Few questions from a newbie.

[Teremei]

Hi guys. I've had a reef tank for almost 3 years now. So I'm only a newbie to seahorses. I'm going to be getting a 29 hex "tall" so I think it will be perfect for some dwarf seahorses. . My questions are. . .

-I've been reading alot about medications. Is it very common for seahorses to get sick? The reason I ask is I've always had success with my reef and DSB and I've never lost one fish to disease. I just dose vitamin C and load the food with vitamins.

-I'd really prefer to have them in a 4" DSB with live rock and long stranded algae to latch on to. But if they get sick, would it destroy the tank to have to medicate them? I won't have a seperate QT for it.

-What powerhead would be best for a 25 tall hex with dwarfs?

-Which are the easiest dwarf horses to breed?

-When I do breed, what size tank is common to successfully nurture baby dwarf horses?


Thank you.
Eric.

 

[ReefNutPA]

With the tank you're planning.... you don't want dwarf seahorses (h. zosterae). Dwarfs are only 1" big and wouldn't do well in such a tank. I'd suggest getting a pair or two of CB Erectus for the tank. They are trained to eat frozen foods and would do very well in a tank set up with a DSB and live rock.

As far as illness, as long as you can keep the temps at 74F or lower and obtain healthy stock, there shouldn't be a huge concern about them getting sick. Most illnesses are brought on by higher temps (76F or more). If, by chance, they do get ill you will need to set up a simple hospital tank (10 gal with airlines) for treatment as the meds are not reef safe.

Tom

 

[Teremei]

Thanks, so you reccomend this species?

http://www.seahorsesource.com/erectus.html

The reason I was thinking dwarf was I've read a few species are very easy to rear, even without moving them into a different tank. But when checking out H. zosterae it does look like a begginer shouldn't try them.

So anyway, is the Erectus the smallest and easiest of the seahorses to keep? I know I'm not there yet. But will I need a seperate smaller tank to rear the fry or is there any other horse besides H. zosterae where you can successfully rear them in the same tank as the parents?

 

[ReefNutPA]

SeahorseSource is an excellent place to buy CB Erectus. Their customer service is awesome as is the health of their livestock. Erectus aren't the smallest of the 'larger' seahorses....but IMO they are one of the easiest and their fry are some of the "easiest" to raise. "Easiest" meaning they are still difficult to raise but more people have success with Erectus than other species IMO.

Unfortunately, with any species of seahorses besides zosterae, you will need fry nursery tanks to successfully rear the fry. For erectus, this can consist of a simple 10 gal tank with airlines in the back corners to keep the fry swimming in the water column. The fry will eat newly hatched brine shrimp, so you'll need to read up on fry rearing and brine hatching.

Overall, I believe for first-time seahorse owners that are interested in breeding their horses, Erectus would be my recommended choice.

Tom

 

[Teremei]

Thanks again for your advice. I will eventually set up a small tank for rearing. I also want to set up a skimmer for the 25. I have the tank now and it's cycling.

Could I bother you with a couple final questions?

-How much flow for the 25 tall? Has about 20# LR and has a rotating PH with about 400GPH. About right?

-What are the other Seahorses that are smaller than erectus that are also ease to care for (the adults)? Not taking fry raising into account at all. .

 

[pledosophy]

Let me see if I can help you out here too.

Skimmer is cool on a seahorse tank, just adjust to eliminate the micro bubbles.

20# of LR is cool, look into tonga branch rock so it can double as a hitching post, the seahorses will appreciate it.

A rotating powerhead of 400 gph is too much IME. My MJ1200 with the hydor pushed around my 8" reidi with ease. I'm one of the few who design my seahorse tanks to have a lot of flow, but most go for 5x an hour tops. I push 20x or so. To do this I have to incorporate the use of several spray bars to break up the flow. In a 29g I'd use the return from the filter and maybe a small powerhead like a rio 90 for surface aggitation. In larger tanks you can have low flow higher flow areas, but it is just not practicle in a 29g IME.

Erectus are one of the smallest tropical seahorses currently available. Fuscus are smaller, but not available currently in the states. Brevies are smaller and fun to, but they need temps in the mid 60's.

HTH

Good Luck.

 

[Teremei]

Ok thanks. I will look into just using the return for the only flow. Which pump would you use for a return in a 10 gal sump going up into a 25 hex? I already have the return pipe and flow spreader. I'll prob go for the Hommocampus Erectus when my tank's ready.

Thanks!