debating on horses....

[D.J.'s reef]

hey guys....me and the wife have been debating on trying horses for a year now...we have been keepin our large reef system for about 3 years now and i need something else to do with my 40g frag tank.

the frag tank has been runnin for about 5 months and is covered in coraline already..weird since my reef doesnt have any..hmmm...

my frag tank is startin to turn into a mini reef and just figured some horses would be nice inthere amongst the tonga branch rocks...

i just joined seahorse.com to read up a lil bit before trying them...they arent available local anyways would have to order them...

curious as to whats the easiest beginner horses to keep?
tankmate compatibilities?
i know that no stingin corals are best to keep with them...which in my frag is mainly leathers and zoas and shrooms and a purple pocilliopora.

all tank levels are 0 and sg of 1.023-.025, 70 on temp(ruffly my thermometer bit the dust)...only fish in there are a few damsels(blue tail,black/yellow tail,and 3 chromis lookin ones but i dont think they are chrmoi since they dont look like mine in the reef tank)

any good sites to get horses from? or any other recomendations?

 

[Brian77]

After several failed attempts with locally purchased seahorses I went to seahorsesource.com and I will never go anywhere else. They are extremely knowledgeable and helpful, and the seahorses I received from them last November have been doing great.

Also, I do not believe seahorses would do very well in a tank with damsels. Seahorses are very timid and will starve to death before confronting other fish for food.

I'm sure others will chime in with some additional information...I would just read as much as you can.

Brian

 

[D.J.'s reef]

ya the damsels wont stay in the tank....at $3 a fish i can affford to find them new homes or give them back to the lfs.....no worries there...i read they are compatible best with firefish(which hate me) and gobies and dragonets....which is cool i like all of those...

ive got my own personal dealer and can get whatever i want for wholesale most times...so i would probably use him depending on what i find online and all.

are they any harder to keep then most fish? special care for them or anything?

 

[Brian77]

I believe they do require more attention. They need to be feed at least twice a day and since they do not have stomachs they really need to be fed every day. When I go away for more then a day or two my neighbor stops in to feed them. I think they are definitely more of a commitment then most fish.

As for tank mates, I have had gobies and scooter blennies and they all got along...or should I say they all ignored each other. lol

If you decide to purchase them, make sure you buy captive bred that have been trained to eat frozen food, your chances of success will be much greater.

Brian

 

[Octoshark]

Tankmate Guide:

http://www.seahorse.org/library/articles/tankmates/tankmates.shtml

 

[socalireefer]

Ponies are awesome but so demanding.
If youre dedicated to upkeep, there very rewarding.

 

[rayjay]

ive got my own personal dealer and can get whatever i want for wholesale most times...so i would probably use him depending on what i find online and all.

With all due respect for your dealer, it is highly improbably that he would be qualified to advise on seahorse keeping (although most THINK that they are) and almost no chance he would be selling true captive bred seahorses unless he is buying from ORA, or seahorsesource, or seahorsecorral. Ask who the breeder of his seahorse supply is.
Most LFS seahorses are either wild caught, or, more commonly now, they are tank raised.
Tank raised are offshore bred in large containers using ocean water and as such, are subject to the same pathogens that wild caught horses have and need to be put through a 9 week deworming process that sometimes results in death.
Without it though, the chances of long term success as in beyond a year, are very small.
The more expensive true captive bred seahorse has never contacted ocean water and the odds of success for these horses is very great compared to the other cheaper seahorses more readily found in stores.

 

[Mo2]

With all due respect for your dealer, it is highly improbably that he would be qualified to advise on seahorse keeping (although most THINK that they are) and almost no chance he would be selling true captive bred seahorses unless he is buying from ORA, or seahorsesource, or seahorsecorral. Ask who the breeder of his seahorse supply is.
Most LFS seahorses are either wild caught, or, more commonly now, they are tank raised.
Tank raised are offshore bred in large containers using ocean water and as such, are subject to the same pathogens that wild caught horses have and need to be put through a 9 week deworming process that sometimes results in death.
Without it though, the chances of long term success as in beyond a year, are very small.
The more expensive true captive bred seahorse has never contacted ocean water and the odds of success for these horses is very great compared to the other cheaper seahorses more readily found in stores.

+1

This is a serious problem for anyone has ever had seahorses before. Please, if you do decide on seahorses, get from from one of the sites mentioned here.

 

[LCP136]

I would go for seahorse source. I am a first time keeper and I've had my three H. erectus for 8 months with no casualties. You may want to leave the tank without fish for about 8 weeks after removing the damsels before adding the seahorses to make sure that as few pathogens that the damsels may have been carrying are left as possible. The biggest concern I would have would be temperature. Your seahorses should be kept at 68-74 degrees fahrenheit to keep bacteria low, and these temperatures may not be very good for your corals. Also, beware that if one seahorse picks a specific coral as a favorite hitch, that coral may be in danger.