25 gal. Seahorse Tank Diary..

[Reef69]

Well, after seeing all this seahorse fuzz going on...and my gf seeing Jose's pictures..We've been bit by the seahorse bug..soooo, we are setting up a 25 gal. seahorse tank, but we are pretty clueless..

The tank is a 25 gal. Jebo tank i was getting rid of but didnt because K wanted a puffer (Told her a puffer cant go in a 25 gal...the arguement wasnt pretty :wacko ..but she realized that its cruel to have an animal in a home that doesnt fit them).. Its a VERY cool tank, matching black stand and canopy..bowish front..

I really have no clue what the perfect seahorse tank must have equipment wise..Should i drill the tank and add a sump?..would a HOB filter and Skimmer do instead??..Circulation?..Lighting? .. I am reading as much as i can about their needs..but do i need a phyto culture?.. I mean, if this is gonna be so hard to do, i rather do something else with the tank, but that boss wants seahorses so..gotta do whatcha gotta do..Any input/ideas are very appreciated, thanks..

Also, is there a breed thats easier to start with?..can you mix breeds?..I just thought i would for once be clueless about something..dont want to suck info out of MAAST but i guess one time wont hurt, lol.. THANKS!!

[Reef69]

Hey Krustina!..I found this (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=753742) thread on RC. This guy set up a 25 gal. But my only concern is the equipment. Yeah, it will be fun setting them up at the same time!.. I finally got K interested in something "fish-related", Im surprised at how excited she is about this little project..My only problem is..she wants PINK seahorses..where am i to find them?..I have NO clue..LOL

...And yeah, Sushi tonight, just give us a call whenever!

[Grace]

I went through a seahorse craze myself and this is what I remember before I realized the amount of care they need.

1st: Seahorses are endangered, and the only seahorse you can get (legally) is tank raised.
2nd: They like low flow and nothing that make bubbles. (oxygen can be toxic to them, especially for babies who can't properly get rid of the oxygen)
3rd: They need to be fed 2 times a day. (I guess you could think of a school of anthias' and how they need to eat constantly ; ;
4th: They need things to hold onto; salt water plants (kalerpa), or something equivalent that's not going to hurt them (sea fans is another suggestion as that's what they hold onto in the wild as well as kalerpa!)
Side note: You can have a fish in with them, but they have to be non aggressive eaters as seahorses take their sweet time to eat. The only thing that I think would be suitable would be a green mandarin, scooter blenny, or something of the like.
As soon as I realized they needed to be fed constantly I had to stray away from the idea, as it would be hard to find a suitable sitter for them.

But, here's a site I found useful.
http://www.seahorses.de/keeping.htm

[Reef69]

..Oh, that problem again?..It was working fine when i posted... The site must have that error again..

[Reef69]

Uh, Ive been reading alot on the species available and they all suck..LOL..JK, they are all pretty much the same..they all look the same, except for the color..yellow, black, and red.. All the cool seahorses... you cant have..Pigmy Seahorses..no!!..Pontoh's Seahorse..no!!..It sucks!..LOL

[TheOtherGuy]

Well, after seeing all this seahorse fuzz going on...and my gf seeing Jose's pictures..We've been bit by the seahorse bug..soooo, we are setting up a 25 gal. seahorse tank, but we are pretty clueless..

LOL.

Those pics are costing some of us some dollars for new/revamped setups for seahorses. I am looking forward to learning much more than I know about seahorses and pipefish right now. And I also I am excited about having a different style reef tank with different needs and issues. Like I need more issues!!! At least it is a little different.

So welcome to the seahorse craze.

I guess with more of us doing them we will see more seahorse talk on here. It should be fun and interesting.

[Reef69]

Hey Mark!..Yeah, thanks to you we found a new reason to spend more money (like we dont have enough already!)..LOL..feels good to set up a new tank..specially since its Krystynns little project (im helping thought)..So, we'll see how this turns out..
'
Im probably gonna go with one of the "starting kits" from www.seahorse.com ..

