My first seahorse.. what do i need??

[ricky1031]

Hello..

well ive been doing my homework and ive decided i would like to add a seahorse to my 30 gallon aquarium..
i have only two percula clown fish about an inch long and a few cap corlas, sponges, polyps, mushrooms .. I also have about 30 lbs of live rock...

Now i know seahorses dont like lots of water flow and i have a power head in the tank to give water flow to my sponge and other filter eatters...

If i remove my power head and feed my sponge and other filter feeders directly would that be ok?

Or should i just buy a lower power power head so theres movement in the tank but not enough to where the seahorse will stress..

Any suggestions? Thanks

 

[rayjay]

IMO, the tank is too small for seahorses and clown fish.
Also, the clown fish most likely out compete the seahorses for any food you put in the tank.
How will the corals fare if you keep the temperature of the tank below 74°F as recommended by most hobbyists?
Maybe you can deflect the flow of the power head so that it isn't concentrated on any one area.
Have you found a source for the medications recommended to have on hand. You don't normally have time to find them once your horses come down with a problem. By the time you get them it would be too late.
How about a quarantine/hospital tank? Do you have something on hand already?
With seahorses in the tank, nutrient levels will go up dramatically as they tend to eat only a portion of the food you feed them.
Best to feed via a feeding dish that can be vacuumed out daily but the clowns might be a problem there also.
Are you going to buy captive bred tank raised horses, which are much much better risk than captive bred net pen raised horses?

 

[ricky1031]

Yea your right about the temp lowering it to 74* whats the most a seahorse can stand? 78*? thats 4 degrees more ugh...

I went to a local aquarium store and saw a few black seahorses but im not sure if there captive bred ill make sure i find out when i pass by.

 

[rayjay]

Many seahorses can stand warmer temperatures than 74°F, but because they are so susceptible to bacterial problems like vibrio, and the nasty bacteria like vibrio flourish as the temperature gets warmer, thus you can almost bet that within a year you will come down with something that may take the life of your horses, even if you have meds on hand.
It's not that some hobbyists haven't been lucky enough for this not to happen at higher temps, but the great majority of hobbyists that do so, pay the price.
Captive bred AND tank raised. Net pen are captive bred also but because they are raised in pens in the open water, they are subjected to the same pathogens that wild caught are.
You don't find too many LFS's with captive bred tank raised as the prices for those are normally higher.
Check http://www.seahorsesource.com/ for the good ones. DanU has an excellent reputation on the major seahorse forums.

 

[mollymonticello]

I keep my seahorses at low temperatures, sometimes dipping down to 67*F in the winter. I can't keep Acroporas, but I can keep most other corals just fine (I have Zoas, Mushrooms, a big Turbinaria, Gorgonians, a sun coral, etc.) It's nearly impossible to keep Acros with seahorses anyhow, because of how much food the seahorses eat makes the water too "dirty" for Acros. And most LPS are not safe for seahorses because they have stinging tentacles or grow large enough to eat a slow moving seahorse.

I wouldn't put clownfish with seahorses, ever. Actually, juveniles are probably fine, but once they mature, they will pick on a seahorse AND out compete them for food.

The key to being successful with Syngnathids is finding very high quality stock to begin with. If you choose cheap, low quality stock, you'll be fighting a losing battle.

The black seahorses at your local store are likely pen raised or tank raised with unfiltered sea water, which makes them less hardy than wild caught seahorses. If your local store doesn't know the exact species and exactly what facility they were raised in, they are pen raised. I'd be willing to bet a lot of money that the "black" seahorses at your local store are also Kelloggis, which is one of the most fragile and difficult species to keep, even if they were truly CB. The only reason they raise them in such large quantities and they are so cheap is because they are raised for the Traditional Chinese Medicine Trade, they are feeder seahorses. But some of them end up in the US aquarium trade because they are so cheap to raise. These animals do not make good pets. I feel strongly about this issue and wrote a lot about it on my blog if you're interested in reading more about it.

So I agree with rayjay here, go to www.seahorsesource.com or another reputable breeder here in the U.S. You'll be glad you did.

 

[ricky1031]

Oh wow... great info from everyone.. Hmm so I would hate to get rid of my clown fish I mean these guys are very tiny clowns about an inch or less but if I do what species of seahorse would you choose to be a little more hardy? Im going to check out that web site right now.

 

[ladybug5234]

ricky1031, DanU on this forum is the owner of seahorsesource dot org. They are right near you in Ft. Pierce, FL. He breeds several different types of SH. I just bought 2 H. Reidi from him last week that are doing awesome because they eat frozen mysis. They cost a little more, but it is well worth the extra expense to know your SH was captive bred and trained on frozen. They've even gotten on a feeding schedule and like clockwork go to their feeding dish (a clam shell) at 7:30 a.m. and at 4:30 p.m.

 

[francinemarie]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14711986#post14711986 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ladybug5234
ricky1031, DanU on this forum is the owner of seahorsesource dot org. They are right near you in Ft. Pierce, FL. He breeds several different types of SH. I just bought 2 H. Reidi from him last week that are doing awesome because they eat frozen mysis. They cost a little more, but it is well worth the extra expense to know your SH was captive bred and trained on frozen. They've even gotten on a feeding schedule and like clockwork go to their feeding dish (a clam shell) at 7:30 a.m. and at 4:30 p.m.

wow that's awesome! congrats on your seahorses!

 

[brandyrb]

Interesting, I never knew sea horses had to be in lower temperature tanks. I don't own sea horses and don't have plans to as of now, but I am curious if dragon faced pipefish would require the same lower temps that sea horses do?