seahorses

[leslie]

I have set up my 30 hex to start a seahorse tank. I just put water in Saturday and am letting it cycle now. I do not plan on putting any seahorses in untill Iget back form my trip to Europe mid April. I have read alot about how to care, and feed for them, but would like some input from anyone that has some. I am leaning towards erectus, or maybe reidi. I would also like to know how many I should get ( I here they do better in numbers) and if I can go with all the same sex, as I am not interested in breeding. Any information would be geatly appreciated as I want to know as much as possible before I get them.

Leslie

[Shark_Bait]

This is the place to go
http://forum.seahorse.org/
They are for seahorses what MAAST is for reefers. There is a guy on there called DanU that breeds huge erectus. He will hook you up with same sex if you want. He will also send his phone number so you can call with problem if you have any.
Good luck

[hammondegge]

hey there leslie, i have two reidis that are living in a 20 right now. the 30 hex should be perfect as they will like the added height as they grow. i would say that the erectus or the reidi would be a good choice for you as you are not interested in breeding. i understand that the reidi is much more difficult to breed than the erectus. it think it is easier to identify the males than the females. i thought i had a pair but it became apparent after two months that the fem was butch. I would say it would be best to purchase them through a respected local fish store as you will have an opportunity to observe them and you can see them eat. i would insist on captive bred, mysis raised seahorses. mine have remained strong and have been growing steadily. i got these from Louis at Aquatic Warehouse in SA. i believe he has a good CB source. i noticed that FinAddict have been handling some recently, maybe the same source.
where are you traveling to?

[leslie]

Thanks for the quick responses. Sharb-bait, I have been on sehorse.org. that is where I got all the great information. Very informative site. I just wanted to see what experience the locals might have in raising them.
hammondegge, how long have you had your sh, and what all do you feed?

I am going to visit my brother in Germany, sister in France (I have alot of family in france).

[hammondegge]

" There is a guy on there called DanU that breeds huge erectus. "
heh heh heh

[hammondegge]

I have had them for about 4 months now. they were an anniversary present for my wife. she loves them they are much less difficult than i thought they might be. they eat frozen enriched mysis. they started out eating only 2-3 twice a day. now they are eating around 10 each twice a day. little piggies.
well, bon jour, comment'allez vous, bon voyage, bon appetite....thats all. :roll

[MikeyBoy]

You might chat with SEAMONKEY2 on there, here has a whole herd of them and they seem to be doing well.

[jap1]

Reefcentral.com has a huge forum for seahorses as well. I don't know how necessary it would be, but if your house stays really warm, you may want a chiller. I read that seahorses prefer cooler temps.

[hammondegge]

oh yeh, that is something to consider for sure. i do not run a chiller and i do not keep my house cold in the summer. i try to keep the thermostat at around 78. so what i have done to minimize heat in the tank is: kept tank un-covered by hanging a MH pendant almost 2 feet above the tank and i got the coolest powerheads that i could find. skimmer is HOB. the tank stays between 78-80. most of the literature suggests temps below 78 but hey they are brazilian. if you like your home cooler, as most do, then the tank of course would run cooler too especially if you could direct an a/c vent toward the aquarium.

[seamonkey2]

hello Lesli, I got a couple of horses....ok,ok, mikeboy, a couple of dozen, hehehe, horses in a 215ga, and they eat both frozen and live, it will take to long to answer your questions on the net, so since you are in NB just down the road from me(I live in schertz), LMK if you want to stop by and we can chat for a while

Also Hammondegge and jap 1 you are correct, horses do like cooler temps., I keep my tank at 75. year round it has a chiller, and also at cooler temps prevents most algae and "other" problems.

and yes please try to get them captive bred, the wild ones sometimes carry pathogens and will not easily take to frozen food

Jose

[equinecpa]

Leslie;

I live in Gainesville and have had seahorses for about a year now. I raised these guys from fry - it was a lot of work but I love them to bits. I have Erectus.

I would probably get 2 to start with in a 30G Hex, and perhaps add 2 more once those are established. I personally would buy privately before buying at a LFS unless you know the LFS well, and they keep their seahorses in tanks separate from the rest of the store (ie not the same water). Dan's horses do seem nice! I myself occassionally have a couple available.

My tank does run a little warm in the summer, I put fans on it to keep temps down at about 75.

Carolyn

[Jeff]

Leslie,
just remember that you dont need a lot to keep sea horses. i have four in a thirty gal. that i have had for a while now and all i am running on it is a cheesy powerfilter with some live rock. three are captive breed and one wild caught, the CB horses eat frozen foods while the WC one only eats live ghost shrimp.

[GaryP]

Carolyn,

Welcome to MAAST and thanks for your very nice input.

[Viet-Tin]

I too am thinking about getting sea horses in the near future and was wondering where everyone gets theres and how much do these guys usually go for? Soory dont mean to hi jack just thought id ask instead of starting another thread