Seahorse Or Clownfish Tank, Cost

[Rainbow_fish]

i am lookin into starting a seahorse or clownfish aquarium, i was wondering what sot of things i would need and how much each would set me back.

John

 

[Chac]

1st thing - Seahorses IMO are a definate Nono For newbies, They are extremelly difficult to get feeding & are very delicate (also dont do well in mixed tanks) (there are Seahorse Forum's if you are seriouslly looking in to keeping these animals, but as I say it aint a good idea as a 1st marine purchase)

2nd - We will need more information on the size of tank you want to keep, whenever you want a Reef Tank or Fish Only,

 

[JJ1234567]

ditto on chacs last statement

also to add...I once saw a man in a movie. He was looking at something in a store that didnt have a price tag. He went to ask the clerk how much it cost and the clerk just laughed at him. The man asked what was so funny. She said, "you obvoiusly cannot afford it, if you have to ask the price."

Its gonna be costly. But that also depends on how high or low tech you want, how much of a do it yourselfer you are. Just know that it wont be cheap going in and you wont be dissapointed.

 

[Rainbow_fish]

there is a place in south australia that captive breeds seahorses and they are ment to be quite easy to keep and also quite cheap. they used 2 have them at the local petstore for $30. With the clownfish i just want a 2-3ft tank with a few inverts.
john

 

[Dragonscales]

I often yack online to the two people who run the seahorse place in South Australia and they know their stuff. They also come highly recommended by many people I have spoken to. What species are you thinking about just out of curiosity? The ones you saw in pet stores are probably southern knights (also known as pot bellies - The scientific name is H. Abdominalis). These are a large, coldwater seahorse and need a fair bit of room. Being in a warmer climate you may also need a chiller for these guys as they need their water to be around 19c. I would probably steer more towards subtropical or tropical seahorses of a medium size, this will make things a bit easier, both in terms of care as well as price (as chillers can be rather dear and a bigger tank is needed for pot bellies). Barbouri, Kuda or Whitei would be good options. Whitei is a medium subtropical species which prefers temps around 22c (they do tolerate cooler and warmer water but this is a good average) while kudas and barbs are medium horses who prefer tropical temps of around 25c. SA seahorses sell all three species, depending on availability.

With some time spent researching, captive bred seahorses can be kept quite successfully by beginners. The important thing is to devote your time to learning, and then, upon purchase, to the seahorses themselves. CBs are very hardy compared to WC and readily accept frozen mysis (preferably enriched) as a staple diet with an occasional treat of live foods. The ones Tracy and David (the people who run the place in SA) sell most certainly accept frozen mysis.

As for price, contrary to popular belief, an average seahorse tank is comparable to an average marine tank and can even be cheaper in some cases when considering things like less powerful powerheads being needed due to lower flow, etc. I know I mentioned a chiller above but this is only for temperate species and any temperate marine species would require this in a hot climate as well so it's hardly a norm for seahorses (or marine keeping for that matter) as a whole. Just thought I'd add that before anybody wants to jump on me about it and say "uh huh! see? Seahorses need heaps of money to keep compared to other marine fish", etc.

All in all though, if you do your research and order from SA seahorse marine services then you are halfway to having a successful seahorse tank. These guys are some of the world's leading authorities on captive bred seahorses and even have a forum which they frequent very regularly (daily most of the time) to answer questions, etc. David also works on a tuna farm and as such is very helpful with a multitude of technical things.

 

[Rainbow_fish]

thanks for that, i cant remember the species but its one of the smaller growing ones i would be after, Do the south aus seahorse place sell to public??
John

 

[Ethos]

Just to let you know, my LFS here in the US had some tank bred seahorses, they were kinda dull in color, but facinating in phyzicke, but pricey pricey($90 for one) , and not very active.
In fact, the only reason I could tell they were alive was because they moved along the bottom/middle of the tank very slow, almost looking like they were drifting.

 

[Dragonscales]

Yep, they sell to the public. Their email address should be on their website. I would do a bit of research before thinking about buying any though as they are like any fish, they have special requirements that need to be fulfilled to remain healthy and you should be 100% ready and committed to them when you buy some. No point in shelling out a hudred odd bucks or so (depending on source, species, number, etc) just to have them die after all

Was it Beviceps you were thinking of getting perhaps? They are a small sized temperate and will probably need a chiller to keep in QLD as well. Last time I checked they had none of these guys ready for selling though so there could be a bit of a wait for them (great opportunity to get in some researching ).