12 gal nano...what do i need to do?

R

rogerwells

New member
i am thinking of making me 12 gallon nano a seahorse tank...i heard that they are really hard to take care of and i have to have tank specs just right and they die a lot....i have all stock stuff in the 12 gallon with about ten lbs of live rock and 10 pounds of live sand...theres also a emrald crab in there and some hermits and snails.

first off...are they really that hard to take care of? and how many can i fit into a 12 gallon...now i havnt done any research online yet because i just got the idea to make it a seahorse tank today when i realized that its nearly impossible to get a mantis in the chicagoland area....any info or opinions will be great...or maybe some good links...but i like getting the info from people from this site...cause i know i can trust you guys

thanks
 
For a 12 gallon tank you will be limmited to dwarf seahorses which are supposedly very difficult to care for (I think they are easy if you know what your doing) You could possibly get a small pair of hippocampus whitei for that size tank, but nothing very big. Most seahorses require a tank of at least 20 gallons. Ill bet you could get a pair of hippocampus whitei in a 12 gallon tank as they are only 4 inches long. I would suggest getting some experience with larger seahroses like whitie before attempting dwarfs. You can get the seahorses and more information at www.seahorse.com , and tons of info at www.seahorse.org
 
Make sure you have a ready and continuous supply or adult brine shrimp preferably that you can grow your own hatchings to adult before you even consider seahorses. I had some fed them brine shrimp when I could not get them I resorted to feeding them my newborn fancy guppies and still I could not keep them in food. even with 200 guppies. Several giving birth everyday.
 
and, dwarves shouldn't be kept with LR, since there are so many problems with hitch-hikers and dwarves: and NO, other horses won't really do, unless you have a chiller...

contact floridapets for a mantis... they should beable to dig ya one up within a few weeks, but just the common florida one (ok, I can't spell it anymore)

otherwise, you may beable to find online retailers that have some in stock...
 
yeah they just cost soo much money to get them shipped....well i cant grow brine shrimp for some reason...i have really bad luck with that....i guess i will just go with the mantis then if all i can get is dwarfs....could i put a pair in my 29 gallon that i have all set up and established or do i need to have a separate tank forthem? cause how can i practice with a larger species if i can only get the dwarfs in the 12 gallon?
 
ok i got a bicolor blennie, a six line, a percula clown and a blue damsel, the bicolor and the six line were both two but i didnt see the clown and damsel on there....any suggestions? and i have a small anomone
 
the damsel is BAD-too agressive... the clowns are iffy-percs being the least to do damage. that said, you can do it, if you got rid of the damsel, anemone, any LPS (sting) and can move the clown out for say, a week or two for the horses to take over/

you'd also have to tone down the flow (probably) low flow is better/

and before someone says in nature they live in more than 5x movement: what do they do in the wild? swim or just hang out?... when the water movement is high, they will just sit in one spot. when its low, they swim and swim and swim
 
oh, and the emerald crab is iffy also-they don't move fast, sooo

you can always put the emerald crab and the damsl and the anemone in the 12 gallon... high light, high flow, throw in some SPS....

whoot
 
yeah...i can maybe get the damsel in the 12 but the anomone is on a big rock and and emrald will die in he 12 because in a few days im getting my mantis in there....

i also have a torch coral that makes my other corals close up for awhile if it goes near them so i think ill have to get rid of it....i only have one powerhead in the tank as it is so its already a pretty low flowing tank...i think the anomone is in a good enough place where the horses wont get stung....i noticed that at the pet store they are always hanging out on little branch things....if i can get those and put them on the other side of the tank away from the anomone then maybe they wont go near the anomone? does that sound good? also will they eat frozen brine? cause i have really bad luck with big brine....my emrald is a small female that is maybe the size of a nickel and has been like that for 3 months now so i dont think its groing...and it loves the anomone for some reason so i dont think that it will annoy the horses...but i could be wrong...
 
large horses cannot live off of brine!!! frozen mysis shrimp.

the emerald would maybe be ok with a smaller sized mantis. my mantis didn't touch a hermit crab, but he was strange.

and anything that can sting is not good. horses move around, alot... and don't really care what they hitch onto with thier tails. so, yes they will hitch and get stung by the anemone, the torch...

start reading
http://www.seahorse.org/library/articles.shtml
 
my lfs has a seahorse in a JBJ 12G nano cube with everything stock (lights, filtration) and it seems to be doing great there for a while.

Regards,
E.
 
AHHHHH you can get a pair of hippocampus whitie in a 12 gallon tank! they are only 4 inches max, and they can eat frozen mysis. I think they would be perfect for what your doing! lol they are easy to care for, and will give u the expirience needed for dwarfs later if you decide on it. You can buy them at ocean rider they have them now. www.seahorse.com
 
man...i already am getting the mantis for the 12 gallon....well im upgrading my 29 to a 40 within the month soo that would be awesome
 
whatnot - I've seen you pushing the whitei for small tanks in several threads. Do you actually have any of these horses? Have you ever kept them? I was under the impression that whitei required a cold tank - impossible to do in that size. Am I incorrect in their needs?

beachboy - we also keep prisoners in small jail cells, and they survive. Doesn't mean they are happy, or living to their full potential. When your LFS has any full sized horses living in a stock JBJ 12 gal nano cube for over a year - let us know. Pretty much anything can live anywhere for a short period of time. That doesn't mean it's a long term option.

rogerwells - it doesn't sound like either of the 2 setups you have now are seahorse conducive. I would read more and set something up in the future which is seahorse specific.
 
No, i do not have them i have erectus, however i have heard numerouse people keeping whitei in 12 gallon tanks successfully and even breeding them in those tanks.... They are not full sized seahorses. They only grow to a max of 4 inces long while most sehorses grow to 6-8 inches long. So if you think about it its not that small for them.
 
whitei need tanks temp under 70*-they will live, but not THRIVE under these conditions... its not the size of the tank, for they are one of the few that can do ok in a ten gallon-along with capensis, and I think porcs

but they are cold water horses, and will eventually just start wearing away...
 
That's what I thought.

swanwillow - you've got me stumped. What is "porcs" short for? Did you mean procs - potbellies? Just wondering???
 
procerus sorry, I was in a hurry this am... I _THINK_ that they are also considered one of the smaller horses... but i ment fuscus, I did I did... so many of them!!!!


but the fuscus is HARD to find, but can be kept in a 12 gallon without a chiller: its a 'tropical' species...
 
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