seahorses

[NH81]

what is the life span of a seahorse? i have a good size octagonal tank and thought of a seahorse tank.

 

[rayjay]

Assuming all conditions being excellent for seahorse keeping, 5 to 8 years.
In fact, most seahorses sold die in less than a year.
I don't know what your knowledge level for keeping the seahorses might be but at the end of my blurb on seahorse keeping there are two links to get you started, if need be.
My Thoughts on Seahorse Keeping

 

[NH81]

thanks rayjay. any extra advice and knowledge is a benifit in every way.

 

[carpinojoe]

i have been keeping seahorses for about 8 months now and i love it.... the are very hard to raise and eat more often then you can believe. the first think when you look for sea horses to buy ask if they are tank raised or wild caught... if wild you will need to have a lot of live food for them to get enough to eat. but if tank rased they will eat frozen shrimp and such much easier... second thing is there are tons of different breeds of them all with different needs and different wants for a tank... big thing is most sea horses dont like a lot of water flow as they are not strong swimmers... if you plan to keep a sea horse tank there are lots of things you cant keep with them including a lot of different fish really anything thats not scared and will just eat faster then the horses... they need to have lots of plants and things to grab onto but earn their trust and they will wrap around your fingers like mine now do... they are very soicail and need at least one friend to be happy... its a lot of work to keep them but they are so worth it.. please ask and i will try to answer any questions you have as i have done more research on ponies then i did before setting up the salt water tank to start with lol... good luck

 

[rayjay]

the first think when you look for sea horses to buy ask if they are tank raised or wild caught...

Asking doesn't usually solve the problem as most stores selling them have been told they are captive bred/tank raised, when in fact, most available for stores, especially the cheaper ones, come from places that raise them on a large scale using ocean water either in flow throughs or in captive cement containers. This means they still have the same pathogens that wild caught seahorses have and will need to be treated for external parasites and internal parasites and worms, even though technically, they may have been "captive bred" or "tank/container" raised.

big thing is most sea horses dont like a lot of water flow as they are not strong swimmers...

As long as you provide areas of low and medium flow, you can still have areas of high flow. If fact, many seahorses are known to sit in the output of powerheads.

i have done more research on ponies then i did before setting up the salt water tank to start with

Now, if we could only get that message out to the many many hobbyists purchasing seahorses without research, we could save a lot of seahorse lives.

 

[Kingumar]

i heard around a year or 2. But it all depends on condition kept and experience of the keeper.

 

[rayjay]

If they die that young, they are probably in conditions not suitable for seahorses living in tanks.
That is not a normal lifespan.

 

[NH81]

thanks carp. i will deffinately keep you in mind if i decide to start up a seahorse tank.

 

[rayjay]

"Hard" is a relative thing. What is hard for me may be easy for you.
Seahorses new special care compared to a normal salt water tank. Water conditions need to be excellent, in spite of the fact most seahorses are "messy" eaters with a lot of food usually left uneaten. This means many times, a special regime to clean up the uneaten food before it changes into ammonia etc......
Because of their propensity to succumb to bacterial infections, we need to keep them at cooler temperatures than they would be found in under natural habitat conditions.
Like any aspect of the salt water hobby, there are differing opinions but if you click the link in the second post above, you can see my thoughts on keeping them, plus there are some links at the bottom for further, more knowledgeable information.
Use the google or other search engine to round out your information, especially the articles in the two main seahorse forums.

 

[NH81]

thanks rayjay, you have really helped and given me quite a bit of info.

 

[rayjay]

Well, I don't know what the heck is going on now.
My last post was in reply to a post by sergehb, asking

"are they hard to keep?"
but that post is no longer there.
?????????

 

[NH81]

idk. i saw it on here but not anymore. i guess they changed thier mind.