How small can you go with a seahorse tank?

[pheinzig]

How small can I safely go for say...4 or 5 sea horses?
I would like to see if I can do something that will sit on the end of the couch in the corner. Preferably on an end table. Could I do something at around 5-10 gallons? Or how about 1 or 2 SH in a small pico tank?

[quicktater]

Have considered dwarf Seahorses? They are kind of a novelty and you can keep a bunch in a small tank.

[rayjay]

For dwarf zosterae seahorses you can put probably 25 or 30 in a 5 gallon tank as long as you do the live feeding and proper husbandry.
For Fuscus, you can use a 20g for one pair.
The recommendation for standard seahorses like reidi or erectus is 29/30g for the first pair and 15g extra for each additional pair.
Some have managed to keep a pair in a 20g tank but it requires more due diligence and husbandry to accomplish this. You let up for a bit and you can lose everything pretty fast.
Have you read the links at the bottom of "My Thoughts on Seahorse Keeping"? There are several with sufficient information that can help get you started.

[asid61]

Originally Posted by rayjay

For dwarf zosterae seahorses you can put probably 25 or 30 in a 5 gallon tank as long as you do the live feeding and

25 or 30? I would guess maybe 5 pairs at most.

[rayjay]

I have 18 in my 5 gallon tank and I know there would be no problem with more.
Frequent water changes to remove uneaten food help maintain water quality.
My only filtration is two small pieces of live rock and water movement is by two open air lines, one at each end.

[asid61]

There's 18 in there!?
Wow, you CAN keep a lot in a small aquarium!

[jeff@zina.com]

Dwarfs can do fine in a 1 gallon pico tank. No real bioload, no need for much special beyond anchor points except they only eat live food. Unfortunately, dwarfs also get preyed upon by just about everything else you might want in the tank, so a species or biotope tank is warranted.

Jeff

[FlaJohn]

Originally Posted by pheinzig

How small can I safely go for say...4 or 5 sea horses?
I would like to see if I can do something that will sit on the end of the couch in the corner. Preferably on an end table. Could I do something at around 5-10 gallons? Or how about 1 or 2 SH in a small pico tank?

actually according to what I've learned on another forum that you can do 6 mixed specie of seahorse in a 15 gallon tank with an (over head) filter and be successful for TWO YEARS.
I said this is wrong but was told by 3 people on this other forum that anything is possible and that let people try their own thing so maybe we can learn from it. Well go ahead and put 4 or 5 giant seahorses in 5 to 10 gallon tank as some Expert's will say anything to be politically correct.
pheinzing NO you can not have 4 or 5 giant seahorses in a 5 to 10 gallon tank for very long sorry that's just the way it is and does not take an expert to tell you that.

[aday2remmbr]

Originally Posted by FlaJohn

"We don't need that kind of posting here", how Royal Rayjay.

Start up ? OK so you can keep 6 mixed giant seahorses in a 15 gallon tank with an (overhead filter) for two years at this other forum but you can not do it here?

Well RayJay "we" do not need misinformation on seahorse husbandry and "we" need to tell this OP that he may not keep 4 or 5 seahorses in a 5 to 10 gallon tank. But looks like "WE" AKA ME is not part of the seahorse NAZI community thankfully.

Keep up your good work PLEASE.

i think it would be best if you just left this forum, this is a perfectly good question and you dont need to be bashing the OP. he did not say he was keeping 5 "giant" seahorses in a 15 gallon tank we were talking about dwarf seahorses.

i have kept dwarfs very successfully the only thing different between them and other seahorses is it is near impossible to wean them onto frozen food. so live brine or something is a must.

i kept 2 pairs in a 1 gallon pico tank and they did great. i also keep them with dwarf pipefish.

i got mine from ccritters.com they dont have a great selection of fish but for dwarf seahorses its a pretty good deal.

[FlaJohn]

Originally Posted by pheinzig

How small can I safely go for say...4 or 5 sea horses?
I would like to see if I can do something that will sit on the end of the couch in the corner. Preferably on an end table. Could I do something at around 5-10 gallons? Or how about 1 or 2 SH in a small pico tank?

pheinzig I have been told you can do what you want and we can learn from it. RayJay even points out that we can learn from new things on posts about a 15 gallon tank with six mixed giant seahorses with an (over head filter) that has been successful for two years on another board.

So I say go for it. I love the idea of a pico with two seahorses in it. A night light would be fun on it too.

[pheinzig]

Found a 29g hex tank + stand + wet/dry sump + rodi unit for $150.
Looks like its all in good condition in the pictures. Going to go see about picking it up tomorrow. Ill start piecing together the rest of the system over the next couple months.

This size should settle any uneasiness on my part. A pico would have been nice, but Ill just stick with what apparently works. Id still like to have 4/5...and yes, I was thinking giant sea horses...or whatever a 3-6" tall sp[species would be called. I will probably do it bare bottom, and wouldn't mind having some zoos to go in as well. I don't see the harm in adding zoos.

Ill probably do 50lbs or so of LR. Bare bottom. Light flow at the bottom of the tank to keep detritus suspended, maybe a slight upward draft from a small K1 or something to create a water column. But I definitely want to keep the flow gentle and perfect.

Could I get some recommendations on a CuC for a tank this size? Im not sure If I have to have special considerations on the inverts to be compatible with the main display livestock. And finally how about plants/macro algae? Or is the fake stuff a better way to go?

