Setting up a Seahorse ONLY tank, anything else I need to do?

[speenach]

Hello,

I had a spare approx 25-30 gallon cube tank sitting around and decided to make it a seahorse tank. I have a very successful 500 gallon reef tank in which I used that water for the new seahorse tank. In addition, I bought 2 15lb bags of live sand and put 2 pieces of live rock that are around 15-20 lbs total. I have a skimmer that is rated at doing 100 gallons and a very small powerhead that has very very little current that is blowing directly on a Orange Gorgonian that is 6"-8". I have 2 scarlet hermits and 2 turbo snails. That's all. I stopped there because I dont want to over do anything if it's not good for the Seahorses. I am waiting a few more weeks as my Shark Egg is in there waiting to hatch and then be put in my reef tank. Is there anything else I need to add/remove from this tank in order to keep a successful SH tank? Also, I have a heater that is set at 76f, lighting is the standard low wattage that comes with tanks, and I only plan on doing captive bread seahorses. I know nothing about them and the LFS has some for $29.99 all the time. I dont know what kind but can find out next time I am there. Thanks in advance!!

 

[TamiW]

Sounds like you're on the right path, for sure! I'm struggling to think of what else you might need. You can likely keep a pair in that tank unless they're a large species; but most will do fine in that size aquarium. I personally would make sure you have more hitching posts, and a heater guard on the heater. Also add an intake guard on the powerhead and skimmer if there isn't one already.

Its still important to quarantine seahorses even if they're captive bred and even if they're going into a new aquarium. It will give you time to monitor their eating habits and make sure they didn't pick up any diseases along the way.

I always like to have meds on hand in case of an emergency. I see Neo3 mentioned here a lot; I keep sulfa 4 tmp on hand from fish farmacy (or is it phish pharmacy?) and oxytetracycline (available at farm supply stores).

Its also important to see if you can figure out if they're captive bred in a closed system or if they're net pen raised - in the later case, you'll likely need to treat for parasites as they are raised in the ocean and can carry the same pathogens as wild fish.