29 gal biocube for seahorses
- Thread starter Hbohi
- Start date
pjb9166
New member
Bio cubed are not really a great choice for seahorses. One the hight requirements needed for seahorses and two temp control problems.
As for a 29 gal tank no more than one pair. Seahorses are not like other fish they are extremely hard to care for.
I have a great study guide if yiy would like.
Send me a personal message and I can email it to you. It's over 400 pages long.
Great information and will cover everything you no doubt will encounter when taking on the task of seahorse keeping
As for a 29 gal tank no more than one pair. Seahorses are not like other fish they are extremely hard to care for.
I have a great study guide if yiy would like.
Send me a personal message and I can email it to you. It's over 400 pages long.
Great information and will cover everything you no doubt will encounter when taking on the task of seahorse keeping
First off, when considering seahorses, it's best to consider species only tanks, and if just one species, all should come from the same breeder.
Seldom does it work to have pipe fish and seahorses in the same tank.
The height of a tank only comes into play if your seahorses can't seem to do the egg transfer in a lower tank, and you want fry from them.
As mentioned, a 29g tank would handle a pair of standard seahorses but you need an extra 15g for each additional pair.
Some basic reading can be had by checking out the links at the bottom of My Thoughts on Seahorse Keeping. Those links have most of what you should know when starting out.
Please pay extra attention to the links to Dan Underwood and Pledosophy.
Seldom does it work to have pipe fish and seahorses in the same tank.
The height of a tank only comes into play if your seahorses can't seem to do the egg transfer in a lower tank, and you want fry from them.
As mentioned, a 29g tank would handle a pair of standard seahorses but you need an extra 15g for each additional pair.
Some basic reading can be had by checking out the links at the bottom of My Thoughts on Seahorse Keeping. Those links have most of what you should know when starting out.
Please pay extra attention to the links to Dan Underwood and Pledosophy.
MechEngineer
New member
I’ve been keeping seahorses for years in my RSM130D (~34 gal) & since Jan this year in my BioCube 29 (~23 gal). I’ll try to keep this short as I could go on forever with all the crazy experiences I’ve had to battle (e.g. EGBD [external gas bubble disease] – had to get special meds that I had to inject in thawed mysis individually and hand feed the two diseased SHs, lost one unfortunately but the other I cured & is still alive 8 months later doing great)
Species only +1. I tried to have a pair of mini clown fish which worked for about 10 months before they got big and started stealing all the food – ended up using a net to keep them away during feeding and eventually gave them away as I was done dealing with that every day. Also had a yellow watchman goby / pistol shrimp pair with the SHs. Also NOT GOOD. The goby lost his fearfulness and started nipping at the SHs when they got near. The pistol shrimp got to be about 3.5” long (3-4 yrs) when I caught him taking his 2nd -with in a month - SH into his cave after killing, the pair was then given away.
Now I just have SHs either alone or in my one tank with dragonface pipefishes (just added the 2nd one and I think they paired up). They are perfectly okay to combine in a tank – the pipefish actually eats pods and not the frozen mysis the SHs do (IME).
-I would not recommend seahorses in the BioCube 29 for a beginner. Unless you have a 20+ gal sump/refugium, there’s very little room for error on your part (water changes/parameters/and issues you can’t even imagine)
-If you really want to do SHs in a BC29; go with a pair of pigmy seahorses (dwarf) to start
-IME groups of SHs live longer; never buy just one (always best to buy a pair)
-It helps to buy the same species from the same seller but as long as they are all reputable I don’t see a problem; In my current BC29 a Mustang is pregnant with a Sunburst (seahorse.com). Before that I had a mustang pregnant with a Reidi but Sandy killed them both (I now have a generator & a lot of gas)
For what Corals are okay, I’ve done a lot of research and experimenting & showing you my profile on another forum would be easier:
Red Sea Max 130D: Started 5+ yrs ago, Rebuild/Complete upgrade since Sandy 11/2012
Equipment: 2 MJ900 Returns, TLF Phosphate Reactor, InTank Media Basket used as Refuguim with LR/Cheato JBJ Nano LED Light, Tunze 9002 w/ Cup Upgrade, Custom LED lighting
LR/LS: 40 lbs Black Reef LS, +40lb mixed Fiji, Florida, Indonesia LR
Livestock: Sun Coral, Kenya Tree, Green Goniopora, Red Finger Sponges, Gorgonians, Clove Polyps, Zenias, Zoas, MacroAlgae, CUC, 2 Dragonface Pipefish, 3 yellow & 3 white Reidi SHs
Coralife BioCube 29: Started 1/2013
Equipment: Stock Return & Filter, BC29 Skimmer, Custom LED Lighting, Tossed BioBalls - Now Refugium with LR/Cheato JBJ Nano LED Light
LR/LS: 40 lbs White Reef LS, +40lb mixed Fiji, Florida, Indonesia LR
Livestock: Duncan, Gorgonians, Paddle Sponge, Zoas, Mushies, Clove Polyps, MacroAlgae, CUC, Shifting Sand Starfish, Mustang/Sunburst/Erectus Seahorses
In conclusion, if you are going to do SH’s in the BC29 get ready for some hefty upgrades right off the bat. This winter my 100% stock BC29 was running at 80-83 deg. After switching out the T5 lighting for LEDs, the temp def declined but not enough to sustain SHs for long; and therefore evaporative cooling (fan) was required – but now of course with more maintenance of checking the water level every day. I’m actually in the process of breaking the BC29 down. I know there is NO way it will make it through the summer without a chiller. And with experience with EGBD, I don't want to risk the extreme temp fluctuations of the chiller with that little tank volume. Luckily, I just finished cycling a 90 gal tank with a 30 gal sump which I think the SHs will find a much more suitable home.
