Sea Horses

[killifish1]

in a pet shop by us they have seahorses any info on these
there nice

how much would everything cost for them and info appreciated

 

[Triumph]

in a pet shop by us they have seahorses any info on these
there nice

how much would everything cost for them and info appreciated

As far as I know they are marine and would need a marine setup.

You would get more help in the marine forums

 

[reddannyh]

in a pet shop by us they have seahorses any info on these
there nice

how much would everything cost for them and info appreciated

As far as I know they are marine and would need a marine setup.

You would get more help in the marine forums

You're right they are marine, and are quite sensitive creatures. Certainly not for the beginner hobbyist. Do a search on google theres loads of info on em.

 

[andywg]

Sea horses would want a fairly low turnover rate (for marine tanks, especially compared to SPS tanks) of around the 20x volume per hour.

They would need to be in with less active and less aggressive feeders to ensure they get enough food.

I would say you would want around a 30 gallon to make a good home for them. the tank you should be able to pick up for anywhere from £35 upwards.

A stand you can make, as the hood. the big problem is Live Rock for filtration. You are looking at 30gallons which is going to need around 15 kg of LR at £12 per kilo (around £180).

On top of this you will need circulation (pumps/powerheads) to get the required flow rate and prevent dead spots on the LR.

Finally you will need a protein skimmer, and one brand new for a tank that size would set back around £75-£200 I would expect, depending on how you go.

And that is without the cost of the RO water and salt.

Not cheap, nor anything to be entered into lightly, but very rewarding. Ideally you want captive bred as there is a far higher survival rate amongst these.

 

[AMS]

Not to mention the extreme feeding difficulties..........

 

[steelhealr]

Require a lot of care...specialized tank setup.....seagrasses.....no stinging corals. SH

 

[dixaisy930]

I recently (about three months ago) got a pair of seahorses. The key to keeping them is research, research, getting CB seahorses, and research. I did about two or three months of research before I even set up my tank.

Definately go slowly....depending on the species, a 29 gallon is a good starter tank (that is what I have). After the tank has cycled, I would add clean-up crew first, then a SH friendly fish (a clown goby or neon goby is a good choice). Get a handle on water changes, upkeep, etc with this fish first.

Having seahorses really limits the type of tankmates you can have, as one poster already pointed out. You cannot make impulsive buys. I also QT EVERYTHING that goes in with my seahorses (even inverts). Generally speaking, seahorses are prone to different diseases than other fish (Vibro being the main one). I'm not saying that they can't or don't get the same diseases that other fish do, it just seems more times than not, it's something not common to other fish. You have to go slowly with seahorses, that's for sure, but so worth it.

One of the most important things you can do is get a Captive BRED seahorse (not captive/tank raised-this is something totally different). CB SH will eat frozen mysis, and make it easier (not easy, though) to keep seahorses.

There is a whole bunch of information about properly keeping SH-making yourself familiar with it is really the key to keeping them.

Finally you will need a protein skimmer, and one brand new for a tank that size would set back around £75-£200 I would expect, depending on how you go.

This isn't necessarily needed...some SH keepers have protein skimmers, others don't. I don't have one-but I think what you keep with them may have something to do with whether or not you have one. Some say that it can create micro bubbles, which may lead to gas bubble disease (something else you need to familarize yourself with if you're interested in SH) (there is no concrete evidence that mirco bubbles lead to GBD, but it's a concern, none the less).

Sorry for rambling on....I just love my pair of SH.

 

[pleder]

I don't think your receiving the best info here. If you do a search on this forum for seahorses you will find a few more informative posts. Sorry kinda short on time for the moment. Try this link

The cost does not have to be so high. Do they sell Eclispe systems in your neck of the woods. A 29g tall Eclipse system would house two pairs of horses just fine IME, with no additional equipement (filters, powerheads, protein skimmer, refugium, lighting, UV, etc, etc). You will need to get about 14kg of LR.

Seahorse tanks do not need skimmers. Infact they are not desirable unless housed in a sump. I have kept seahorses for years withot a skimmer. It is a waste of money IME.

Require a lot of care...specialized tank setup.....seagrasses.....no stinging corals.

I have not noticed the need for any specialized care in regard to seahorses. The setup is just different from a typical reef. Refer to the link above for more details.

Seahorses do not need seagrases. Many keepers infact most that I know do not use seagrasses in there tanks because seagrasses require a DSB for roots and also more intense lighting that will elevate the tank temp.

Non stinging corals is accurate. This limits you to softies. The only exception being the large hairy mushrooms that are capable of swallowing an entire fish.

Not to mention the extreme feeding difficulties..........

I have only been keeping seahorses for 5 years, but I have never experienced this either. is this based on your personal experience. BTW I have had the same horse for all 5 years. Never a problem feeding, the guy is a pig.

Generally speaking, seahorses are prone to different diseases than other fish (Vibro being the main one)

The most common outbreaks of vibrio occur when mixing different syngnathids from different sources, or when a seahorse becomes overly stressed and is in a weakend state. I have no personal experience with vibrio, again my experience is limited. I have researched the bacterial disease extensively, can go into great detail if you wish. Just saying that more often then not it is a care issue.

