A Pair in a BioCube 8?

G

GreyhoundTrish

New member
Just wondering if it was possible to find a seahorse variety small enough to live in one. I'd want a pair of course. I'm extremely new to all this, and seahorses just peak my curiosity, so thought it couldn't hurt to ask, after all, if you all laugh at me, it doesn't hurt so much online. :p
 
The only seahorse that would be able to live in the small of a tank would be h. zosterae. And in an 8G, many zosters could live in there. (at least 10). Please feel free to ask any more questions.
 
That's exactly what I was looking at. Up to 10 pair. Very cool. I found a breeding pair special for 125.00 including 1 mating pair of sexually mature Pixies (H zosterae), , Vibrance 1, 200 ml's of copepods, live baby brine shrimp, baby brine shrimp cysts, baby bonzai seaweed hitching posts, Alisa Abbotts book on dwarf seahorses, and shipping !! All you need to get started. Pixies like small 2-5 gallon tanks and need to eat live foods every day. Copepods or baby enriched brine shrimp are the best.

This is at Seahorse.com.

Is this reasonable? Would this be a good way for me to start? I'm obviously planning on getting the tank going, getting coral and invert recommendations and them going first too.
 
GreyhoundTrish, you said "up to 10"...this is for an 8G, right? You could easily have more than 10 in this. I'd say up to about 20 or 30 before it'd get kind of cramped. However, I wouldn't recommend this, I'd start with anywhere from 5-8 for an 8G. Just wanted you to know that 10 is not the maximum.

The deal from seahorse.com, sounds fine ...but.... I think that you could get better quality and more horses for less $$$. Try seahorsesource.com, and look for the zosters. Seahorsesource also carries pods, DECAPPED brine shrimp, and more.

I highly recommend Abbott's book, almost necessary lol, but I would get at a different place than with the whole deal from seahorse.com

I'm not saying seahorse.com is a bad dealer or anything, just recommding a probably better deal...seahorsesource. And just two dwarves for $125 is kind of high from seahorse.com (yes, it does have all that other stuff, but still....)

Abbott's book is extremely helpful and informative, so I would get it if I were you. It gets you off to a great start on zosters. Remember, RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH!!! After you do that, feel free to ask any more questions you may have.

Most of the time, corals are not usually recommended for dwarves. (unless extremely not aggressive) Tankmates for them are usually a lot different than from their bigger brethen. So you can't always go by what someone says if it doesn't pertain to dwarves. (tankmates)

Hope this helps you get started, any more questions are welcome!
 
Wow!! My LFS was right in reccomending this site. You're giving me great information. Sorry, with my job I'm rarely at a desk to log in during the day.

What would be good tank mates if I go with seahorses in my 8? Are there some less aggressive corals that would still have some color splash?

Obviously I'll need someone to clean the live sand. ;)

Thanks for making me feel very welcome and not like an idiot. It's nice to find a forum that doesn't laugh the newbie out of the water.

No updates, as I probably won't have water in the tank for a couple of weeks, in the middle of moving. But the sale on the tank and stand was too good for me not to grab. I keep staring at it sitting in my living room, just waiting to come out of the box. :D
 
Oh, I DO have a question. What's the life expectancy on these little guys? And well...obviously if I have pairs we'll get Jrs. What does everyone do as the population grows? Do the youngsters survive well, or are they like a lot of fish where babies are eaten, etc. See, I'm totally clueless, but fascinated, and I'm willing to do the research and ask the dumb questions before getting them. I take even a single tiny seahorse as seriously as I do my greyhounds. I by no means see aquatic species as the disposable pets so many people do.
 
Not a problem, I like helping SH people (or should I say fanatics) out!

For corals, I'm not exactly an expert or anything, but I know that you can try the Kenya Tree coral (capnella spp.)

As for your LR, macros, and live sand, you MUST get it from seawaterexpress.com (at least, I HIGHLY recommend it) All the "nasties" (such as hydroids and worms) are completely gone. They even have a dwarf deluxe pack or something with wonderful stuff, perfect for what you're planning to do! The owner, George, is very helpful and informative. (I've spoken to him personally many times). And the customer service is excellent.

Dwarves generally don't live long, I'm pretty sure it's not much longer than 1 year. However, since they are such prolific breeders, you can easily have 3 generations in one year.

There are many fry raising methods, here are a few:

*Breeders net; for the first two to three weeks of the fry, they can be kept in a breeder's net (along with some hitching posts) any should be fed BBS three times a day. (my personal favorite)
*Right along the parents! However, just increase your meals to three times (vs. two)
*Separate container-can be a small (one or two gallon) tank. Water changes everyday

Oh, and have you gotten Abbott's book yet? :D

Any more questions are welcome.
 
When you say critters, do you mean fish or inverts?

For fish, I'd say a definite NO. Most dwarf keepers do not have any other "tankmates" with their horsies. I know it's tempting, but it just won't work out.

For inverts, I'd go with snails. I particularly like nassarius vibex. Some other ones are trochus and astrae. But be sure to treat the snail's shells before putting them in the tank (definite droids if not treated). Stay away from hermit crabs.

Getting that book will definitely answer many of your questions, but that doesn't mean you can't post them here! Keep 'em coming. :)
 
Yea, I know that if I go the seahorse route, no Nemo for me. I know it would be only inverts.

Since you're having so much fun...tell me about droids? Educate me, I have to wait until Tuesday for the book. :P
 
www.seahorse.org has a great library you can check out, tons of information to suck you into the horse hobby, next think you know you'll have an addiction and 10 future tanks planned in your head :)
 
As for the hydroids, GreyhoundTrish, there is soo much information about them. I'm sure you can find most of it at seahorse.org and everything, but I'll give you some quick notes.

*There are many forms of hydroids
*They can come as hitchhikers on LR, LS, and snails' shells...etc....
*Hydroids can sting dwarf fry and even adults to death
*A medicine called Febendazole (Panacur) gets rid of them, but this med will also kill worms, some snails, and other soft bodied creatures.

There you have it, some brief things on hydroids.
 
Thanks. :) Oh, and the book shipped today. Can't wait til it arrives Tuesday. Right now, I've got plenty of reading here. Glad my LFS pointed me here.
 
hydroids are the bane of dwarf tanks, a lot of dwarf keepers "kill" their live rock and sand for that reason so they don't run into trouble. As far as corals go, it's a safe bet to go with none. Dwarf tanks usually have false corals even though keepers would like to have live there is a risk the seahorses will become food. SI is correct, several more than 2 can be kept in that setup and they prefer living in groups.
 
I don't know...but once I saw them in an LFS I was hooked. I have had dwarves and they are very cool.
One thing to be careful about with this size horse is that they do not get sucked into the filter intake, it should be covered with bridal veil or sponge. You'll love having them.
 
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