smallest tank size for pipefish or seahorse

[twiggyb]

I was wanting to get a nano tank started, maybe a 6g, and wanted to know if this is way small for either of these animals. I would think it is, but I'm not an expert on seahorses. Anything else I should know about them? I know they are hard to get eating frozen and no other tankmates, which in such a small tank I only want one or two depending on size, but are they a cooler water animal or is 78-80 ok?

 

[Peka]

The only type of seahorse that you could keep in a 6 gallon tank would be a dwarf seahorse. If you are interested in those, I would read up about them extensively. They are a lot of work for their size and they only eat live food. For other species of seahorses, I would recommend at a minimum a 29 gallon tank for a pair. Pipefish also need larger tanks than a 6 gallon, although after saying that, I have kept dwarf pipefish with dwarf seahorse. I would recommend a temp below 74 for both.

 

[twiggyb]

Thanks. That temp might not be possible at all times and chillers are out of my budget. One day I'll own some seahorses, until then I'll just admire them in dealers tanks. Anything else you'd recommend for such a small tank?

 

[CCall]

I used to have one with little gobies in it. They is a wide range of colorful gobies out there.

 

[Peka]

I have a 7.5 gallon tank with suncorals, duncans, dendros, a clown goby and lots of sexy shrimp. It is a small tank and I feed heavily so I do water changes at least once a week. The smaller the tank, the more you need to watch the water quality.

I'm sure others will have some ideas for you...

 

[twiggyb]

Did you keep the stock lighting or did you buy something separate? Or are those non-photosynthetic corals?

 

[Peka]

The corals that I mentioned don't need the light but I have others in that tank that do. I do not currently have a nano cube but when I did have one, I removed the lid and put on a clamp on light. The other alternative is raise the lid and have a fan blowing over the water. Just watch your salinity if you do that...

 

[twiggyb]

I've never did a SW under 10g so I'm kind of excited to try a 6. Thanks for the input though, very helpful