[seamonkey2]

gee!! when I first got into SW I asked around and alot of people told me SH were to difficult to care for, to much of this and that, and I proved everybody wrong :P

any way, I got 2 big males that are supose to be red and turn out to be a pretty pink and the are pregnant!! LOL

SH especially males will change colors to match the female they are trying to mate with, the things a guy has to do to impress a girl LOL

SH like great water quality, and they are not more difficult to keep that fish that need special care,ie mandarins and such.

all SH are not endergered species, there are some kind that are, but not all

low flow is the way to go, O2 is not toxic to SH, babies die to the fact that, if they swallow some air, they can not expell it so they are full of air, can't eat and so they die.

the problem with having other fish with the horses is, that they compete for food, and SH are sssssllllllooooowww eaters, I only have 1 small fish in their tank

SH and pipes do not to need to be fed twice a day, you can put a "feeding station" put the food there, and they will feed at their leisure

for the set up, think of it as a reef, skimmer, ca reactor, sump, LR, fake plants or real culerpa lots of it,colorfull fake branch like "trees", RR for me is the way to go(less of a headache), SH don't care much for light, you also have to take into consideration if you are going to put some soft corals in their tank, that this corals don't need much light and go from there

I'm currently setting up a dwarf SH tank, is going to be so cool.

If any body wants to look at my SH tank and talk horse, just LMK

in my opinion SH are not hard to keep, just different, but to each its own

Jose

[Reef69]

Thanks Jose..I think its a cool challenge.. Ive been reading ALOT (thats all i really did yesterday) and alot of their needs ive had to deal with in the past. The whole "swallowing air" issue..is just like with anglers, they cant expell it and die (puffers too)..so ive dealt with some of those issues in the past. My only concern really is equipment.. I mean, i dont want a 25 gal. tank to have more expensive equipment than my 125..lol..I havent hooked up my Ca. reactor to my 125...and i dont think i'd put one on the SH tank..lol..so, im a bit confused..but thanks for your imput, it really helped solve alot of my questions..

Only thing is... Im gonna have to get a hold of those pink seahorses of yours..its either that or death..Yep, she'll kill me if i dont get pink SH's..lol

[seamonkey2]

LMK if you want to order some, I'll get some too, they are tank bred so no problems, they cost a little more but they are at least 4" eating frozen food healthy and fat

Jose

[Richard]

I am setting up a 29 gallon seahorse tank today. It will use the Hiatt method for filtration, thus there will be no skimmer, or need for liverock, dsb etc. as a filtration method. A very simple setup.

I'll start a thread to document it's progress and the performance of the filtration method. So if your not in too much of a hurry you can sit back and see how it goes for me and see if it's an approach you want to take.

[seamonkey2]

Diego, as I stated before, it depends of what are wanting to set up, I got soft corals, LR and other things, so I got a ca reactor and other pieces of equipment, for a simple SH tank you won't need this things.

Ok simple set up, tank, skimmer(horses poop like horses LOL, so I would really recomend one, others don't use it, but thats others), heavy duty HOB filtration, no sump, but consider one or a HOB refugium.

Talk with Richard, he knows more about filtration than me. he may be able to make it even simpler.

I over did mine, so I would not have problems, so far so good, I get babys reguraly(got 4 horses pregnant now, and a dawrf gulf pipe), so I must be doing something right .

Jose

[Reef69]

Thanks Jose for your input.. I want it as simple as it can be, yours is quite fancy but you have a gaggle of horses..so..i only want 2, maybe 3 tops..

JOSE, RICHARD..do yall think this might work?

-Seaclone HOB skimmer.
-Whisper HOB filter (the big one)
-Heater
-Sand as substrate
-Liverock, sponges, gorgonias..Algeas ETC..
-And ofcourse a weekly water change..

Thanks!

[hammondegge]

seamonkey is right. not hard. definately not as hard as many sps. as long as they are tank raised and are eating frozen foods.

Diego, my tank is set up exactly as you described but without mechanical filtration. make sure you use a quality heater that produces even heat. ie no hot spots that could burn the horses.

[Reef69]

Oh, you have SH too Hammon??..How does the setup work for you???

[hammondegge]

great!

20g tank
175w mh 15k
live rock
sand bed
sword grass, gorgonians, zoas, xenia, other non stinging soft corals.
2 male reidis (thought one was female until it grew a pouch). Louis Aquatic Warehouse got them for me. they came in almost white and have since changed to black, black and white, and yellow
1 male mandarin
1 yellow watchman goby
hermits and snails
2 Rio Micro-Jet 320 powerheads (variable from 32 gph - 72 gph each )
Prizm Skimmer ( i would go with something better than this - but it has kept them alive )

and a few surviving ghost shrimp that got a little too big for the horses.

go for it! they are awsome. tons of personality and one will eat from my hand.

