My seahorse tank

[bdreptiles]

Me and the wife have wanted some for a while now so figured why not. They are captive breed erectis (spelling?). Right now I have been leaving them alone to settle in. The only contract has been feeding them and two are actually taking cyclopeez from my hand, was pretty stoked about that.



Sorry for the not so great picture, just haven't wanted to put much stress on them. They have been hanging out on the branches, specially at feeding times. The heater isn't plugged in I just have it in there for just in case. Planning on putting more plants and gorgonians in there once I find some I like.

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[rayjay]

How many do you have in there? what size tank?
What is the "root" looking thing and is it alive or dead?

 

[bdreptiles]

It's a 29 gallon with 5 in it, going to upgrade to a 45 when they get a little bigger they are only about 4 inches. The wood is dead, it's not drift wood but I can't remember the name, it's sealed though.

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[rayjay]

May I suggest doing more frequent water changes and extra due diligence to removal of uneaten food and detritus, especially what gets caught up in the macro.
At 4", I would rate the tank overloaded right now.

 

[bdreptiles]

Thanks for the advice. I was planning on doing biweekly 5 gallon changes when I do it on my reef tank, or do you think I should do weekly? I'm also adding a skimmer I just haven't had a chance to pick it up but most likely this weekend I'll have it. Should I put a small power head in there? I have a few kralia 450s laying around.

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[bdreptiles]

Honestly I'll take any advice. I've done a lot of research they weren't impulse buys, but actual advice from people that have experience with seahorses is greatly appreciated.

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[namxas]

One thing you'll want to do is either get the heater out of that tank or put a guard on it. SH will try to hitch to them and often get seriously burned.

Also, if your home doesn't get below 68*F, you don't need a heater anyhow, as SH do best between 70*F and 74*F, but occasional dips to 68*F are OK.

Just for reference, here's a heater-burned SH (not our SH, BTW):

 

[bdreptiles]

The heater isn't plugged in, it's just in there because I wasn't sure how warm it would be without one. It fluctuates between 74 and 78 so I'm going to just pull it out. But if I need it I'll for sure get or make a guard for it., thanks for the heads up.

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[rayjay]

Personally, I'd be doing 15g minimum water changes weekly as even with just the recommended pair in a 30g needs more water changes than a reef tank.
The longer the tank is running, the more critical it is.
When seahorses snick their food, they masticate it and pass off residue through the gills and into the water column. This coupled with trapped uneaten food can lead to bacterial infections in seahorses, often leading to their death.
When the temperature gets above 74° I'd be getting a fan or whatever you can use to keep the temperature lower because the bacterial growth we are most concerned about, multiplies exponentially with each rising degree, especially above the 74° point. Chances of long term success go down as temperature goes up. Many have chillers on their tanks to keep it in line.
If you protect the intake of the power heads you shouldn't have a problem as long as tails can't get sucked in, or the output doesn't blast the seahorses against anything to get damaged, and, as long as you have hitching in areas of low, medium and high flow so they can hitch where they want, when they want.