Hippocampus kuda

[sibehuskies]

Hi all,

I recently decided to start a seahorse tank, and after a considerable effort in finding a retailer who supplies them (I live in New Zealand and there is a total of one retailer in the North Island) I will be setting up a H. kuda tank.

My current thoughts for the tank
Dimensions: 62cm (2ft) tall, 72 long (2ft 3") and 39 (1ft 3") wide.
Filtration: Live sand/rock + a filter with a water turn over rate 5x per hour. I'm also looking at adding a small skimmer and uv filter (just to add to the water clarity).
Clean up crew: shrimp species (probably peppermint shrimp as that is what is commonly available in NZ).
Lighting: I currently have no idea. I know that seahorses have minimal requirements for lighting, and I was thinking about getting plain florescent marine blue bulbs for the tank, but was not entirely sure if this is the way I want to go.
Feeding: A mixture of frozen mysis shrimp and live brine shrimp. I know the breeder I am getting the seahorses from has weened them onto frozen food but I want to feed them a variety of foods and was thinking maybe I could try gut loading the brine shrimp?
Decor: I'm currently of the mind to use black 0.8-1mm black silica sand as the substrate with a few bleached pieces of coral skeletons and various artificial hitching posts such as a ruined jug/plane/driftwood etc. I'm even thinking of maybe buying some plastic chain and affixing that across the tank.

Thoughts? Advice? All is appreciated - I want to do this properly, not half arse it.

 

[bluekoi]

Hi there,
Welcome to the addiction! It gets terribly addictive and somewhat expensive, so hold onto your seat, but it is well worth it!
The main thing I would do would be to change out the small skimmer to an oversized skimmer for sure. The bigger the skimmer the better. Mine is almost too big for the sump. Of course the LFS guys sold me the sump that would be correctly sized if I were keeping fish. I've learned that the LFS folks aren't always spot on when it comes to ponies.....
Not sure about the average temp in your house, but I would consider a chiller. Cooler temps helps to prevent bacteria. The ponies have a bit of a primitive immune system.
It's just May and temps in St. Louis already have my chiller running almost non-stop.
Frozen mysis and gut loading brine for a treat is good. I also recommend getting some of Dan's food supplements from Seahorsesource.com. I use that when the LFS has live brine available.
One note - seriously, the LFS folks in my opinion are usually not the most seahorse savvy. No disrespect. I prefer to ask advise here, and take more stock in the opinions of the more experienced. I don't like making mistakes that cost the ponies a nasty demise.
I like the black sand and chain for hitching posts idea. Regarding the decorations, I'll defer to those more experienced for advice. I tend to be a worry-wart over my babies and freak out if I think something can leech into the system or adversely affect them, so I don't experiment much.
You may want to consider some macro algae. It can be very nicely scaped and it's beneficial too. A win-win! Caulerpa Prolifera seems to do well at lower temps.
I've never tried peppermints in my SH tanks. I'm sure someone one here can speak to that. I have nassarius snails as part of my clean up crew.
As far as lighting, I don't have anything terribly expensive over my tanks. Marineland LEDs I think. If you go that route, avoid photosynthetic gorgonians. They need better lighting. I have non-photosynthetic gorgs and I target feed them. May want to get your feet wet with the SHs before you start with those. If you over feed the gorgs your water quality will suffer.
Sounds like you're off to a good start. The best part is that you are asking for advice BEFORE purchasing. Which is not the way I went about it.
Now, take all the money out of your wallet and put it in the tank, because that is where it will be going from now on
best of luck and keep us posted!

 

[dwalker]

I have peppermint shrimp in with my seahorses (added to deal with some aiptasia), and they seem fine. They mostly hide in the rock work, but do a good job of cleaning up uneaten mysis.

 

[sibehuskies]

Thanks for the replies!

Here in NZ we don't really need to worry about temp rising too much in May - it's coming into winter, and even in summer we're lucky if we break 74F!

The tank arrived last night and the sand is now on order (to be shipped in the next week or so). I bought 10kg of white silica sand in the end. I also re-water tested my small AquaOne AR126 which is a 22l tank. The first water test showed a leak so we resealed the entire thing and now it is leak free. This is going to be my brine shrimp tank.

I'm thinking of getting the seahorses probably in about 3 months time, that should give me plenty of time to save for them and cycle the tank. In 2 months time I'll start the brine shrimp tank so that I have a good colony going (and I can see if they breed on their own or if I have to keep hatching them).

In general, I agree with your statements on LFS. I'm getting info from here, as well as good ol' google and just so I've covered my basis, I'm listening to what he has to say as well. Especially since he has some experience with larger seahorse tanks (the LFS is a converted public aquarium which was family owned and run).

With gut loading brine shrimp, what sort of enrichment (in terms of nutrients) are best? I suspect I'll need to talk to multiple shops if I want to get something in.

 

[rayjay]

From seahorsesource.com: http://seahorsesource.com/?wpsc-product=dans-feed-artemia-enrichment

 

[sibehuskies]

From seahorsesource.com: http://seahorsesource.com/?wpsc-product=dans-feed-artemia-enrichment

My issue is that we can't get that in New Zealand

 

[rayjay]

Did you e-mail Dan to ask if he can mail some to you?

 

[sibehuskies]

Feed

Feed

Not yet. Will do so, although I suspect that NZ MAF and Customs will have something to say about it. I will also see if the LFS is able to order in - it might be that they are able to order stuff that the general populace is unable to get due to licenses or whatever.

 

[rayjay]

We can get it shipped to here in Canada no problem.
If you can't, at least use a product with high DHA component in it.
I personally don't like emulsions, but Selco has a super DHA Selco that works. Don't buy large quantities though as emulsions don't store long term like powders do.
Whatever you use, also keep in mind that it's better to use sparingly and add as needed rather than to use too much. The brine seem to die off quickly when adding too much enrichment at a time.

 

[rayjay]

I forgot to mention about your flow rate target. 5X is a bit low and you will find it harder to keep detritus in suspension for the filter to remove, thereby making it easier to develop bacterial problems with the seahorses.
One of the best things to improve chances of success in this hobby is to over filter the system, including an over-sized skimmer to help remove dissolved organics.
Many of us have flow rates exceeding 10X.
The primary thing is to be sure no flow can blast a seahorse against something causing injury, and, make sure hitching is available in all flow areas so they can hitch in an area of their choosing at any given time.