On the plus side seahorses are very resistant to many of the major fish diseases out there.

Buying Cb will cost a little more upfront, but is well worth it in the long run. Many of the misconceptions about seahorses stem from a time when CB where not widely available and acclimation proceedures for WC's were not understood. I will go into more detail here to if you wish, but the short anwser is CB is a much better choice for a new seahorse keeper.

Don't be discouraged. My seahorse was the first fish I did not win at a carnival with a ping pong ball. I have had him for 5 years and he is WC. They are not harder than any other fish IME.

If you don't fins what you are looking for here there are several sites dedicated specifically to seahorses.

Good Luck.

 

[Opcn]

The extreme feeding dificulties arise from WC seahorses, Captive seahorses are raised on froxen mysis. It is important that you keep the situation stable and you cannot have any stinging corals or anemones, you really do need to do a macro tank for them, I sugest you get your start with something like Damsels in a 20 gallobn tall, then when you are comfortable (after you have had them for 4-5 months) toss them out and get some seahorses.

 

[Dragonscales]

Macros aren't a necessity with seahorses. Like alot of things (such as skimmers, substrate, etc), they can be a useful tool but are a far cry from being a "must have" item. In fact, in some cases macros may actually do more harm than good if the wrong ones are chosen and they go sexual.

Also, having alot of pods in the tank may cause a seahorse to go off frozen foods in favour of a live only diet in some extreme cases, which can lead to many problems including poor nutrition and starvation if the pod population drops too much (and in such a small enviroment, this is a real possibility). This is why a staple diet of enriched mysis with an occassional meal of live food is the far prefer method of feeding as seahorses can be notoriously finicky in some cases.

The beauty of a seahorse tank is in their versatility. They can range anywhere from a barebottom tank with a couple of rope hitches to undergravel filtered tanks (I wouldn't personally recommend them, but there are numerous people out there who have had success with them) right through to skimmers, sumps, refugiums and even extremely complicated setups that mimic a seahorse's natural habitat, complete with DSBs, grasses, wavemakers, mangroves, etc.

About the only thing I can think of off the top of my head to add to pleder's post is to also be wary of seahorses raised in pens which are housed in the ocean, these carry the same risks as WC seahorses but sold as CB.

 

[pleder]

The extreme feeding dificulties arise from WC seahorses, Captive seahorses are raised on froxen mysis.

Again, only been keeping WC's for 5 years. Please explain your experience with this extreme diffuculty in feeding. I'm curious as to the methods, and types of food you have tried. Also wondering if you tried different enrichements and so forth. Did you restrict the flow, turn up the flow? Was it a barebottom tank, a crushed coral substrate? Would love to know more about your experiences.

IME WC seahorse will readily and eagerly eat live fresh water ghost shrimp. They will also readily eat live salt water shrimp, but do to the elvevated risks of parasite introduction I only feel comfortable feeding the live salt water shrimp that I have raised myself.

you really do need to do a macro tank for them,

Curious as to your reasoning for this as well. Personally I kept seahorses without macro algae for several years. It is only within the last year or two that I have begun to start keeping the macro's, but I have noticed no increase in the health or the activity of the seahorses since the introduction of macro algae.

IME I had problems with the over growth of caulphera prolifera covering the sandbed and rocks making it more diffucult for the seahorses to hunt there food. But that's JME. What your experience keeping seahorses with and without macro's.

I also experienced problems with green grape caulphera. The seahorses would often get tangled in the big clumps and become stressed.

Currently I keep 5 species of macro in my display. I have never had anything go sexual. I actually ran tests on different straind of macro's under various lighting, temperature, oxygen and nutrient conditions and find them to be very hardy, with the green grape being the most sensitive.

I do not think that various pod populations are essential to the keeping of seahorses. It is a common misconception that a seahorse will eat copepods. Tehy ignore them. It is more likely for them to dine off of amphipods. A full grown seahorse can eat up to 3000 amphipods in a day. It is not likely that a hobbyist will have the nescessary setup to produce that amount of amphipods on a daily basis to feed a seahorse.

The best form of food for a horse is frozen mysis. OPCN is correct that most CB horses arrive trained to eat frozen mysis. It is best to find out what particular brand a seahorse is accustomed to to help spawn it's appetite in a new environment. Some CB seahorses will arrive not eating frozen mysis even if trained to eat it. These horses will usually need to be fed live food for a few days to regain there strength before the reintroduction of frozen food.

One of the problems with seahorses is there are so many misconceptions that people believe to be true and are eager to pass along.

 

[andywg]

Must admit, I thought Opcn was referring to tank size; as in a macro - not nano -tank.

 

[Dragonscales]

Must admit, I thought Opcn was referring to tank size; as in a macro - not nano -tank.

From the comments in the other threads I am assuming he meant macro algaes, if not then I apologise and retract my comments for here but stand by them in regards to the other thread and macro algae with seahorses in general. They can be an excellent tool if used correctly but are a far cry for being a necessity.