Setting up a Seahorse tank

[GOOD (G)REEF]

Hey everyone. We just got back from the Baltimore Aquarium and now my mom really wants a seahorse tank. It would have to be a dwarf species because the tank size would be small. Therein lies my first question: how small can the tank be to fit an easy to find dwarf sehorse in it? Could I use one of those 7 gallon bowfronts, or would it have to be more like a 20 gallon? Also, where could I get some info. on setting a tank up, and do you all have any other tips on how I could do this? Thanks for the help!

[pmui]

Hi GG,

The 7gal. can fit approx. 60 Dwarf seahorse. The larger size horses require min. 20gal. high and you can only put in a pair, a larger tank is more realistic if you want to keep large horses.
Please check www.seahorse.org for more info. they community there is one of the most knowledable in the area.

Regards
Peter

[GOOD (G)REEF]

Thanks. I found that website in anothe rpost, and I have been looking over some of the info. It is interesting how the seahorses need more headroom than swimming room. I guess the only option is the dwarf species then. I think I could set up a real nice little nano with like 5 pairs of dwarf seahorses and maybe some soft corals and of course some caulerpa. I saw this in another thread too: why can't I put in cleaner shrimp with the dwarfs?

[pmui]

The cleaner shrimp will at all the Dwarfs food, and also eat the fry. Dwarfs can have fry approx. every 15-21 days.

Peter

[GOOD (G)REEF]

That's so obvious I never even thought of it :D I got the impression from an article on seahorse.org that the dwarf fry are very easy to raise. I must admit I know very little about brine shrimp though. Do I have to establish a hatchery for the BBS, or can I just hatch some out, then feed them to the tank? What is your feeding schedule like (assuming you use BBS)?

[SeaNemesis]

I have an article at seahorse.org in the library under articles>husbandry. I would go with the 7 gal. No live rock or sand. I also HIGHLY recommend decapping the brine cysts and fw dipping the seahorses and keeping them in a hosp tank for 2 days and also fw dip any macros that will go in there. This will help prevent contamination of hydroids. If you want shrimps for tank mates the only recommendation for that is the red shrimps from Hawaii, they are great for dwarfs.

[pmui]

GG,

My feeding schedule is a net full of BBS a day for a dozen dwarfs horses. I keep a 2 liter botttle as a bbs hatchery, and I also decap my brine. As long as you don't filter out the BBS the horses will pick at it constantly. If you need a picture of the hatchery just let me know.

Peter

[GOOD (G)REEF]

I got a book that's all about hatching rotifers and BBS, but I was wondering. Is it an established 24/7 deal or do you just throw some in water and wait for them to hatch? lso, what is deccapping? I remember something about it but I am not familiar with the exact procedure. I read the article, and it was very good. It helped me with the basic set up. I will start reading that book. A pic would be good too.

[Drewman]

Originally posted by pmui
Hi GG,

The 7gal. can fit approx. 60 Dwarf seahorse.

Is this a typo? I have been thinking about dwarfs for a while but am still new, but this doesn't seem right.

[GOOD (G)REEF]

Nope not a typo. :D

[SeaNemesis]

I know that sounds like a large amount but you can squeeze 60 of them in a 7 gal although I do not recommend that myself. However the least amount I would go with in a 7 gal would be 10. This accounts for enough population so that you can add enough brine in the water with the least amount of die off. The more dwarfs you have the higher density of brine you may have.

[pmui]

Drewman- Dwarf seahorse only grow to 1-1/2" to 1-3/4" max. and that pretty rare.

GG- decapping brine is when you remove the outter shell of the BS cysts, leaving only a thin membrane. The reason you do this is so the BBS will use less energy to hatch, and therefore the BBS has higher potein content (something like that). It also rids any bacteria the lives on the surface of the cyst shells. To answer your question of 24/7 is I hatch (1) batch in a 2liter bottle for 2 days, strain them, enrich with selco and feed to seahorse. I then rinse the bottle and do it again, normaly I have (3) 2liter bottles going at one time.

Peter

[GOOD (G)REEF]

Do they stay alive during this process, or does the selco kill them? It may be easier to just get a pair of larger sea horses for my mom, but I would be interested in some dwarf as I already have a 2.5 gallon going right now. Sure, it has a mantis in it, but.....:D

[pmui]

you don't have to decap. the BS. You can just hatch them normally. If you decap. them correctly they will hatch, and you can also feed them to your other marine/fresh water tanks.
GG, having dwarfs are a lot of work...but BBS is their main food source, if you get large horses they will only eat live foods ($$$$) unless you can train them to take dead stuff. The Selco if added in small qty. to the BBS prior to feeding will not kill them.

Peter

[SeaNemesis]

pmui, you do need to decap. I have an article coming out in the near future about a controlled ongoing study on hydroids and the link to cysts. If you do not decapp your brine you are going to end up with hydroids. It is true that dwarfs require a lot of care with very strict tank management. Once you get hydroids the only way at the present is to sterilize the tank. I am working on a cure at the present that will kill the hydroids but not kill inverts.

[pmui]

Alisa,

I would like to read your article when you publish it. I did have a out break of hydroids and did have to take the whole take down.

Regards
Peter

[GOOD (G)REEF]

Thanks for the info. I've gotta read that book. I am ver interested in keeping some seahorses now :) Thanks for the help!