and I was trying to make this short.....
Species only +1. I tried to have a pair of mini clown fish which worked for about 10 months before they got big and started stealing all the food – ended up using a net to keep them away during feeding and eventually gave them away as I was done dealing with that every day. Also had a yellow watchman goby / pistol shrimp pair with the SHs. Also NOT GOOD. The goby lost his fearfulness and started nipping at the SHs when they got near. The pistol shrimp got to be about 3.5” long (3-4 yrs) when I caught him taking his 2nd -with in a month - SH into his cave after killing, the pair was then given away.
Now I just have SHs either alone or in my one tank with dragonface pipefishes (just added the 2nd one and I think they paired up). They are perfectly okay to combine in a tank – the pipefish actually eats pods and not the frozen mysis the SHs do (IME).
-I would not recommend seahorses in the BioCube 29 for a beginner. Unless you have a 20+ gal sump/refugium, there’s very little room for error on your part (water changes/parameters/and issues you can’t even imagine)
-If you really want to do SHs in a BC29; go with a pair of pigmy seahorses (dwarf) to start
-IME groups of SHs live longer; never buy just one (always best to buy a pair)
-It helps to buy the same species from the same seller but as long as they are all reputable I don’t see a problem; In my current BC29 a Mustang is pregnant with a Sunburst (seahorse.com). Before that I had a mustang pregnant with a Reidi but Sandy killed them both (I now have a generator & a lot of gas)
For what Corals are okay, I’ve done a lot of research and experimenting & showing you my profile on another forum would be easier:
Red Sea Max 130D: Started 5+ yrs ago, Rebuild/Complete upgrade since Sandy 11/2012
Equipment: 2 MJ900 Returns, TLF Phosphate Reactor, InTank Media Basket used as Refuguim with LR/Cheato JBJ Nano LED Light, Tunze 9002 w/ Cup Upgrade, Custom LED lighting
LR/LS: 40 lbs Black Reef LS, +40lb mixed Fiji, Florida, Indonesia LR
Livestock: Sun Coral, Kenya Tree, Green Goniopora, Red Finger Sponges, Gorgonians, Clove Polyps, Zenias, Zoas, MacroAlgae, CUC, 2 Dragonface Pipefish, 3 yellow & 3 white Reidi SHs
Coralife BioCube 29: Started 1/2013
Equipment: Stock Return & Filter, BC29 Skimmer, Custom LED Lighting, Tossed BioBalls - Now Refugium with LR/Cheato JBJ Nano LED Light
LR/LS: 40 lbs White Reef LS, +40lb mixed Fiji, Florida, Indonesia LR
Livestock: Duncan, Gorgonians, Paddle Sponge, Zoas, Mushies, Clove Polyps, MacroAlgae, CUC, Shifting Sand Starfish, Mustang/Sunburst/Erectus Seahorses
In conclusion, if you are going to do SH’s in the BC29 get ready for some hefty upgrades right off the bat. This winter my 100% stock BC29 was running at 80-83 deg. After switching out the T5 lighting for LEDs, the temp def declined but not enough to sustain SHs for long; and therefore evaporative cooling (fan) was required – but now of course with more maintenance of checking the water level every day. I’m actually in the process of breaking the BC29 down. I know there is NO way it will make it through the summer without a chiller. And with experience with EGBD, I don't want to risk the extreme temp fluctuations of the chiller with that little tank volume. Luckily, I just finished cycling a 90 gal tank with a 30 gal sump which I think the SHs will find a much more suitable home.
and I was trying to make this short.....
