Difficulty of Seahorses

[mandi]

I'm not planning on buying any seahorses, but I'm just curious about this --

When I was at my LFS the other day, I was standing in line at the checkout and one of the guys who works there recognised me and came over to chat. He was telling me they had just gotten in a shipment of seahorses a week or so ago, and that they'd had babies. He insisited that they're quite easy to care for and breed, only that raising the young ones was challenging.

Now from the few things I've read, I thought that keeping seahorses is quite difficult and only for people quite experienced with saltwater tanks.

I kind of wish I'd gotten out of line to go look at them (I've only seen seahorses a couple times before, and I would have loved to see baby ones). Oh well.

Anyway, was this guy "full of it" or do people really make them out to be more difficult than they are?
(Edit -- This is the same guy who said he keeps an octopus in a nano-reef, so I'm rather skeptical of his opinions.)

 

[steelhealr]

Hi..Seahorses are not for beginners. They can be kept but only recommended after having experience in marine reef keeping. Necessities include:

-- sand bed with grasses or gorgonians
--species tank
--no corals..stings could injure them and cause disease; some even recommend a 'sterile' system with fake plants to prevent hitchhikers on LR killing them
--most need live food, ie, constantly having to add live food or hatching them. SH's cling to grasses and wait for food to float by
--minimal tank sizes range 30-55 gallons

SH

 

[Dragonscales]

I would tend to agree he is right to a point. They are alot easier to keep than alot of people make out - provided you are willing to research as well as put in the time, money and effort needed to keep them.

He was right about breeding and raising fry as well. They are like rabbits when it comes to courting, but the fry are somewhat more challenging to raise than it is to keep adults. Species who produce larger fry that are capable of hitching from birth are considered easier, but these too can be difficult to raise to adulthood.

Seahorses are now widely available captive bred and these are by far better to keep than wild caught seahorses. They take readily to frozen foods, are somewhat hardier and highly unlikely of carrying pathogens and parasites upon purchase. Seahorses are sociable fish and do better in groups, they like a slower current and should only be kept with other seahorses, pipefish and a select few peaceful fish who are not going to compete for food with them. They require places to hitch to in a tank and shouldn't be placed in a reef enviroment for the aforementioned reason being that they will be outcompeted for food due to their slow eating and swimming habits as well as being targets for predation.

A diet consisting only of frozen brineshrimp is not suitable for longterm health and vitality due to it's low nutrient content (contrary to some lfs' advice). Enriched Brineshrimp and/or Mysis shrimp is a much better option and will ensure far better results, occassional live foods can also be added to their diet. Many recommend a day of fasting once every week or two as well due to their underdeveloped digestive tracts.

There is some basic information for you. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask, I'd be happy to answer them for you. I would suggest visiting a few seahorse forums online also and researching well before considering keeping seahorses. You can never have enough info under your belt when it comes to these guys and that is the only thing between thriving seahorses and dying ones.

 

[Dragonscales]

Not to spark a debate or argument but alot of this info is wrong.

-- sand bed with grasses or gorgonians

These are not necessities. Many people keep seahorses in barebottom tanks with nothing but marine safe rope and ornaments to hitch on.

--species tank

There are suitable tankmates available including but not limited to:

Pipefish
Pipehorses
Jawfish
Scooter blennies
Firefish
Neon gobies

--no corals..stings could injure them and cause disease; some even recommend a 'sterile' system with fake plants to prevent hitchhikers on LR killing them

There are some suitable corals which many people keep successfully with seahorses along with live rock. Granted, alot of corals are not compatible (due to stinging as well as water flow issues) but there are some which are.

--most need live food, ie, constantly having to add live food or hatching them. SH's cling to grasses and wait for food to float by

This is true with alot of wild caught specimens, but the advent of captive bred species has led to seahorses readily accepting frozen foods.

--minimal tank sizes range 30-55 gallons

Dwarf and smaller seahorses can be kept in smaller tanks than this.

 

[maestro]

Ive never kept them but looked into it and aslong as you get tank bred ones who are eating frozen food then its not too difficult

 

[andywg]

Not to disagree with the seahorse info above, I would be vary wary of anyone who says they are keeping an octupus in a nano.

They are either a big lier (are his pants on fire?) or stupid and ignorant regarding research of species.

However what Dragonscales says agrees with what I have read on other sites. But I would still say you want a fair bit of experience in keeping a marine tank stable before embarking on seahorses.

HIH

Andy

 

[Dragonscales]

Not to disagree with the seahorse info above, I would be vary wary of anyone who says they are keeping an octupus in a nano.

They are either a big lier (are his pants on fire?) or stupid and ignorant regarding research of species.

Perhaps he owns a blue ringed octopus and thinking it is small keeps it in a nano? Hope for his sake someone told him about what the bite from one of them buggers will do to you if he is

 

[mandi]

Thanks for all the info guys!! As I said in my initial post, I'm NOT thinking about buying any -- I think they're neat, but they're not really "my thing" I guess.

I just wondered if this guy was giving accurate info or not. He frequently waits on me at this particular LFS and sometimes he spouts off about things and seems to exaggerate a bit. A friend of mine (who's fairly experienced with marine tanks) has nicknamed this particular salesman "Baldy McKnow-It-All" -- because, well, he acts like a know-it-all And while I value LFS employees opinions and information, from some of the things this guy says, I don't exactly trust his accuracy (which was why I was checking up on this particualr statement). I guess I'll have to take this guy's info with a grain of (marine) salt. Haha.

[EDIT --] LOL yeah, I don't know THAT much about marine tanks (always learning) but even I knew an octopus in a nano reef sounded like a BAAAD idea!

 

[Dragonscales]

I have a few lfs near me with workers like that and I love nothing better then putting the wind up them by correcting them at every opportunity I get (especially when they are giving bad advice to other customers). I would go so far as to say that a good 90% of the lfs out there should be taken with several handfuls of salt every time they open their mouths

 

[BeamsvilleBoy]

Well done ^

By the way, I know someone who sells Seahorses mega cheap because he catches his own. If you are interested, PM me.

--Dan

 

[pleder]

IME they are not very hard to keep, just different then a normal reef. A seahorse was my first fish, 4 years ago, I still have him. I will agree with most of what Dragonscale has posted

Raising the fry is very challenging, and requires an emense amount of time and care. I have attempted this and been succsessful up to 13 weeks before diaster. I have tried with Hippocampus reidi which are one of the more challenging breeds as the fry are not pelagic.


For in depth knowledge try seahorse.org.