H. Abdomanalis

[smazzuca_34]

Thanks for the heads up inthe last post!! I found a company in Canada who has the H. Abdomanalis along woth three other species. There supplier is seahorseaquaculture.com from Australia. I was just wondering if anyone has had any expieriences with this seahorse and there hardiness in relativity to other? Also, if I were to buy them the tank dimension I would need to support 2-3 pairs?(I was thinking 36x24x36 135 gallons) Thanks for all the great advice once again!!

[JennyL]

H abdominalis (pot belly) is a very large temperate species. They grow to 30 cm-11.8 inches in size so you will need a large tank to support several pairs. You will also need a chiller.

They are a beautiful species and in the proper conditions are a very hardy and active species.

[hydroid]

Oooo, pots! A 36x24x36 would accomodate a pair, maybe two.

Like Janet said, they get very large. They also swim faster than other sh species, so they demand more swimming space.

To get a feel for their size, fold an 8.5x11 piece of paper in half to make it 4.25x11. That is the size of one pot. Hold 4 of these sheets against a tank that size and you will quickly see the space two pair will consume.

[ann83]

Just to be sure you know, abdominalis NEED a chiller. They will be much easier to keep healthy than Ingens, provided they are kept in the proper temperature range (61-66 degrees F, 16-19 degrees C).

[smazzuca_34]

How large of a chiller would I need?

[ann83]

http://www.jbjlighting.com/prod_chiller_size.asp

[hydroid]

Out of curiosity, what are the other three species available?

[smazzuca_34]

H.Breviceps, H. Kuda, H.Barbouri. Anyother opinions on H. Abdonamalis?

[ann83]

Of those species, I would go with H. kuda, unless you can get a large chiller for H. abdominalis.

The source seahorseaquaculture.com that you listed before is not located in Australia (it is in NZ), and it appears to still be soliciting investors for an "eventual" plan to export species...