New to Seahorses/Pipefish and need advice!

[bandh0526]

Hey all,

I have been researching seahorses and pipefish for some time and I was wanting to start a seahorse tank. I was looking for some advice from people who have kept these before. How big should the tank be (height-wise) and what are the best types of seahorses to keep in your experience? How are your tanks set up? Filtration? Flow? I don't know anyone personally with a seahorse tank, so I don't have any firsthand advice. So please feel free to let me know of anything you can think of!

Thanks so much!

Any threads or websites are appreciated.

 

[bandh0526]

No one has any advice or opinions?

 

[JennyL]

Perhaps if you tell us what species you are interested in keeping, we could go from there.

Not all species have the same keeping requirements and it would take all day to post on each and every species and what they need.

There is a lot of information posted in this forum that would be of benefit to you too.

 

[greyim]

Umm I have a 90 litre hex its about 800mm tall, 450 wide with 3 plain horses.
It pretty much looks after itself with a undergravel filter only and two slugs to eat algae.
I only change the water when it really needs it, about every 3 months more in summer less in winter.\Feed them one frozen brine shrimp each morning

 

[pennylynn2]

horses

horses

Hello grayim,
Please do some research on seahorses.They need several frozen MYSIS shrimp each twice daily and require that the water be kept clean with frequent water changes(every week or two)They are messy eaters/poopers and need to be cleaned up after on a daily basis.Seahorses are very prone to bacterial disease.Their water temp needs to be kept below 75 degrees because of this.There is tons of good advice/sites on the net that can tell you everything you need to know.Seahorses do not survive long without proper diet and water conditions.I wish you luck with your horses.I love mine!!
Becky

 

[greyim]

Thanks Penny
Mine are about 6-7 years on now so they must be a hardy breed down under

 

[bandh0526]

So what type of species would one suggest for a beginner? I have a 46 gallon bowfront and I have a 75 gallon. I was wondering if I wanted a pair of seahorses and some pipefish if either of those would be good. THe 75 used to be a predator tank, but I would rather keep seahorses instead. THey're beautiful creatures. I'm not planning on any coral or anything, probably the "never dying" kind from Drs Foster and Smith. (Decor only)
I have a tank specifically for live brine shrimp that I feed my reef fish (with a mixture of other stuff, but they like the live brine).
So I guess a good question is, what type of species would be good for a beginner with those size tanks? I could research it from there. I have been reading on this forum, very useful information. Thanks to all who've responded.

 

[pledosophy]

Any CB species would be fine IMO. Reidi, Kuda, Erectus, or just about anything else you can buy that is CB will work out fine.

seahorsesource.com is a good place to look at CB seahorses.

Either of those tanks would be fine for seahorses. Depending on your filtration setup, you could keep a number of things in those tanks.

Flow is lower then a reef. Rule of thumb is 3 to 5x the tank voulme per hour. I like mine higher but I break it up with multiple returns and spraybars. It is the best thing I have found.

Cruise the forum and the old threads a bit and let us know if you have any more questions.

 

[flamehawkfish]

I'm also new to seahorses, and interested in them.

I have a spare 40g cube tank that I'm considering for a pipefish/seahorse tank. Do you necessarily need a chiller? I think I can keep temp at about 74 w/o one...

'Becky' mentioned that they're messy eaters, and need to be cleaned up after each feeding.

Would a handful of small blue-legged hermit crabs help 'clean the mess'? I'm reluctant to devote myself to a tank that requires daily cleanings (with a turkey-baister?)... I did that with my clownfish larvae tank, and it gets annoying...

Anyway, keep us posted. I like the idea of a Seahorse tank, but maybe the idea is more attractive than the actual practice.

Thanks,

Flamehawk

 

[pledosophy]

I don't clean my seahorse tank everyday. I really don't. I have it set up so it can handle the bioload and that's that. I haven't even done a water change in a few months. Nitrates are zero, phophates are zero. i do dose for Ca, alk, mg, iron, amino acids, and some other types of supplements.

 

[pennylynn2]

Sorry Greyim,I thought you were the original poster asking for advice,my mistake!I would love to hear more more about your set-up.When I said above that seahorses need cleaning up after I meant that once a day,usually late evening after the last feeding I use a "sludge extractor"from drsfoster/smith to clean up leftover food and poop.It's the most useful tool I have.Pulls the crap out but not the water.I have a good clean up crew but I have 8 horses in a 55gal tank with a 30 gal sump and the extra cleaning is needed as my horses are large southern erectus,6-7 inches at least and EAT A LOT.If I had it to do over, I would probably only have 4 so the work load would be lighter!:eek1:
Becky

 

[bandh0526]

I bought 2 black seahorses for my 46 gallon. So far so good - day three and they seem to be doing well...