Is this true?

[kar93]

I am doing some research as I am planning to get some seahorses for my 55gallon. I read that a 5 gallon tank can house up to as many as 50 dwarf seahorse. And a 15 gallon can house around 6 of the large species. Is this true? I tought it is too much.

 

[CCall]

Yes it is true for dwarves.
No you cannot house 6 large species. They say its 25 to 30 gallon for 1 pair. Then its about 5 to 10 gallons per pair after that.

 

[kar93]

Thanks for the input. Would 3 or 4 pairs do ok in a 55?

 

[ann83]

What species of seahorse are you looking at keeping?

 

[kar93]

I was thinking of H.Reidi but I dont know what is available yet. I have contacted a seahorse breeder and they have yet to get back to me about what species they regularly have.

 

[ann83]

H. reidi should be available to you. I would probably keep 2 - 3 pairs of H. reidi in a 55 gallon tank, depending on filtration and tankmates.

 

[TikiDan]

do you plan on raising any fry you might end up with? If so I would go with something other than H. Reidi

 

[kar93]

I was planning on them being the only inhabitants of the tank apart from coral, shrimp, snails etc. I am hoping to raise the fry and sell them on to other hobbiests. Are the H.Reidi hard to raise?

 

[kar93]

Another problem is that the H.Reidi are £70/$140 each which I am willing to spend on 1 pair if they are going to survive but spending £140 on 2 seahorses and not know if they will survive.

 

[TikiDan]

they are the hardest the raise.

 

[kar93]

H.Taeniopterus are also available but I've googled and been round some forum and cant really find that much on that species.

 

[ann83]

H. reidi are not the hardest to raise, but they are definately more difficult than some other species. I think that the species that might be available to you that are both "tropical" (i.e. temps 70-74*F, 21-23*C) and have benthic fry include H. fuscus and H. barbouri.

 

[ann83]

H.Taeniopterus are often lumped in with H. kuda. They also have small, pelagic, difficult to raise fry.

 

[kar93]

Yes, the Barbouri are available. The website they are from claims they can be kept in temps between 24-26c/75f-79f.