I have a 10g tank laying around with the basic pc lighting and hob filter. Would this suffice for 2-3 sets of dwarf horses? I found ccritters.com from a few other posts here. They recommend a set to 3 gallons roughly. What else would I need to set them up? I have been into full reefs for a couple years now. I have a 90g reef and believe I am fairly knowledgable on salt/parameters etc. Mostly just wondering about rock vs plants (gorgs, caulerpa, etc) to make a habitable home for them. I keep my house 72-74 at all times so I shouldnt need a heater. Trying to salvage as much as I can from what I have lying around to set this up.
Dwarfs, setup?
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Franco724
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I have a 5 gallon dwarf seahorse setup ran with with standard lighting and a HOB filter with a sponge over the intake. The tank is currently inhabited by two tiny sexy shrimp, a yellow finger gorgonian, two nerite snails, and a small ball of chaeto. I have 2 large artificial "twisted val" plants and a small base rock in addition to what has been already described. I may add some live eel grass or something in the future.
I plan on ordering my dwarf seahorses (two pair and a dwarf pipefish) tomorrow, from ccritters.
As long as the tank is seahorse safe with all necessary filter modifications to prevent the horses from being sucked up and/or the "velcro effect", along with a steady temperature and such - the setup you described sounds great for 3-4 pair.
I plan on ordering my dwarf seahorses (two pair and a dwarf pipefish) tomorrow, from ccritters.
As long as the tank is seahorse safe with all necessary filter modifications to prevent the horses from being sucked up and/or the "velcro effect", along with a steady temperature and such - the setup you described sounds great for 3-4 pair.
You may want to be careful w/ live rock. Some use it, some don't, but as you will be feeding live brine all the time, you are more likely to get hydroids w/ like rock than with dried rock (of course, some people think the hydroids are in the brineshrimp eggs.)
With a large tank like a 10 gallon, you will need to feed a lot of live baby brine to reach the six dwarf horses you are describing. Dwarves are very lazy feeders -- they like their food to swim right by them, which means you need very high food densities. But it can be done.
Again, you'll want to check your macro for any pests. And your HOB filter really should be one that is geared towards a nano tank, so that you can make sure that the dwarves aren't sucked into it (and modify it as mentioned above.)
With a large tank like a 10 gallon, you will need to feed a lot of live baby brine to reach the six dwarf horses you are describing. Dwarves are very lazy feeders -- they like their food to swim right by them, which means you need very high food densities. But it can be done.
Again, you'll want to check your macro for any pests. And your HOB filter really should be one that is geared towards a nano tank, so that you can make sure that the dwarves aren't sucked into it (and modify it as mentioned above.)
Most people use 5 to 2.5 gallon tanks. You can still house a nice group of dwarves and their subsequent generations in such small tanks. The real concern is with the food densities -- that is the main reason why such small tanks are recommended. You'll likely be amazed at how little these guys move. You'll have all the trouble of keeping such a small tank, but if you keep up with it, it should be fine. Since you are going to be hatching out brine shrimp everyday to feed the little guys, most everything else seems like a walk in the park.
Depends on whether you want to buy one or make one. If you run a search for 'brine hatchery' there are a ton of links on how to make one as well as places you can purchase them. If you buy one though avoid the ones that hang on to the aquarium and add let the brine enter on their own pace. Those don't work so hot. The ones that just produce them so you can add them in yourself (including the majority which use old 2 liter bottles) work pretty well.
I've never kept dwarfs but from what I understand that and tank size are the only real differences between dwarfs and the larger horses. The larger variety either come, or can be trained, to eat frozen mysis. Dwarfs only eat live so you're constantly producing food. Plus, Brine hatcheries take about 24 hours to start producing, and then they'll usually keep producing for another 24-48 hours after that. That means to keep constant food you usually need 2 hatcheries going so one can cover the days the other is getting going. I use the hatchery for some of our other fish, but I don't keep dwarfs because my schedule gets hectic I'm afraid if I miss a day suddenly I'm starving the poor things.
I think Ray has some good info on brine shrimp. Basically, you want to be hatching baby brine from decapsulated eggs so that the baby brine has a better nutritional profile than if it had to struggle free from a non-decapped egg. And you feed out the baby brine when it hatches. Baby brine can be seen w/ the naked eye, but it is pretty small. Most fish ignore them. Your coral may like them, but feeding baby brine to a reef can cause an explosion of things like hydroids, because they seem to thrive on baby brine. You could keep some of the brine and grow it out, but it takes a day or two before it can feed, and it would need to be kept seperate from the newly hatched brine.