[Reef69]

Thanks Hammon!!!..You just fully convinced us!..Im gonna go with horses from seahorse.com (if you want you can jump in the order with Jose and myself if you see something you may want, they sell tons of stuff for SH)..I guess we'll be setting up the tank VERY soon. ill be using water from my 125..Anybody else have any more suggestions/ideas/comments??? THANKS!

[Reef69]

Oh Richard, please post pics here of your setup as you progess!!..id love to see it evolve..

[Richard]

Diego

If you already have the seaclone skimmer then by all means use it! If not though, check into coralvue octopus hang on skimmers. They won't cost a whole lot more and will outperform the seaclone bigtime. Actually, I'm having a hard time thinking of a skimmer that won't out perform a sea clone.

I will start a new thread for my setup. It is really more of a test of the filtration method that will happen to house seahorses. You (and most everyone else) will be confused by it LOL! I hope it works LOL!

[Reef69]

Well, I have two seaclones in my fish closet..soooo.. Im gonna use one..

Whats the filtration method all about?.. Whats the theory??

[hammondegge]

Thanks Diego, i will check out the seahorse.com. i do want a female.

Richard, have you convinced Snake to talk to us?

[Reef69]

This (http://seahorse.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=21&products _id=91) is what i want to start with..but we'll see..if i dont find anything close to pink..ill get the ones i posted..

[Richard]

Richard, have you convinced Snake to talk to us?


Actually I forgot to ask him. I will send him the link to the thread on my new setup and we can drill him for what information he will give on the "how and why" of his products.

[hammondegge]

Oh, I forgot that is OceanRider. they sure do have pretty ponies. Louis' are really good though (i dont know who supplies them) and they were about 20% the cost of OceanRiders. I would like to try the Vibrance.
Richard - do you have a source for something like vibrance?

[Reef69]

Yeah, OceanRider has REALLY nice stuff. They seem very professional. The thing i like about them is that the SH are eating frozen mysis and other stuff, they are mated pairs..which is pretty cool..So they pretty much have everything i need to get started..

[Richard]

OceanRider has some great looking seahorse varieties but pricey and sometimes there is a waiting list to get certain varieties. I have been planning on doing a seahorse tank for quite a while. I looked around for hobbyists comments that have done business with them and have never seen anything negative except that they are expensive.


Ham - No I don't. As Mark and I get into keeping seahorses we will probably do a seahorse section in the store but for now we have not looked into such things. Also I will have to look into sources for different varieties of TR sh's if we do this. All I can get now is reidis (black, yellow), kellogi's, & occasionally barbouri's.

[Reef69]

Yeah, some are very pricey...$300 for a SH..umm..LOL

JOSE- Do you raise SH?..or do you just keep them?..Would you sell a pair?..or do you keep them all?..(i know i'd keep them all..you have kicka$$ SH's)..lol

RICHARD- It would be awesome if you would have a dedicated SH area in your store..

[hammondegge]

Louis has tank raised yellow seahorses on his arrival list yesterday......can you truly resist...?....they are sooooooo close by.......

[seamonkey2]

man those are some expensive horses, I can get cheaper horses, as I have stated before, and yeah pink ones LOL

I just got some born last night, is going to be along while for them to be ready for the main tank, if they all survive.

Diego for your size tank, 3 would be max. 1 female 2 males, that's the SH way, using the water from your 125 would be perfect, add a lot of live plants and fake branching tree like corals

OR has nice horses, expensive but nice, I can get better

Jose

[Reef69]

Uh..can you get pink seahorses???.huh???huh?!?!?.LOL..

Yeah, i want 3..I thought it was 2 females 1 male..but i guess its backwards since the male is the "girl"..

I am thinking about keeping sponges (ive kept sponges forever, i have some in my 125..they do great).. Gorgonias, the photosynthetic ones.. algeas, tonga branch..I want to stay away from artificial stuff, i want to do it as natural as i can..but still have stuff they can hold on to..LMk what you think.

[seamonkey2]

all that is great, but remember, SH take coloration from their surrundings, to comuflage, so sponges are great, but...I was going to keep all real also then added some fake stuff..still is all good

how do you think I got my pink ones eh???

Jose