Am i ready to add seahorses?

Tony25

New member
My tank has been setup for 2 weeks now. Its 29 gallon with a 20 gallon sump/fuge. Has 50 lbs of base rock and a few pieces of live rock. I added a small uncooked shrimp to start the cycle. Readings are ammonia 0 nitrite 0 and nitrate is 10ppm. Should i do a 10 gallon water change and add a snail for a few days then a seahorse?
I plan to add 2 should i do 1 at a time?
I can see copopods on the liverock already :)
 
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I was thinking of getting some Gorgonians should that be fine? What else could i add? How about the water change should i do like 10 gallons?
 
I've never had luck w/ gorgonians. I use an artificial hitching post in my 35g and I use macroalgae in my 55. I waited atleast 6 months before adding my seahorses. a 10 gallon waterchange in a 29g aquarium is 33% change. that's way too much. some people go about 10-20%. what I do is instead of doing one big massive change every two weeks, I will do smaller ones a couple times a week. i.e. in my 35g, I'll do maybe a 3-4 gallon change twice a week. it's worked for me, might not work for you.

I'd definately wait a while, you'll hear more people chime in......"patience, patience, patience"

good luck
 
It would be 10 gallons out of 49 gallons total. what is artificial hitching posts? Also thanks for your advice.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9100526#post9100526 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tony25
It would be 10 gallons out of 49 gallons total. what is artificial hitching posts? Also thanks for your advice.

artificial hitching posts are things like fake corals you can get them at your lfs some can be pretty pricey for plastic lol , you can gat some fake plants for FW tanks also im not to sure what they would look like in a sw though
 
I have a couple pieces of branch liverock in my 55 im going to go pull a couple pieces of that. Should be a start.
 
I have gorgonians, treesponges, macro, and a couple of fake plants for hitcing posts for my erectus. Mine seem to prefer the sponge or the fakes. It looks to me like they might get a little bored in there. I would wait till you get more LR and several hitching posts. Remember, alot of seahorses color can be influenced by their surroundings. Also I would establish a good cleanup crew first. Anyhow when you are ready to purchase your horses you might consider checking out Pacific East Aquaculture.com, I just purchased a pair of erectus and they rock.They have these cool branchlike appendages called (cirri) I think I like them better than my ocean riders. They beg for mysis from my hands.
 
Wait. Even with live rock from an existing system, two weeks is not enough time for a tank to properly cycle. I personally would wait at least two months.

Add some of the other planned inhabitants first (clean up crew) and see how they do.

Fred
 
I agree with above.. 2 weeks is way too soon. Saltwater tanks shouldnt be rushed and seahorses are alot more sensitive.
 
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