OK, so i've got this weird little quiz thingy in front of me and it has 4 Marine questions on it and I just wandered what I should answer... hope that makes sense and sorry for it being so random!
1. Suggest an ideal Marine beginner's fish
2. Why are sea horses not usually suitable for putting in a marine community tank?
3. What would be your lighting recommendations for a 48"x24"x18" tank with mixed invertebrates and fish?
4. Give three examples of types of food suitable for marine fish or invertebrates
Cheers
I would like to expand a little on Chac's explanation. There are a number of reasons seahorses shouldn't be kept in reef tanks.
1). Temperature. Normal reef temps are simply too high for seahorses, seahorses do not originate from tropical areas, they originate anywhere from semi-tropical to coldwater habitats. Even the "tropical" species like H. kuda that originate from warm areas don't tolerate temperatures above 76 degrees. Some species like H. abdominalis like their water around 60 degrees, wayyyy too cold for normal reefs.
2). Flow. Seahorses are poor swimmers, they don't swim much, but instead rely on hitching to objects. Seahorses live in areas of low flow such as seagrass meadows. Seahorses like their tank water to have an incredibly low flow of 2-4 times an hour compared to 30 times an hour in a normal reef.
3.) Feeding. Seahorses don't actively seek out their food, instead they rely on it coming to them (hence how they hitch camouflaged to objects and wait for prey to drift by). In a normal reef tank the other fish would simply outcompete them for food to the point of starvation and death. This is why feeding dishes are commonly used for seahorse tanks. Also, seahorses love live foods and do need some in their diet. Before the live food gets a chance to drift by the seahorses it would have already been eaten by the other fish.
4). Tankmates. Seahorses are not defensive or aggressive and are often bullied by other fish leaving them extrmely stressed, which as you know will lead to bigger problems.
5.) Health. Seahorses are no more prone to disease than any other marine fish, but when they do get sick they get
really sick. A bucket load of special medications should always be on hand by a seahorse owner as there is no time to waste when a seahorse gets sick. And most of these meds effect corals.
Honestly, if anyone puts seahorses in their reef tanks they need to be enlightened on the great dedication and care seahorses need to live a healthy life.
:saddam:
