12 Gallon Biocube

Waterbury Guy

New member
I've been keeping a mixed reef (LPS and SPS) successfully for about 15 years now. Considering a Sea Horse only tank, my LFS which is great said I could get away with two in a 12 gallon biocube (I need this set up to be small). Looking for your thoughts here.....
 
Sadly, bad advice from the LFS. They won't last long in that small of a setup. Ideally you should start with at least a 30 gallon tank for a pair.

Dan
 
Thanks Dan! They really have steered me right and have a really nice shop, but I know all too well the pitfall of not doing things right!
 
What Dan said + when it comes to seahorses almost all LFS get it wrong. It is not their fault because seahorses come with their on set of rules as to tank size, tank mates and temperature. Closed systems like the Biocube run way too hot in the summer months and you want to keep your temps in the low 70's. Keep doing your research and you will have success when you finally get your horses.
 
There are lots of great LFS that try to steer folks right and generally do a very good job. Seahorses are a small niche in the market. A lot has been learned about them in a relatively short amount of time. Lots of bad info is readily available and repeated. There is a lot of educating to do. So, you can still have a shop that is great and tries to do the right thing but none are perfect and very few (if any) know everything about all of the market.
 
Looking back to 2003 when I first started with seahorses it seemed even the so called experts got it wrong:

Seahorses like low flow
Seahorses need low lighting
Using a skimmer causes male seahorses to develope bubbles in their pouch
Seahorses do fine in tropical setups with other fishes or reef tanks
Seahorses are fine in small tanks because they don't swim around all that much
Etc, etc., etc

Even I passed on some of this false info until I found out for myself. We have come a long way since the seahorse "fad" started. It is people like DanU and a few others that stopped the trial and error period and came up with solid information on successful seahorse keeping.
 
glad PPl like DanU and rayjay are here to help out. only thing I can add is my excitement for you new SH tank.

maybe get a smaller biocube and do dwarf SH?
 
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