Seahorses in refugium?
- Thread starter sundance1
- Start date
Ron Popeil
Love them clownfish.
i have a 75 refugium in which ive put two kuda seahorses in. the 75 is split in half and on the side with the horses lives a wandering bubble tip anemone and a juvenile allardi clown. since the seahorses have gone in, one of them has taken a liking to all the feather dusters that had developed in there. and since the refugium is teeming with macroalgae and pods and such, theyve been doing just fine for a month or so now. their diet is supplemented with frozen brine shrimp, cyclopeeze and flakes.
watergator
New member
I kept my seahorses in my refugium for a while, and they did fine. The only problem I had was they kept swimming over the low-head dam and would hang out around the pump intake screen. I want them to breed so I got them their own little tank. They are courting now...
hawkfish21
New member
Doesn't putting seahorses in a refugium defeat the purpose of a refugium?
pledosophy
Active member
Does anyone have any "long term" stories about caring for seahorses in a traditional refugium, or sump ? ? ?
I have heard stories of seahorses being kept in a refugium designed to keep there needs which was more of a grass show tank connected to a FOWLR tank, but never of anyone keeping seahorses long term in a refugium.
There are many "issues" with the practice.
A seahorse has no stomach and will quickly decimate an entire pod and mysid shrimp population. We are talking hours here not days.
Seahorses need lower temp tanks, for the average tropical seahorse the temp should not exceed 75.
Seahorses are not strong swimmers and cannot handel the flow of most refugiums or sumps.
Ron BTW, seahorse can't eat flake food and brine does not contain the nutrients needed to sustain life long term. Look into frozen mysis ( PE or Hikari ) coupled with a good enrichment. Also that bubble tip is going to kill your horses one day.
I have heard stories of seahorses being kept in a refugium designed to keep there needs which was more of a grass show tank connected to a FOWLR tank, but never of anyone keeping seahorses long term in a refugium.
There are many "issues" with the practice.
A seahorse has no stomach and will quickly decimate an entire pod and mysid shrimp population. We are talking hours here not days.
Seahorses need lower temp tanks, for the average tropical seahorse the temp should not exceed 75.
Seahorses are not strong swimmers and cannot handel the flow of most refugiums or sumps.
Ron BTW, seahorse can't eat flake food and brine does not contain the nutrients needed to sustain life long term. Look into frozen mysis ( PE or Hikari ) coupled with a good enrichment. Also that bubble tip is going to kill your horses one day.
Swanwillow
goby girl
no, its not ok to have the light on 24/7...
it'll stress the heck outta them!!!
otherwise, I second/third what pled said!!! they should NEVER be supplemented with brine cyclopeeze, or flake food. theres too much flow, etc etc...
and an anemone will kill the horses quite nicely
it'll stress the heck outta them!!!
otherwise, I second/third what pled said!!! they should NEVER be supplemented with brine cyclopeeze, or flake food. theres too much flow, etc etc...
and an anemone will kill the horses quite nicely
Satori
Cancer Sucks
I'm glad I found this thread, as I'm considering this same thing. I have a 30 gallon fuge with super low flow and T-5 lights, and would like to keep seahorses in it. My focus with this fuge is nutrient export from the macro algae, not pod production so I'm not worried about them eating all the pods.
So I guess the only issue would be temperature?
So I guess the only issue would be temperature?
reefD
New member
no it is because of the care needs. first off it is possible if the sump is designed just for them. you need to be able to have good access at all times and an open area for feedings. lighting on 24hours will not work! they will stress out! and die! they need a photo period similiar to nature. some are more active in the dark. another issue is filtration. the sump is filtration for the display but the added load of seahorse and feedings will thow your tank into a spin. most likely the added poo in the sump will cause constant nitrate spikes. now macro will help this but can grow out of control. now you have no clear areas for feedings and the horses like to swim in the open at times. this wont allow this/. many other facters too. it can be done but your better off setting up a seperate tank. i gareentee a seprate tank will be more successful. i have kept horses in 10 gallon tanks ...they do well.!
MY MAIN POINT is that if you have a sump it is not set up for seahorses at all. if you are setting a sump up or willing to redesign the current set up you can do it and MIGHT be more successful. for a species that is endangered taking a chance in a halfa** set up is very destructive. lets try to provide excellent conditions for our horses and not try a seahorse in a set up that might not be right for it. its like saying heck lets try it and if it dies we know that it wasnt a good idea.
good luck all!
