questions?

sdietz2469 · #1 10/01/2007, 08:18 PM

I am sure that you all get this a lot but I am thinking of getting sea horses....

The tank for them would be my 46gal bow front... it does NOT have a chiller, has only 2 t5's for lights, and is home to hundreds of mushrooms.... I want to know what everyone's opinion is on what would be the best horses for me... I want CB... so I know that also limits it.. I just don't know if erectus, kuda, or redi would be best... or something else...

I would like for them to breed and be able to raise their fry but it is not a necessity...

Is one pair fine in a 46gal or do they need a second pair?

I understand that there are not currently any CB kuda... but I am willing to wait how ever long if these are the right ones for me...

I want ones that are hardy and the best for me... as I have not had seahorses before....

I have a 120 reef and a 29 frag tank.... but no horses...

also, will they be fine with EVERY kind of mushroom... yumas...floridas... etc.

Would a pair of horses live fine with a pipe fish... or would it be too much of a compition for food...

What would be the best tank mate for them to have....

Thank you... any feedback would be greatly appreciated and helpful

sdietz2469 · #2 10/01/2007, 08:23 PM

oh and I forgot to say that the tank does NOT have an overflow or sump... and therefor does not have a skimmer... but has an undergravel filter with one powerhead, and a magnum 350.... will that be fine...

craiglanda · #3 10/02/2007, 03:26 AM

I dont see an issue with keeping seahorses with pipefish. I have succesfully bred kudas and erectus in 30 gallon tanks. The erectus seem to be more readily available where i am from as well as being cheaper than the kudas. So, i would go with the erectus for a first attempt at breeding. However if your willing to wait for the right horses than the kudas can be more brightly colored than the erectus so if that makes a difference to you than as long as they are taking frozen food and dont show any signs of disease, parasites bouancy issues, ect.. than either the kuda or erectus will be nice for a 46 gal. They dont like to much water flow so as long as the powerhead isnt putting out a lot of current you can do like 2 pairs in there. I personally have had succes keeping a pair of males for each female in the tank to rear offspring. It also will give you a glimpse of some behaviors males do during courting. Oh and the mushrooms wont cause an issue to my knowlegde but i personally like to keep sponges or tree gorgonians for them to perch on. You can use fake brightly colored ornaments to try to induce coloration. Aside from what some say about extremly brightly lit tanks will make seahorses more colorful.... i fel thats a myth. MH lights give off much more UV so i found that if not properly shielded these intense lights will cause them to turn black. What happens is the melanocyctes will be expressed as a way to protect their skin from the UV emitted. OK now i am rambling LOL...
There are HOB skimmers you can get so you wouldnt need a sump. i know instant ocean makes one but have no expierence with it so i cant say if i like it or not.

sdietz2469 · #4 10/02/2007, 07:18 AM

For horses do I need a skimmer...

I live in Boise Idaho.....and now we only have 1... yes I say 1 LFS.. so they are going to have to come via the internet anyway...

craiglanda · #5 10/02/2007, 09:09 AM

needing a skimmer is always a topic for debate. I like to use them and some people swer by them. Others may say you dont. You need to feed the seahorses 2-3 times daily but and they require pristine water quality. The downside is they dont like a lot of water current so that raises issues with keeping the water quality up. So i skimmer may be a good idea as long as the return feed from the HOB style skimmers isn't to strong.

sdietz2469 · #6 10/02/2007, 12:02 PM

oh.. i know that horses can't be with clams.... but would the same result happen with a flame scallop.... I don't want to do anything to hurt the horses...

Is the 2 T5 lights enough light for them....

craiglanda · #7 10/02/2007, 12:19 PM

two T5 for the scallop? or for the seahorses? Seahorses arent light dependent but lighting can effect the coloration of the seahorses. I'd assume bivalves in general are a risk with keeping seahorses. The last thing you want is to find your seahorse hitching in the grips of a clam or flame scallop. Personally i like to keep bivalves in my reef under metal halides and my horses under VHO. i dont have any expierence with flame scallops so i dont wanna give bad information as far as lighting demands. I will say i would avoid putting them with your seahorses.

sdietz2469 · #8 10/02/2007, 12:38 PM

Sorry I was asking about 2 t5's for the horses...

I was kind of thinking it would be a no... flame scallops like low light... which is why i thought i would maybe do one in this thank... but i don't want to hurt any horses...

craiglanda · #9 10/02/2007, 01:06 PM

i mean t5s will be fine for the seahorses. They arent photosynthetic so its not like the lighting will cause any health issues. It may just make the express pigments that arent as brightly colored which isn't always a sign of a sick seahorse. They are like chameleons...they have many pigments and can express different ones according to stress, mating, disease, or their environment. Like i said earlier over exposure to high ammounts of UV may cause them to turn black.. that is just a method they use to protect their skin from the UV. When they mate males will flash colors to impress a female. They can also change color to blend into the environment as a method to avoid predation. There are many factors that can effect their colors and sometime they indicate a problem and sometimes they do not. However lighting wont effect their health other than possibly stressing the animal if it came from a really bright tank then moved under dim flat light of t5s.

panmanmatt · #10 10/02/2007, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sdietz2469

Would a pair of horses live fine with a pipe fish... or would it be too much of a compition for food...

It's not a good idea to mix the 2. There are no suppliers of CB pipefish as of just now. Mixing CB horses with WC pipes can bring in bacteria and pathogens that the horses are not immune to. Thus leading to some serious health issues.

angieg1123 · #11 10/02/2007, 09:55 PM

My suggestion would be to get rid of the undergravel filter and the powerhead. Use a spraybar for the return from the magnum. The lighting will be fine. As for tankmates, the small gobies are good. I have citron and clown gobies. I also have a A. Percula clown who is great with the seahorses. I do not have any corals with my seahorses. I just have TONS of different colored macros. Nitrates tend to get high in the seahorse tanks without macros, be them in the display or the sump.
I have a 75g. tank with 8 southern H. Erectus. A sump, 1/3 hp prime chiller, and an ASM G3 skimmer. I will post pics in another thread.

Angie