How Complicated Would This Be?

[CathyGo]

Here's the link seahorse corral It's about half way down. I wouldn't be using a 1 gallon bowl. I don't even like sticking bettas in those let alone seahorses. More likely one of those small 3-5 gallon set ups that are sold for nano set-ups. I've read through some of the info for saltwater tanks and I don't see how things like protein skimmers and all that other stuff would work with this. I have read that live rock is good for the small set-up and also that it is bad since the live brine shrimp you feed the seahorse feeds stinging creatures that grow on the rock. I think I could figure out how to set up a large saltwater tank but this bowl sized one has me stumped. Would I treat it like I would a freshwater tank under 5 gal with weekly water changes or do the seahorses need something different? Also has anybody kept thses guys before and know of any special needs to be aware of? Anybody know how hardy they are? It will be my first saltwater attempt so I don't even want to try it if they are an advanced only fish.

 

[CathyGo]

This is what I was looking at for the tank. http/www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod...mp;N=2004+62760

A LFS near me has one set-up on their counter with a pair of healthy and happy looking dwarf sea horses in it. This store is all saltwater though and you pretty much have to be an expert to work there so I don't know how easy it would be for a beginner.

 

[rictheredneck]

the smaller the tank the harder they are to keep, because of the smaller volume you have less give on the parameters. and that tank is super small. how is it heated? sea horses can get bubbles inside them which causes buoyancy problems and then usually death there are many reasons for this and one of them is fluctuating salinity. but overall sea horses are fairly hardy fish as long as they eat frozen food.

i dont know anybody who would take on a tank that small. i wouldnt touch it with a barge pole.

a good starter size is 50 gallons.

 

[bitfishy]

www.seahorse.org

They'll tell you everything you need need to know. I was going to get seahorses and found that site absolutely invaluable.

 

[CathyGo]

i dont know anybody who would take on a tank that small. i wouldnt touch it with a barge pole.

a good starter size is 50 gallons.

With the dwarf seahorses most will only eat live brine shrimp. So the smaller tanks are used to reduce the amount of brine shrimp you have to put in there and have less shrimp die to pollute the water from what I understand. I actually found a 12 gallon set-up that looks better to me and I think I've found a good method to train them to take frozen brine. I guess I was looking for a guide to nano FOWLR set-ups than anything else. I know small tanks are harder to take care of. I have two FW ten gallon set-ups that were a royal pain to cycle and keep in good shape. Now that I've kind of got my maintenance schedule down I don't have any more problems with them. I'm very careful with water parameters. I'm used to doing a lot of water tests from my 10 gallon tanks.

 

[rictheredneck]

i dont know anybody who would take on a tank that small. i wouldnt touch it with a barge pole.

a good starter size is 50 gallons.

With the dwarf seahorses most will only eat live brine shrimp. So the smaller tanks are used to reduce the amount of brine shrimp you have to put in there and have less shrimp die to pollute the water from what I understand. I actually found a 12 gallon set-up that looks better to me and I think I've found a good method to train them to take frozen brine. I guess I was looking for a guide to nano FOWLR set-ups than anything else. I know small tanks are harder to take care of. I have two FW ten gallon set-ups that were a royal pain to cycle and keep in good shape. Now that I've kind of got my maintenance schedule down I don't have any more problems with them. I'm very careful with water parameters. I'm used to doing a lot of water tests from my 10 gallon tanks.

my father in law keeps his dwarfs in a 12g. i dunno about the usa but most seahorses in the uk are tank reared these days. i've yet to see any in my area that dont eat frozen. your right about decaying food though a filter is usually a must for a sea horse tank as the berlin method relies quite heavily on flow and seahorses have evolved in fish that prefer near still water. also a docile but efficient cuc is usually needed. the nano section of the forum is a better bet for nano setups. and i dont mean to sound rude or anything but marine tanks are kinda harder than fw imo... although i've never kept fw.

good luck!

 

[CathyGo]

Don't worry about sounding rude. Saltwater IS harder than freshwater. I've been doing some research with the link I was given and it seems like dwarf seahorses are generally recommended to be kept in a 2-5 gallon tank and fed only baby brine shrimp. I registered with their forum so I guess I'll just ask them about diet and all that. The main reason I'm looking at the nano set-ups is because I still live at home and have to keep my fish contained to one room that I also have my bed and computer in. I have plenty of time to devote to it I just don't have the space. I already have two ten gallon tanks and a 55 gallon that take up most of my room. I didn't see that there was a nano section or I would have just asked there.

 

[rictheredneck]

good luck! nice to see you askin the questions!

 

[kkyyllee]

they cant be trained to eat frozen...they need livebaby brine shrimp 2-3tiems a day, you could keep 5-10 in a 3 gallon, cant use liverock because of hydroids unless u treat the tank with pancur which will kill inverts and u wont be able to have any inverts in the tank for years after, a 50 gallon would be crazy to keep dwarfs in

 

[Lynden]

Brine shrimp are not an appropriate permanent food for any animal. Tank raised dwarf seahorses will probably eat small frozen foods, such as copepods (eg, cyclop-eeze). If it does not, don't buy it. I personally wouldn't even consider buying a wild-caught seahorse, or a captive-bred one that wasn't already trained to eat frozen foods.

Really the only thing holding me back from a seahorse set-up is the insanely high price of seahorses in my area.

 

[@ombomb]

Seahorse.org's guide to dwarf seahorse care only lists brine shrimp as their food, although it does recommend newly hatched or enriched brine shrimp

 

[kkyyllee]

they will only eat baby brine shrimp, nothing else, they need to be newly hatched and still haev there yoksac for the nutrition

 

[channing]

go to seahorse.com they sell seahorses captive bred and they eat frozen food.