful seahorse tank. I'll tell you what has worked well for me with a 29-55 gallon set up for erectus or similar medium sized seahorses:
Live sand, shallow sand bed - for biological filtration
Live rock, 1-2 lbs per gallon - for biological filtration
Decent quality HOB skimmer, such as AquaC Remora or BakPak
OR a HOB Refugium (I have both on my 55)
If room on the back, a power filter, for surface circulation - I don't use charcoal, but you have the option to use it or other chemical filtration.
If needed, a powerhead in the tank for additional circulation (depends on size of tank)
Circulation is important to good water quality, BUT make sure it is directed to the surface of the water or behind the rock. Seahorses are weak swimmers. They need hitches and places to eat and swim where they don't have to fight strong current. Not that a little current will hurt them, but they do need some peaceful areas.
Moderate lighting to support coralline algae, macroalgae - I use 2 to 4 power compact flourescents. The lighting is attractive, and sufficient. Can also support some low light requiring, non-stinging corals such as mushroom polyps, leather corals, and some zoanthids.
Clean up crew - nassarius snails are great for cleaning up scrap mysis. True peppermint shrimp (larger ones so they are less likely to be eaten) will control aiptaisia anemones. A "safe" hermit crab is the scarlet reef hermit; many other species, even small ones, can go after seahorses - you can use others, but I like the scarlet reef hermits.
Tankmates - avoid for the most part, seahorses aren't good competitors for food. There are a few you could have, but I'd set up the tank and add seahorses and CUC first. Once you are good with that - say 6 months, you can consider adding suitable tankmates - there aren't many.
On dwarfs - IME they are hardy and cute but a LOT of work - daily hatching of live brine shrimp, and the struggle to simultaneously saturate their environment with enough food and keep it clean. I've kept dwarf seahorses 4 or 5 times, and each time, before the year was out, I've sold or given them away because I got tired of the daily work.
Good luck!
PS on references
1) This is not a seahorse book, but if you want the fundamentals of setting up a marine tank with live rock for biological filtration, invest in New Marine Aquarium by Mike Paletta. Less than $20 and well written, concise and beautifully illustrated. I've kept marine tanks for 35 (yikes, I'm old!) years, and seahorses for 8 years - this book has great information that I wish I didn't have to learn the hard way at the beginning of the hobby.
2) There is also a good chapter on seahorses in Reef Fishes volume 1 by Scott Michael. Not the greatest guide for keeping them, but a good reference.
Greygirl77
01/15/2011, 03:55 PM
Thanks. I'm hoping to start setting up within the month. I won't actually purchase my seahorses until spring when it warms up. My house stays at around 74 degrees, so temp control should be no problem. I am probably going to purchase new live rock and sand as my other tank is out of control with apitaisia and other worries. (I inherited it that way and now I'm battling to clean it up)
LisaD
01/15/2011, 06:38 PM
sounds like a plan! good luck!
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