[rayjay]

Sounds good!
If the sump will hold at least 15g of water, then you can hold two pair of standard size seahorses in the tank.
Once you have some experience under your belt you can set up a small tank and go with dwarfs.
As for description of giant, that depends on the beholder as some consider reidi to be a "giant".
For types I've experienced or checked out seriously, I find:
H. zostera (dwarf) adult size 1" plus or minus a bit.
The next few I would consider to be "small" sized.
H. fuscus 4.5" to 5"
H. whitei 4.5" to 5"
These next ones I consider to be "standard" sized seahorses.
H. barbouri 5" to 6"
H. angustus 5" to 6"
H. kuda 5.5" to 6.5" (this class is notoriously misidentified with other species)
H. reidi 5.5" to 6.5"
H. erectus 6.5" to 7.5"
These next two I would class as "giant" seahorses.
H. kelloggi 9" to 11"
H. ingens 10" to 12"

There are lots more seahorses of varying sizes but these are the only ones I've had available to me over the years.

[timinnl]

Originally Posted by pheinzig

Found a 29g hex tank + stand + wet/dry sump + rodi unit for $150.
Looks like its all in good condition in the pictures. Going to go see about picking it up tomorrow. Ill start piecing together the rest of the system over the next couple months.

This size should settle any uneasiness on my part. A pico would have been nice, but Ill just stick with what apparently works. Id still like to have 4/5...and yes, I was thinking giant sea horses...or whatever a 3-6" tall sp[species would be called. I will probably do it bare bottom, and wouldn't mind having some zoos to go in as well. I don't see the harm in adding zoos.

Ill probably do 50lbs or so of LR. Bare bottom. Light flow at the bottom of the tank to keep detritus suspended, maybe a slight upward draft from a small K1 or something to create a water column. But I definitely want to keep the flow gentle and perfect.

Could I get some recommendations on a CuC for a tank this size? Im not sure If I have to have special considerations on the inverts to be compatible with the main display livestock. And finally how about plants/macro algae? Or is the fake stuff a better way to go?

That sounds like a very good deal. The 29 will hold one pair of seahorse nicely, two pair is really pushing it. But it also depends on what other fishes you want to have in the tank. 25 pounds should be more than enough rocks in the display tank.

[rayjay]

I forgot to mention about CUC and decor.
Again, I find this to be just a personal choice.
For me, I go bare bottom and have a housekeeping schedule that permits me to not use CUC of any kind.
With the decor, again, I choose to go with artificial decor but most I think prefer more natural "real" stuff.
I even keep my live rock in the sump as I found it frustrating to have to be searching all the time to find the seahorses that are in the rock work.
This too made it MUCH easier to keep the tank clean as the rock was no longer trapping detritus.

[DanU]

Keep in mind size can be very misleading especially if you use length alone. For example comparing a full grown H. ingens to a full grown H. erectus is like comparing a guy who is 6'2" and 180 lbs to a guy that is 5'10" and 220 lbs. Which is bigger? Which will have the heavier bioload?

Most seahorses will continue to grow as they age, just at a slower rate. We have had H. reidi past 12 inches, H. erectus past 10 inches, H. barbouri around 9 inches, H. kuda around 10 inches, H. fuscus at 6 inches.

Most of the smaller or midsize species such as H. fuscus, H. procerus, H. whitei, etc are largely unavailable or very difficult to find at best.

Dan

Dan

[aday2remmbr]

you could go bare bottom but i have grown to like using the black live sand. sometimes the horses are hard to see and this helps them pop out a bit more. i really like using live coral for them to hitch on but i have heard stonies are not good as they can scratch the seahorses. and also be wary on the cleanup crew as seahorses are slow, and i have had some cases where i catch a hermit crab trying to munch on one.

[pheinzig]

Im thinking ill get fuzzy chittens and some basic snails. No hermits.

Picked up that tank today. Was really surprised, great condition. Im pretty sure its a 45g not 29. Its pretty big. The wet/dry was a really nice setup too. A pro-clear 75. Everything was in great shape. He also threw in some heaters,salt,test kits,pump for the sump, overflow,hood, and a few other misc items. Not a bad find for $150. All I really have to do now is some basic plumbing and get some LR. After Im satisfied that the cycle is done, I can add my first fry's.

Id still like some ideas on powerheads, what do you all think would be a good way to do them? I under stand minimal, so keeping the main flow near the bottom of the tank was my plan. And probably something like a K1.

[pheinzig]

sorry I said fuzzy...i meant mossy chittens.

[rayjay]

Measure the tank length width and height and then google an aquarium volume calculator to find out just what size it really is.

[pheinzig]

good call. ill get around to it. It would be nice if it really turned out to be a 45. Im still kinda deciding how I want to go about the plumbing, and if I want to use the wet/dry that I got...or just do a full on sump/fuge. The wet/dry wont fit under the stand...but If I got something else, that would really keep things looking more aesthetically pleasing.

I think I have enough room down below to do something with a skimmer/fuge/canister. But it will be tight to fit it all inside.So Ill have to plan carefully.

[wdt2000]

Originally Posted by rayjay

Measure the tank length width and height and then google an aquarium volume calculator to find out just what size it really is.

http://reefcentral.com/index.php/tank-volume

[pheinzig]

its a hex tank. ill have to find a more specific calculator

[rayjay]

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/info.../calculate.htm

[pheinzig]

awesome! thanks!

[aday2remmbr]

as for powerheads you dont need much flow at all, they can withstand flow if the corals in the tank need it but they prefer very little, just enough to agitate the surface. also with such a large tank i dont think there will be any species that would be off limits, but try to stay away from the temperate species tho unless you want to use a chiller. but i would not do dwarfs in such a small tank, they get lost very easy you wouldnt even know there was anything in there haha.