Anyone else have seahorses?
- Thread starter javajoe
- Start date
galina
Member
I remeber yesterday, when I checked out your reef cam there was a beautiful seahorse hanging around for a minute. He looks great! 
From what I've heard/read, the main reason people don't usually keep them in reefs is because they starve to death due to competion for food. They're pretty slow. Are you taking extra time to make sure yours is getting enough food? That would probably be wise. I don't have seahorses, and I never have but I plan to get a couple kuda's for my future small species tank in a couple months. They're pretty cool critters! Seahorse.org is a great site for more information and an awesom board.
Galina
From what I've heard/read, the main reason people don't usually keep them in reefs is because they starve to death due to competion for food. They're pretty slow. Are you taking extra time to make sure yours is getting enough food? That would probably be wise. I don't have seahorses, and I never have but I plan to get a couple kuda's for my future small species tank in a couple months. They're pretty cool critters! Seahorse.org is a great site for more information and an awesom board.Galina
javajoe
Member
You were one of the lucky few to see my seahorse on cam! It was really quite funny- i moved the cam and then he moved away from it-- he only stayed in front of the cam for a few minutes each time- camera shy i guess!
Anway as for feeding, yes, we have been taking time to feed him, but funny thing is, he has yet to take food. At the LFS, they were feeding him mysis shrimp- and he ate it liek crazy. We were a little worried, but then i sat in front of the tank last night and watched him really closely, and he is acutally eating stuff from my rocks! I saw him catch 2-3 cocepods, and he even sticks his snout into holes getting stuff (if we would eat that DANG hair alge i'd give him a medal! ). Once, he was trying to move a hermit crab and the hermit grabbed onto his lower lip! he shook his head back and forth and flung him off.
I know that reefs are generally not the optimal environment for a seahorse, but we have a few low current areas in our tank, so i decided to go for it. Both my wife and I really wanted to try it... if this works out, we may add another. Even though he is eating off the rocks, i am still going to offer him food a couple times a day, just in case he changes his mind.
oh- and thanks for the heads up about seahorse.org-- i found that site the other day and found it very helpfull. Even thinking of raising seahorses now- my wife really likes te idea... proably wont happen anytime soon, but hey- who knows? would be a good way to suuplement the income, and help nature at the same time! We have no local suppliers of any salt water stuff, so selling saehorse to the LFSs in our area we would be saving them quite a deal of mone on shipping
Anway as for feeding, yes, we have been taking time to feed him, but funny thing is, he has yet to take food. At the LFS, they were feeding him mysis shrimp- and he ate it liek crazy. We were a little worried, but then i sat in front of the tank last night and watched him really closely, and he is acutally eating stuff from my rocks! I saw him catch 2-3 cocepods, and he even sticks his snout into holes getting stuff (if we would eat that DANG hair alge i'd give him a medal!
). Once, he was trying to move a hermit crab and the hermit grabbed onto his lower lip! he shook his head back and forth and flung him off.I know that reefs are generally not the optimal environment for a seahorse, but we have a few low current areas in our tank, so i decided to go for it. Both my wife and I really wanted to try it... if this works out, we may add another. Even though he is eating off the rocks, i am still going to offer him food a couple times a day, just in case he changes his mind.
oh- and thanks for the heads up about seahorse.org-- i found that site the other day and found it very helpfull. Even thinking of raising seahorses now- my wife really likes te idea... proably wont happen anytime soon, but hey- who knows? would be a good way to suuplement the income, and help nature at the same time! We have no local suppliers of any salt water stuff, so selling saehorse to the LFSs in our area we would be saving them quite a deal of mone on shipping
saltwaterdave
Member
I love the reef cam what a GREAT IDEA!!!
jamerican
New Member
I have two seahorses in a seahorse only tank. (Had a saddleback clown in there but found another and put them together in a new tank) They are great! They eat almost anything I feed them. My male took a lot longer time to train than my female when it came to food but both had to be trained to eat anything other than brine shrimp. They now eat frozen mysis, frozen brine, live ghost shrimp (their favorite) and brine shrimp plus whatever they find in the rocks. My male makes a meal of my hermit crabs every now and then; he knows exactly how to get them. I watched in fascination as he stalked one and turned it on its side the LONG way so that it couldn't find its footing.
