Seahorse Start Up???

[wakbrdfr]

What are the basic start requirements for housing seahorses? My wife and I have a tank that we would like to start a pair in and I was wondering if someone could direct me in the direction of what all I need to do???

[saxman]

what size is your tank?

[wakbrdfr]

It is a 55gal., what kind of tank do I need? Please tell me everything I need.

[saxman]

ah...OK...many times i see a post like yours and when peeps say "they have a tank", they mean like a 10 gal sitting around.

a 55 is a great size. lots of room.

SH tanx are typically considered low flow (3x to 5x trunover), but IME you should go higher and split the flow up for good circulation. what you don't want is a tank with lots of laminar flow that blows the SH all over the place. they needs calm spots to rest and hunt, but will also often seek out the higher flow areas to play or blow themselves clean.

tropicals should be kept at 72-74*F. it's a fact that when the temps spike, SH tend to come down with bacterial infections. we see it every summer in the SH ER on another site (Renee (seahorsedreams) and i are both mods over there).

filtration-wise, you can't do better than a sump/fuge. if you don't can't run a fuge, i recommend an oversized canister. SH present a heavy bioload on a system, so more filtration is better.

lighting can pretty much be whatever you like, and will really depend on what you keep with the SH (e.g., corals, macroalgae).

i like to use about #3 grade LS as a substrate (1"-2"), and lots of LR and macro in my SH setups. this helps with filtration and gives the SH a place to hunt pods between feedings.

as for species, i'd recommend H. erectus or H. reidi. if you plan to raise fry at some point, erectus are WAY easier to raise (altho no SH fry is what i'd call "easy"). i'm currently not recommending H. kuda due to the glut of pen-raised specimens filtering into the hobby lately at LFS. due to this fact, most reputable breeders have ceased breeding them.

do yourself a HUGE favor and ONLY get TRUE CB (captive bred) SH. look into getting them from Seahorse Source, the ultimate place for captive bred seahorses. or dracomarine.com

you might also find some hobbyist bred CB's from one of the members at http://www.searhorse.org

listen to the podcasts here on TR about SH, ask questions here, and go on over to "the org" and research som more. SH have a unique set of requirements, and if you meet them, and are willing to put in the effort, keeping them is very rewarding.

[wakbrdfr]

Awesome this gives me somewhere to start! What kind of macroalgae do you prefer?

[Seahorsedreams]

If you don't mind pruning, any of the caulerpa will do nicely. We have grape and razor. Withstands a lot of abuse... but don't let it get out of hand. Gonna put some red grape in ours when we upgrade the lights a little.... there's just a temporary light on the tank ATM.

[wakbrdfr]

I might want to use this tank for something else if I used my smaller tank for the seahorses would it work? It is a 20gal.

[saxman]

a 20 is really too small for SH, as they present a heavy bioload on a system. a 29 gal is more appropriate in terms of keeping your water quality up as well as having room for the SH. they really WILL use the entire space you provide for them, contrary to what most folks believe.

[wakbrdfr]

Can I do it if I keep my water changes more frequent?

[saxman]

if the tank is a 20T, it'd be better than a 20 reg. as the general rule of thumb is 3x the adult SH height. i'd also recommend a fuge to help with the water quality as well as to help keep the pod population up, as the SH will hunt all day, given the chance. you could keep 1 pair in a setup like that.

if you have a chiller, you could keep H. capensis, H. whitei, or H. breviceps in a 20 reg., but these are all temperate SH and must be kept at 68*F tops.

[wakbrdfr]

The 20gal that I have is a bowfront and I don't have a chiller. What is the average weight of a seahorse? Also what are some easy ways of making a fuge for a tank this size?

[saxman]

i've always used 10 gal tanx for my small fuges. one baffle in the corner as an intake bay, three on one side (over-under-over) as a bubble trap for the pump bay.

weight can really be all over the place. i've seen them up to 25 grams or so in necropsy reports, altho lots of them fall into the 9-12 gram range. it really depends on the individual and the species.

if you can't get a larger tank, try to find a pair (same sex is OK, BTW) of H. barbouri, as they tend to be a bit more petite, altho they can sometimes be a bit more delicate than erectus or reidi. they also reach sexual maturity a bit later and have smaller broods. also, barbs have benthic fry, which like southern erectus, are easier to raise than pelagic fry.

[wakbrdfr]

[quote=saxman;51286]i've always used 10 gal tanx for my small fuges. one baffle in the corner as an intake bay, three on one side (over-under-over) as a bubble trap for the pump bay.

Not really understanding the whole baffle over under thing. Do you have a pic of this, I am a visual learner.

[Seahorsedreams]

I can take a pic of our really ugly sump/fuge to demonstrate the baffles..... gotta turn on their lights first and empty the camera's flash card.

[saxman]

here ya go:

[Seahorsedreams]

Well there ya go......

[wakbrdfr]

That would be so helpfu if you take a pic.

I have a emperor 400 on the back of this tank and no room for anything to hang on the back.