MY MAIN POINT is that if you have a sump it is not set up for seahorses at all. if you are setting a sump up or willing to redesign the current set up you can do it and MIGHT be more successful. for a species that is endangered taking a chance in a halfa** set up is very destructive. lets try to provide excellent conditions for our horses and not try a seahorse in a set up that might not be right for it. its like saying heck lets try it and if it dies we know that it wasnt a good idea.
good luck all!
Satori
Cancer Sucks
Thanks for the information, but actually I was looking at the possibility of adding them to the refugeum, not the sump. My fuge light isn't on 24 hours, it's on 9 hours.
I wasn't going to add them without learning about them first, that's why I asked these questions first. It's apparrent that it won't work because of the temperature. Other than that it seems my fuge would be ideal.
Thanks for the response.
I wasn't going to add them without learning about them first, that's why I asked these questions first. It's apparrent that it won't work because of the temperature. Other than that it seems my fuge would be ideal.
Thanks for the response.
pledosophy
Active member
Always good to do research first. 
Again anyone with longterm succsess stories ? ? ?
Maybe if we can ever find someone who has done it longterm we will be able to help all these people that desire it. This question is reoccuring at least once a week, so someone has to have tried it by now.
Any succsess stories?
Again anyone with longterm succsess stories ? ? ?
Maybe if we can ever find someone who has done it longterm we will be able to help all these people that desire it. This question is reoccuring at least once a week, so someone has to have tried it by now.
Any succsess stories?
Sampson313
New member
6-month seahorse success in fuge
6-month seahorse success in fuge
Thought I'd throw in my story. I've been keeping H. Kelloggi in my 30 gallon fuge for a little under a half a year. My set-up is kind of odd but I'll try to explain. I have a 75 gallon reef ready main tank with a 40 sump below. Next to them I have a 30 gallone fuge elevated above the main tank. The pump in the sump is split between the fuge and the main tank, with the fuge (got it drilled) overflowing into the main tank. I used one of the suction overflows to a nano-cube to prevent the horuses from flowing out of the fuge.
I have two types of macro growing in the fuge, brillo pad (forgot real name) and grape caulerpa. The caulerpa has grown quite quickly, making a nice jungle gym for the horses to move around in. I keep about a third of it completely clear except for some hitching posts so that they can swim around. As for difficilty in feeding them with macro algae present, I'm not really sure what reefD meant. The fuge is open top so I use a turkey baster to drop frozen mysis right on their head. Anchored to the caulerpa, they nab the food when it is falling and even when on the ground. I also cut the feed to the fuge when feeding so the food doesn't get carried away. Finally, the flow to the refugium is substantially lower than the main tank, but I also have two mmini duetto in tank filters for circulation.
This system has worked quite well for me and I ahve found that as long as a horse will except frozen when purchased, they are fairly easy to keep. My temp runs between 74-77 but no problems....
Good luck
6-month seahorse success in fuge
Thought I'd throw in my story. I've been keeping H. Kelloggi in my 30 gallon fuge for a little under a half a year. My set-up is kind of odd but I'll try to explain. I have a 75 gallon reef ready main tank with a 40 sump below. Next to them I have a 30 gallone fuge elevated above the main tank. The pump in the sump is split between the fuge and the main tank, with the fuge (got it drilled) overflowing into the main tank. I used one of the suction overflows to a nano-cube to prevent the horuses from flowing out of the fuge.
I have two types of macro growing in the fuge, brillo pad (forgot real name) and grape caulerpa. The caulerpa has grown quite quickly, making a nice jungle gym for the horses to move around in. I keep about a third of it completely clear except for some hitching posts so that they can swim around. As for difficilty in feeding them with macro algae present, I'm not really sure what reefD meant. The fuge is open top so I use a turkey baster to drop frozen mysis right on their head. Anchored to the caulerpa, they nab the food when it is falling and even when on the ground. I also cut the feed to the fuge when feeding so the food doesn't get carried away. Finally, the flow to the refugium is substantially lower than the main tank, but I also have two mmini duetto in tank filters for circulation.
This system has worked quite well for me and I ahve found that as long as a horse will except frozen when purchased, they are fairly easy to keep. My temp runs between 74-77 but no problems....
Good luck
