Starting A Dwarf Seahorse Tank!

K

Kingumar

New member
Hey guys, im new to this forum and also seahorses. I have been in saltwater for a while. I have a 55gal reef setup and things are great so far.

I have a 10gal tank which i would like to try for dwarf seahorse. I have been reading around and doing my research.. and honestly.. i never get the same answer.

I dont want my seahorse tank to look too exotic. I dont want any corals in it, just plain seahorse and plants and stuff for their environment.
I might put some cured and hitchhikers free live rock in the tank.

I will be filling up my tank today and let it sit for the cycle to complete. Will also be putting a sand bed.

What i want to know is the equipment i would need for these little creatures.

What type of lightning? since i only will keep the necessary plants to create such environment. i will also get some sponges since they dont require much lightning.

What type of filter? I already have the red hob filter that comes with a 10gal setup.

I do have a heater, idk if i will need it since they dont really like high temps.


Anything else? Please post your suggestions and comments.
 
<---- pic of some of my dwarfs in their forest of caulerpa.

My setup was simple, and I truly believe for newer hobbyists thats the way to go for a first dwarf seahorse tank. I used a 10 gal tank, AquaClear filter (because you can control the flow), about 1" of sand, 10 lbs hydroid-free live rock, caulerpa, standard 10 gal flourescent light strip, Ice Probe chiller (to keep the temp at 72F).

Dwarfs are amazing - but I will be honest with you. They are A LOT of work. The DAILY hatching and enriching of brine shrimp, feeding 2 to 3 times per day. You will need a few cultures of hatching brine shrimp. Once you get into a routine, it's not very time consuming - but it is still work. If you have a very busy social life and/or aren't home much, dwarfs really aren't for you.

I used to have 3 hatching cones of brine shrimp, and one used just for enrichment. You can't enrich until the bbs are at least 24 hour old. So I used to feed some out right after they hatch, but the majority went into a 2nd cone to await enriching the next day. After they were moved to that 2nd cone, I'd refill the first with new water and new eggs. Never-ending process. LOL

You did well by researching a lot. I know what you mean by getting many different answers. A tip for you, by scanning past posts on this and different websites you will find out who is being successful with dwarfs - and those that "think" they were successful because they had them 3 or 6 months. Follow the advise of those who are having/have had long-term success.

Tom
 
Tom, tyvm for you input. It really has helped me allot and makes me want to go on with this project.

I started with my 10 gal last night.. i bought sand from local store but idk if i like this sand.
It was dry sand "right from the ocean" and it looks very different from live sand.

I am thinking about dumping it out and getting live sand because that will help me allot.

What are some plants that should go in the tank, that are helpful to the seahorse as well as beatify the tank?
 
As far as the sand - I used dry sand to start my tank as well. One tank had regular fine oolitic sand, the other had CaribSea Black Tahitian Moon sand. Personally, I kinda liked the look of the black sand because the dwarfs stood out more since they are more pale in color.

As far as plants.... I only used caulerpa. Reason was I did not want to use any intense lighting on the tank. The reason was two-fold. First was most dwarf tanks over time develop nuisance algae issues due to the heavy bioload the enriched food puts on the tank combined with the rather small water quantity and lower flow. Secondly, intense lighting elevates the water temp, which I did not want to happen.

Remember, ANYTHING live you add to your tank increases the likelyhood of hydroids. Once they are in the tank, it is almost impossible to erradicate them without the use of chemicals would could harm other things in the tank. Panacur is the most widely used hydroid killer. Some snails doesn't handle this treatment well, nor do some macro algaes. I have never needed to use Panacur, so I can't give you any instructions on it's ease of use and what can/cannot tolerate the treatment.

Lots of good reading on this website and the dedicated seahorse sites for you to keep busy.

Best of luck with your adventure!

Tom
 
My daughter wants to convert our 12 gallon Nano to a Seahorse tank once the 180 ga is up and running. I want the same idea, simple!!!! I'lll keep in eye on this thread! Good luck
 
03sonicstang said:
My daughter wants to convert our 12 gallon Nano to a Seahorse tank once the 180 ga is up and running. I want the same idea, simple!!!! I'lll keep in eye on this thread! Good luck
Click to expand...

a 12 gal is too small for anything but zots (dwarves), so IMHO, "simple" doesn't fall into that category since you'd need to hatch BBS daily for them. just an FYI...
 
hah, the tank is done cycling. I have ordered the horses, should get them in a day or two. I will post pic when i get them :)
 
I used an undergravel w/ only 1 tube, and a hob in the tube. I know that alot of people don't like this setup, but it's working for me. I was having a prob w/ the sponge over the intake getting clogged, had to clean it out every 2 weeks. I couldn't get my calurpa to grow, just kept ending up w/ salad, so I switched over to chaeto and the horses love it!
As far as feeding goes, I p/u 4 TBS brine from my LFS once every 2 weeks. I keep the culture going, straining out the bbs to feed. I do a 50% WC every other day in the culture. The longest one went for 2 months. zots can handle juvi sized brine and even adult if they're hungry enough. you can also add opae ula into the tank. if you keep the tank @ 72 they will breed like rabbits and your zots will love the naups! you can also feed copepods.
Good luck!
 
PS, as far as hydroids and panacur go, you should have a bottle around just in case. (seahorsesource.com) but don't use it if you don't have to, this stuff leaches into the rocks, and then releases into the water for YEARS! Turbo snails can't handle, zoas seem to be ok w/it. but be really careful not to mix equip between a panacure dosed tank and your reef.
If you want to do live rock, start w/ base rock and add coraline scrapings., check first to make sure the coraline doesn't have hydroids. I've never tried, but maybe you could treat your coraline scrapings in panacur, then fresh dip, then on the rock. not sure if this would work.
 
yeah, ill let you know asap i get them, and post some pics up.

hey, btw.. what happened to trade/sale section on this forum?
 
Cool deal!

Nothing happened to the trade/sale section that I know of. I just checked and they're still there, unless I'm missing something. :)

Brandon
 
i might be crazy! I dont see it there lol
The last section i see is the "Special Interest Group (SIG) Forums" and then "Sponsor Forums"

Link me :bigeyes: lol
 
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