Basics for sea horse help

[rogergolf66]

I'm looking for a link with all basic info I need on selecting the right sea horses and pipe fish and so on. I have a chiller ready to go to keep tank cool. I have a hang on the back skimmer ready to go.

What filtration should I go with? Bio wheel, bio block, live rook?

I was planning on raising live selcon enriched brine shrimp to ensure they will eat. Is this the best to do?

I know they like something to hitch there tails on.

I wasn't planning a sump is that ok?

The tank is a 20high. How many can I have in the tank.

How many times a day do I need to feed them?

I have lots of experience in salt water but not sea horses.

I will google but I trust people on this forum more then a google search.


Thanks roger

 

[rayjay]

Well, there is no one link that will provide you with all the information available.
Also, as opinions and experiences vary, you can get different answers from different hobbyists.
Mine, like others, is based on personal experiences and my interpretation of documents, and of posts that come mainly from seahorse.org.
I have a page that has links that a beginner can gleen information from to aid in their quest to become a seahorse hobbyist and the links can be found at the BOTTOM of my page, "My Thoughts on Seahorse Keeping".
I'm sure many others can add their favorite information pages to help you learn.
There are all kinds of filter systems being used but for me, I just us bare bottom tanks with artificial hitches, live rock, and protected power heads for water movement along with open ended air lines. Skimmers, (a way oversized preferably) go a long way to a successful set up.
I use a quick filter on an 802 power head to remove food/detritus from the water column that also serves to protect the seahorses from the intake.
Unfortunately, your 20g high is most likely not suitable because seahorses that can work OK in that size are not currently available in North America, to the best of my knowledge.
The seahorses that ARE available require at least 29/30g for the first pair, with an additional 15g for each additional pair.
Best feeding proceedure IMO, is to feed rinsed frozen mysis two to three times a day, with live ADULT brine shrimp enriched on Dan's Feed (seahorsesource.com) once or twice a week.

 

[rogergolf66]

Thx got a lot of reading done

 

[keving]

most important is to find great tank-raised seahorses to start with; mysis is the best, live rock and a skimmer with a min 30 gal tank

 

[rayjay]

Well, tank raised are better than wild caught in that they have been trained to eat frozen food.
However, what I consider tank raised, are the large majority of seahorses sold in North America, that have been raised in net pens or the large round cement tanks but with ocean water that has not sufficiently been treated and filtered for pathogens, so it's best that they be put through the nine week, 3 drug protocol to take care of the worst of these pathogens.
I would recommend buying ONLY True Captive Bred seahorses, which are those raised in water that HAS been sufficiently treated and filtered for pathogens, or, like getting from another hobbyist who has raised them in water made using commercial salts like I.O..
In the US, the breeder with the best reputation is seahorsesource.com and I sure wish they were here in Canada.
Also, you can buy dwarfs and erectus from seahorsecorral.com.
While the True Captive Bred cost more than the tank raised, they need replacing fewer times than the tank raised do.
This doesn't guarantee success with True Captive Bred, nor does it mean that you can't succeed with tank raised, but the odds are much in favour of success using the True Captive Bred.

 

[keving]

I agree! Check out southwatch seahorse farm too.