Seahorse Tank

[ysanford]

I have wanted to start a seahorse tank ever since we got into the hobby and I think I am ready to try it out. I've started to do some research on it and I plan on getting it started in about two months. I want to let the tank cycle a good while before I add anything, especially the seahorse(s). A lot of you have said good things about cmannings tank, so I would really like to hear any advice they have. Also, I am wondering if you all would know of a reputable source for purchasing them. I am leaning towards the H. reidi so hopefully someone knows where I can find this species.

Thanks in advance for any advice or info.

[cmanning]

I think the best advice I can give is to have your tank cycled before hand and when purchasing seahorse.....try to find a reputable place to purchase them. If it's a LFS, make sure a staff member feeds them before your eyes. Watch them eat and try to pick the ones that are alert and have good reflexes. Believe me, when they're hungry and are feeding frozen mysis, they move fast.....it's a sight to see. If you don't want to spend too much $$$, I would go for Black Hippocampus erectus. We started with 5 of them, eventually you will notice which is the male/females.

We had them for over 1.5 yr. and were spawning like crazy......we're getting frustrated, at the time, we weren't able to provide the frys w/the adequate food source. Luckly, back in the time when Horizon Pets was still in business, we traded the 5 black ones for some bright yellow and orange/red ones. Beautiful specimens, we had them for several years.

Three things I would consider having when setting up the tank (wish we thought of this before hand).

1. Having a sump---that way your macro algae will help w/nitrates and keeping your ammonia in check----you will be feeding them at least 2-3 times a day.

2. Having a sump--- you can keep your heater in the sump, if not make sure you place some type of cage around it. They love to wrap their tails around it and they can get burn. Infection can set in and die.

3. Having a sump--- you can keep a skimmer down there, it will help the nutrient removal. But you know about the skimmers job, right!?

Well, is very late but if I left anything out just ask. They're some pretty knowledgeable people around here and if anyone can chime in the matter, please feel free to do so. I'm no expert but I can only give you advice from what we have learned in the past 6 yrs.

Take Care,

-Cindy-

[Laura]

Good morning !!

Please see the thread that was answered yesterday about my experience with seahorses and the recommendations. I was PM'd by a member and we are ordering ORA's reidi next week as I am also waiting for a couple more myself. I am expecting my male to pop anyday now and my nursery tank is awaiting!! Any questions, please ask!!

Take Care,

Laura

[JamesL]

Y'all are making me really want to set up a seahorse tank

[ysanford]

I am hoping that my 40 gallon breeder tank will be enough space for them. Any advice on this size tank?

[Laura]

Sure...that is plenty big...mine are in a 30g flat back hex...I have just a pair and planning on just 2 more, and that would be it. They have a couple of hitching posts, but they hitch more on the liverock!! I have them trained to follow the turkey baster at feeding time where they then hitch on my coco worm or a small piece of liverock in that area. I will post a pic of my tank when I get a free minute today!!

Laura

[cmanning]

Y'all are making me really want to set up a seahorse tank

Go for it!! Go for it!! By the way, congratulations on becoming a New ARC moderator.

[JamesL]

I am hoping that my 40 gallon breeder tank will be enough space for them. Any advice on this size tank?

I thought I had heard that vertical height was important for seahorses (except for pygmy ones)?

Go for it!! Go for it!! By the way, congratulations on become a New ARC moderator.

Thanks! Glad to be of help around here. We know how rowdy this place can get

I wish I could set one up ... but right now free time is at a premium. Maybe when our little girl gets older, I can put a seahorse tank in her room

[cmanning]

I am hoping that my 40 gallon breeder tank will be enough space for them. Any advice on this size tank?

That's a pretty good size. The tank I use to have my seahorses were in a 36g corner bowfront w/ watchman goby, circus clowngoby and a randall's goby w/pistol shrimp. They don't require turbulent water movement (you definitely don't want to blast the little guys) and you can also use multiple types of macro algae for them to hang on, kind of like in their natural environment. Here's a pic of one of mine w/red dragon's breath algae:

[ysanford]

I was reading that caulerpa is a good algea for them to hang on to but that it has the ability to turn sexual and that kind of worries me. Although the articles that I read about this said that as long as you have a sump/refugium with a good skimmer, it shouldn't be a problem. What kind of live rock did you use? Tonga?

Nice looking tank by the way, cmanning. Hopefully I can get there one day.

