sea horses and pipefish

iamwrasseman

iamwrasseman

New member
i have been in saltwater for 20 yrs but never have i been involved with seahorses . my wife wants a seahorse tank along with a few pipe fish and im struggling with the difficulty level as many try but don't succeed in the husbandry of such an animal . the tank will be hooked up to a very stable basement sump /refuge complete with a great skimmer and my parameters are spot on in my five tanks that are hooked up to it .the tanks contain many fish and lots of corals that all have been thriving for years .
can i simply hook up to this system with a new tank and expect to house seahorses ? are there any special requirements that i will need to embrace as far as water conditions ,feeding or lighting ? i see people purchase them often but succeed hardly at all so please clue me in on my new endeavour before i get there and flounder into failure .
thanks Dave
 
Temperature is going to be a big concern when hooking it up to a reef system. Seahorses, even tropical ones, fair much better at lower temperatures because they are susceptible to bacterial infections, and the lower temps help with that. I keep all mine between 72 - 74, some say not to go higher than 72.
 
Thats what talked me out of ever attempting seahorses. They would be cool but I vowed to never own a chiller again.
 
okay thanks for the input and i will check out his homepage and it seems as though i cannot have this hooked to my system because of temperature . any other mountains to be climbed over ?
 
If you decide to go ahead with your tank, I would start with either pipefish or seahorses. You always take a chance when the two are mixed. Go with the one you are more interested in and then later down the line if you still want to mix and take the chance, you can add the other....
 
Dave,

The low flow thing is actually a bit outdated. I know you're a very experienced aquarist, so I recommend being creative with your flow...having some lower flow areas and/or alternating currents. Just as long as the SH can rest if they want, I feel that they actually do a bit better overall with a bit of flow.

I strongly urge peeps to keep live macro in their setups as well. It makes great hitches for SH or pipehorses such as 'gators, as well as hunting grounds for between meal pod snacks and better water quality.

If you plan on keeping flagfins, they tolerate reef-type flow fairly well.

JM .02
 
okay ,good insight on the flow ,sounds like a couple of powerheads alternating would work quite well but be sure there is an area for them to rest ,correct ? it may be a problem with the temp being so low so i am definatly on the ropes with the whole idea as i wanted to hook it up to my basement sump . still weighing the odds but it seems like i can provide them with what they need if i try . on another note ,how long do seahorses survive if given the proper conditions along with stability ?
 
I used to see people quote 5 years, but now that CB has been around a while, people are seeing even older horses. I believe I read somewhere that Ocean Riders oldest seahorse is 10 years old.
 
One word about PH's...do be sure that the intakes are "SH/pipe-proof", and if you use Korallias, use the nano, which has a built-in guard, or add a guard yourself. I've seen SH tails amputated by the propellers, and I had a nosy pipefish stick its head into a return pump after it went over-under-over the baffles in a bubble trap (I was fattening it up in the fuge).
 
thanks for letting me know how long they can live as i dont want to make the same mistake that i did with an octopus years ago .at that time i didn't know they only live for a year .~live n learn~
ahh the old amputation trick ,i will be on the safeguard issue with the whole deal ,thanks .
 
The other hurdle that I have with my seahorses is that because of their primitive gut they need to eat often. I feed my seahorses twice a day. That can make vacation planning a challenge.

Go with captive raised/tank bred seahorses. I wouldn't recommending getting them at a LFS because they usually mix seahorses/pipes/fish and that can cause problems. I've heard tell that Peka has nice seahorses on occasion.

I love my seahorses! They are some work but they are so cool!!!
 
yes i agree and just may have to build a sump so i can house them properly .in the beginning it was going to be simple if i could hook the tank up to my very stable system as it is just right on and easy to maintain as its set up .
~back to the drawing board ~ its worth it i am very sure !
 
YES! YES! YES! Well worth the time & effort to set everything up correctly for them. However, you really should be forward thinking and plan for the second, third and + + + tanks. Just ask Beth. LOL!

Tim
 
Tim such nonsense with all the tanks ? okay here it is ,I'm addicted to salt water fish .shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh dont tell anyone ,please !
six months ago i had 17 salt tanks in my house and have removed a dozen but am already in the planning for the seahorse tank and a monster 5'x3'x30"tall 300 gallon tank so please dont give ma an excuse for another already .
all kidding aside yes there is more to come as I'm in the planning stages now, but it must end some time ?
 
iamwrasseman said:
Tim such nonsense with all the tanks ? okay here it is ,I'm addicted to salt water fish .shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh dont tell anyone ,please !
six months ago i had 17 salt tanks in my house and have removed a dozen but am already in the planning for the seahorse tank and a monster 5'x3'x30"tall 300 gallon tank so please dont give ma an excuse for another already .
all kidding aside yes there is more to come as I'm in the planning stages now, but it must end some time ?
Click to expand...


You mean there is an end in sight? Let me get this straight now. You removed 12 tanks to replace it with a whopper of a tank. Did the 12 tanks = the volume of this tank?

The forward thinking tanks only count if they are seahorse tank. Since you are an admited addict, I urge you to read this: http://forum.seahorse.org/index.php?showtopic=39617&hl=you+all+understand+right after reading it, we can start the steps.

Tim
 
hey Tim ,the 12 tanks were all 20 gal highs and they covered two of my walls in my living room all dressed in oak . the monster will have close to three times the volume so its a big step up IMO . heres a coupleof pictures just before the tear down .
http://i724looks like this picture didnt load but its 8 of the tanks on the long wall
[IMG]http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww246/iamwrasseman/fish%20tanks/100_0687.jpg
 
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