You can decap eggs and keep them in the fridge in a brine solution, and then just take out a small amount to hatch out each day. With decapped eggs, it doesn't take as long to hatch. It isn't that hatching is difficult, but it is something that you are constantly doing, and many people grow weary of doing it.
You can decap eggs and keep them in the fridge in a brine solution, and then just take out a small amount to hatch out each day. With decapped eggs, it doesn't take as long to hatch. It isn't that hatching is difficult, but it is something that you are constantly doing, and many people grow weary of doing it.
Basically what Elysia said. Most smaller fish will eat brine so while it won't necessarily help your reef tank it gives more variety to their food. We don't decap the eggs mostly because of the time to do so. But then, we're not relying on that as our only food source either. It's purely for variety.
Removing the shell for faster hatch out and making the newly hatched brine more nutritional are not the only reason for decapping. Another reason for decapping is to help sterilize (clean) the brine. You still need to rinse the brine with clean tap water before feeding it out. I do not feed newly hatched brine to my dwarfs. I feed one and two day old enriched brine for a better nutritional profile. I even feed this with the dwarf babies that I breed. A five gallon tank is a good size and you need to make sure to do small water changes daily on the tank. PM me if you have any specific questions that I could help you with.
Make sure to perform the 9 week deworming process on your new dwarfs and your pipefish. Dana sells WC.. If you need more information on that, pm me.
Franco724
New member
I have two hatcheries for brine shrimp, and I speculate that I will be starting new batches of shrimp every four or so days. I have microvert and phytoplex on hand for feeding and raising the brine shrimp. Dwarves must be fed at least twice a day with live brine creating a nice "snowstorm" effect.
Dwarf seahorses are lazy and would rather have the food float by them so they can "snick" it up - instead of chasing after it.
Peka: Is the deworming process necessary for a tank solely inhabited by WC specimens?
Dwarf seahorses are lazy and would rather have the food float by them so they can "snick" it up - instead of chasing after it.
Peka: Is the deworming process necessary for a tank solely inhabited by WC specimens?
Yes. In my opinion, you are actually protecting the horses by deworming more so than the other inhabitants.
So if you make a batch of brine shrimp, can you leave them in that container for a few days to feed from. So looks like a new batch to be made every 3 days or so? Just leave it on the counter?
Also on ccritters. There are mated pairs... and just pairs with males and females. Say if I buy 3 pair what are the odds of them pairing up and mating? If they have 10-50 offspring every few weeks, what do you do with the offspring if there isnt demand for them? Just trying to prepare for this. Sorry for all the questions. Just want to be well informed before I jump into this.
Also on ccritters. There are mated pairs... and just pairs with males and females. Say if I buy 3 pair what are the odds of them pairing up and mating? If they have 10-50 offspring every few weeks, what do you do with the offspring if there isnt demand for them? Just trying to prepare for this. Sorry for all the questions. Just want to be well informed before I jump into this.
Franco724
New member
I ordered three pairs and they will be here this Tuesday! /excitement
And yes, the brine are fine in the container (with air circulation via the air pump) for a couple of days after hatching, even longer if you feed them. Just take note that their nutritional value to the horses drops significantly after about 36 hours. So you will want to enrich them.
I had a friend a couple of years ago who ordered 6 and when they arrived - he had about 14 (babies in the bag). And they continued to breed like crazy after that.
You'd be surprised how many horses can live happily and healthily in 5-10 gallon tank. So I wouldn't really worry much about that. As the average lifespan is a year or two, it tends to keep in balance, plus not all fry will survive.
And yes, the brine are fine in the container (with air circulation via the air pump) for a couple of days after hatching, even longer if you feed them. Just take note that their nutritional value to the horses drops significantly after about 36 hours. So you will want to enrich them.
I had a friend a couple of years ago who ordered 6 and when they arrived - he had about 14 (babies in the bag). And they continued to breed like crazy after that.
You'd be surprised how many horses can live happily and healthily in 5-10 gallon tank. So I wouldn't really worry much about that. As the average lifespan is a year or two, it tends to keep in balance, plus not all fry will survive.