[cmanning]

I was reading that caulerpa is a good algea for them to hang on to but that it has the ability to turn sexual and that kind of worries me. Although the articles that I read about this said that as long as you have a sump/refugium with a good skimmer, it shouldn't be a problem. What kind of live rock did you use? Tonga?

Nice looking tank by the way, cmanning. Hopefully I can get there one day.

Thanks. When you're ready I can give you some caulerpa prolifera and another type I can't seem to identify it, yet. But I can give you some to getting going. This one has runners like-grass, and basically just keep the roots buried in sandbed. This is what I'm talking about:

http://reefcleaners.org/index.php?page=sho...t&Itemid=34

Do you have the red kind? I can get you some of that too if interested. As for rock----I only got 2 small pieces of Tonga rock the rest is just your basic live rock.

-Cindy-

[ysanford]

Thanks. When you're ready I can give you some caulerpa prolifera and another type I can't seem to identify it, yet. But I can give you some to getting going. This one has runners like-grass, and basically just keep the roots buried in sandbed. This is what I'm talking about:

http://reefcleaners.org/index.php?page=sho...t&Itemid=34

Do you have the red kind? I can get you some of that too if interested. As for rock----I only got 2 small pieces of Tonga rock the rest is just your basic live rock.

-Cindy-

I don't either of those types, so it would be great to get some of that from you. Thanks! I just want to let it cycle about another week and then I'll start adding things like the algae and maybe a couple of fish. Then I plan on letting all of that get settled and then I'll add the seahorses. Do you think that is a good plan or will the seahorses freak if I put them in a tank with other things in there?

[cmanning]

I don't either of those types, so it would be great to get some of that from you. Thanks! I just want to let it cycle about another week and then I'll start adding things like the algae and maybe a couple of fish. Then I plan on letting all of that get settled and then I'll add the seahorses. Do you think that is a good plan or will the seahorses freak if I put them in a tank with other things in there?

What were you planning on keeping w/ the sehorses?

[cmanning]

Corals, fish, inverts and macro algae I kept w/seahorses.

Corals:

Zoas/palythoas

Ricordeas and other mushrooms

Different colts (kenya tree)

Frogspawn

Fish

Pacific pygmy angelfish--gets about 2-2.5 inches.

Randal goby w/ red & white stripes pistol shrimp.

Yellow Watchman goby.

Circus Clown goby.

Inverts

Red serpent starfish

Yellow sea cucumber

Tigertail sea cucumber

Nassarius snails

Pair of cleaner shrimps---they now reside in the main tank.

And other hitchikers---stomatella snails, tiny starfish.......

And different macro algae.

From my observation.....none of these fish/inverts showed discord w/the seahorses.

[MissT]

My two cents:

I've always been a little wary about putting seahorses with most LPS corals because of their nematocysts (stinging cells). Euphyllias such as hammer, anchor, torch, frogspawn, etc have fairly powerful stinging cells, and are capable of injuring the horses.

Another thing, be careful when considering keeping wild caught horses. I've read some research that shows that horses from different regions have various bacteria strains, and if you were to get a horse from one location, then later on purchase another one that was collected in different waters, there is fairly serious potential in one or likely both horses dying from bacterial infections.

This risk is reduced with buying aquacultured specimens, but I wouldn't say it's eliminated. I would highly recommend ORA's Reidi horses. I've had tremendous luck with these guys, and have seen them eat frozen mysis within minutes of being released from their shipping bags.

Good Luck

[ysanford]

MissT:

I am definetly going with captive breed seahorses. I have also read about there being a lot of trouble with wild caught ones. Where can I get the ORA's from? Can I special order them from River City?

CManning:

I plan on getting three purple firefish, maybe a mandarin goby, and a clean up crew of snails and a couple cleaner shrimp. As for corals, I'll probably just stick with zoanthids, mushrooms, ricordia and maybe some leathers. I have an article at home that has a list of inhabitants that have shown to do well with seahorses. I haven't heard anything about clams though. I would really like to get a couple, as I have seen them in the seahorse tank at Aquatek. Have you heard of this being good or bad?

[JamesL]

Fish

Pacific pygmy angelfish--gets about 2-2.5 inches.

Randal goby w/ red & white stripes pistol shrimp.

Yellow Watchman goby.

Circus Clown goby.

The angelfish don't eat the food before the horses get a chance? I can understand the bottom dwelling fish, as they rarely will go too far from there burrows to capture food.

