Not too worried about water quality, I do regular wcs,
Not to pick on you Scott, but if you only do husbandry/water changes similar to what you do with a reef tank, you GREATLY reduce your chances of success.
Seahorses, in addition to their frequent problems with exposure to pathogens they haven't grown up with, are VERY susceptible in the most part, to nasty bacteria like the vibrio species for instance.
THERE ARE NO test kits that can tell you when the conditions have deteriorated to the point the bacteria are going to get to problematic levels, even though test kits we DO have available don't show any problems.
This water quality degradation is a slow progressive situation that time length will depend on feeding situations and just how intensive your husbandry actually is, but can take 2-3 months or it can take a year or so.
The first indication may be bacterial infestations on the outside of the seahorse, but for the internal chemistry problems you won't see anything until progression has moved along drastically and you see changed habits of the seahorse like not eating, or lying on it's side, or bloated body.
The problem in part is due to the eating habits of the seahorse where they don't eat anything but what looks to them like the perfect piece, leaving the remainder to provide the food and bedding the nasties need.
Seahorses snick their food up with a vacuum like suction and then "masticate" the food before swallowing and in the process expel clouds of minute particulate matter that sometimes you can actually see like a cloud emanating from the gills which further degrades water quality.
Because of no test kits to help us with this, the best way is to do more extreme husbandry for seahorse tanks in order to keep the bacteria at bay.
First thing is to keep the water temperature at no more than 74° above which the bacteria are multiplying exponentially for each rising degree. In the wild it's not a problem for them because the water is continually changing. In our display tanks, we cannot replicate this.
We need mechanical filtration and/or hands on removal of some kind to be able to keep ahead of deterioration so making it for a simple chore means less likely to skip a procedure once in a while that again in time leads to problems. Clean up crews alone will not normally be sufficient long term.
Mechanical filtration needs to be cleaned out frequently (no less than once a week IMO) and water changes should be larger and more frequent than you would do for a reef. When doing water changes, vacuum out any debris not caught up in filters or removed by the CUC, paying special attention to anything trapped in macro or decor and between and under rocks.
There are seahorses that survive in less than ideal conditions, but you don't know in advance what your specific seahorses are capable of handling. It's much like humans where some are extremely tolerant and seldom have health problems, with many others mid range, but a large portion of people seem to always have health problems.
Sorry to be so "wordy" but I don't know how to explain in a short blurb.