They're not shy at all, the male comes to my hand and the female jumps up when she knows I'm about to feed them. Fish don't bother them but my male has taken a liking to the fem so I'm hoping she drops the attitude and mates with him eventually. He's changed color to attract her (he started off black and she's a kuda so he's now light yellow without her spots.)
Sorry to spout off but I love these guys and I'm not sure what makes them so hard to raise. They require some patience and you can't take the sometimes foolhardy chances with them that you would other fish but they're worth the effort if you have a small tank you're looking for some life in...
They're not shy at all, the male comes to my hand and the female jumps up when she knows I'm about to feed them. Fish don't bother them but my male has taken a liking to the fem so I'm hoping she drops the attitude and mates with him eventually. He's changed color to attract her (he started off black and she's a kuda so he's now light yellow without her spots.)
Sorry to spout off but I love these guys and I'm not sure what makes them so hard to raise. They require some patience and you can't take the sometimes foolhardy chances with them that you would other fish but they're worth the effort if you have a small tank you're looking for some life in...
javajoe
Member
i thin people say that they are hard to raise becuase they want to just stick the fish in and leave it alone. I love my seahorse, and have been very happy with him- but yes, he does take a little more attention than my other fish.
They eat hermit crabs? COOL! i got all worried the other day when it appeared to get bit on the nose by a hermit-- i guess maybe it was the other way around! i will have to keep an eye on him.... i would like to see him make a meal out of one... (yeah yeah, my wife says i am demented too... its a good thing puffers aren't reef safe- i'd have one and he's be blown up 24/7 )
They eat hermit crabs? COOL! i got all worried the other day when it appeared to get bit on the nose by a hermit-- i guess maybe it was the other way around! i will have to keep an eye on him.... i would like to see him make a meal out of one... (yeah yeah, my wife says i am demented too... its a good thing puffers aren't reef safe- i'd have one and he's be blown up 24/7 )
galina
Member
That's cool, guys.. Seahorses are awesom fish.. definetly one of my favorites. Later on, once I'm completely done with my 29 gallon reef tank, fish wise, I'm turning the QT into a macroalgea growth tank. Then I'll put a couple dwarfs in it. It's only a 10 gallon.. can't fit anything larger, but the macroalgea will give 'em lot to hold on to. Good luck with your ponies, !
Galina
Seahorses are awesom fish.. definetly one of my favorites. Later on, once I'm completely done with my 29 gallon reef tank, fish wise, I'm turning the QT into a macroalgea growth tank. Then I'll put a couple dwarfs in it. It's only a 10 gallon.. can't fit anything larger, but the macroalgea will give 'em lot to hold on to. Good luck with your ponies, !Galina
S
sandy
Guest
Can you keep two tank raised sea horses in a 20 gal, if you provide the proper environment? Or is this just too small / cruel?
javajoe
Member
yeah- he sits around a lot during the day- seems to be more active when the lights go out-- we see him swimming back and forth- its really cool.... i apologize for the terrible focus on the Reef Cam--- i had moved the camera last night to do something else, and when puting it back this morning, forgot to refocuse if for the tank- so it is quite fuzzy today ....
mac
Member
20 gallons is fine for seahorses, but vertical space is critical to their environment. A 20" tank depth is said to be the minimum, but the tank width does not matter.
My wife actually breeds and raises them successfully; but has a couple of "seahorse only" tanks to do this. We did not have as much luck when the horses were in the reef tanks, because they are stressed by the activity from the other fish, and usually don't get enough food.
My wife actually breeds and raises them successfully; but has a couple of "seahorse only" tanks to do this. We did not have as much luck when the horses were in the reef tanks, because they are stressed by the activity from the other fish, and usually don't get enough food.