[Laura]

Jake and I from RCA are ordering ORA seahorses for shipment next week, as I have been waiting myself. As far as any other fish in a seahorse tank, the only ones recommended are pipefish or on a personal level, a mandarin goby. You can not have your horses compete for food as they move very slowly. I had many soft corals in the tank along with a few fungia...I took all out except for some pulsing xenia because when my male was delivering, the corals were holding on to those free floating babies and would not let go!! I have added some ricordea,blastos and acans back in because I am watching my male to catch the birth and move those babies ASAP. If you go on youtube, you can see other people's seahorse set ups. I have seen all different kinds of fish and corals with them. I even took out my hermit crabs because they were getting to the mysis before my seahorses had a chance for a second bite. Even the dang nassarius snails are getting to be a problem...a SNAIL??!!! That goes to show you how they really take their sweet time eating. I do feed at least twice a day. They wait for me and dance in front of the glass. I enjoy them very much. I went to take their photo, but they were in the back taking a siesta!!

[cmanning]

CManning:

I plan on getting three purple firefish, maybe a mandarin goby, and a clean up crew of snails and a couple cleaner shrimp. As for corals, I'll probably just stick with zoanthids, mushrooms, ricordia and maybe some leathers. I have an article at home that has a list of inhabitants that have shown to do well with seahorses. I haven't heard anything about clams though. I would really like to get a couple, as I have seen them in the seahorse tank at Aquatek. Have you heard of this being good or bad?

With those corals in mind....I think your ponies will be safe. I've never kept clams w/them, you might as well do some more research on the clams/seahorses. As for the frogspawns I think MissT is right on the money......I just recently added the frogspawn but there no seahorses in the tank. My seahorses past several months ago due to lockjaw--.

[ysanford]

What is the price of the ORA seahorses? I won't be ready to pick them up next week, but it's good that I can order them from RCA - it's my favorite store. Your guys rock!

I was thinking that the firefish may be a little too active for the horses, but from the articles I read, they said that firefish would be okay. I'll probably go with my gut feeling and skip these, afterall. Maybe just get the manderin and focus more on the seahorses and really pretty zoos.

I plan on feeding them two to three times a day, as I will be starting school soon and will have time to feed in the morning, afternoon and evening. Hopefully it will work out well.

[cmanning]

The angelfish don't eat the food before the horses get a chance? I can understand the bottom dwelling fish, as they rarely will go too far from there burrows to capture food.

My seahorses were about 5" to 6" and I would always feed plenty for the other fish to eat first. Then I would shut my circulating pumps to individually feed my ponies. They would eat anywhere between 5-8 Piscine mysis (this mysis are larger than normal). I added the angelfish just about the time my ponies were 4"-5", and at the time I added the angelfish.....it was around 1"-1.5", very tiny. My ponies would eat more than the angelfish could stuff its gut.

[Zarathustra2]

With those corals in mind....I think your ponies will be safe. I've never kept clams w/them, you might as well do some more research on the clams/seahorses. As for the frogspawns I think MissT is right on the money......I just recently added the frogspawn but there no seahorses in the tank. My seahorses past several months ago due to lockjaw--.

Aquatec has a great display for black Hippocampus with a bunch of Clams and hameda.

[MissT]

Should be no problem having clams in with the horses, just make sure you are able to meet the clam's light and food requirements, in addition to all the things the horses need.

I think the ORA horses usually retail somewhere around $80 for the yellows, more for the orange guys, but every now and then they would have blow outs and they'd retail for less.

Make SURE they are eating before you take them home though. If they don't eat at the store, chances are they wont eat for you... especially if you are going to have a mandarin in there who will deplete the pod population pretty quickly. I cycled my horse tank for 4 months before I put any fish in. I just concentrated on the corals, and once some nice Reidis came in that were eating frozen mysis, I added them.

I always fed my guys 3 times a day, and did two 10% water changes every week. Worked well for me.

hth

[Laura]

What is the price of the ORA seahorses? I won't be ready to pick them up next week, but it's good that I can order them from RCA - it's my favorite store. Your guys rock!

Thank You Thank You!!! They are a little pricey at $109.99, but they are tank raised and have a voracious snick. We do make sure they eat before purchase. I personally take care of any seahorses that come in. We do have another member interested in the ORA purchase, so don't worry about next week. If they all do not sell, they will be well taken care of until you are ready. We can always order more, depending on availablity. They are a gorgeous orange or yellow in color upon arrival. I will post when they get here!!

Take Care,

Laura

[Laura]

Here is a pic of my seahorse tank....I will get the residents when they come out to eat. I can see them, but I want the pic to be up close and personal!!

Edited May 15, 2009 by Mama