aaron childs
Member
Why on most websites does it have the Dawrf Seahorse listed as only for experts? I only want to put two or three of them into a smaller tank .. How hard could it be?
-Aaron
-Aaron
Dwarf Seahorse ... Expert or Not?
- Thread starter aaron childs
- Start date
striker
Member
Usually any type of fish are coral that is has specialized eating habits is listed only for experts. There are also many fish, inverts and corals that can't be housed with them. I'm also thinking of building a small seahorse tank in the future. There are several websites, message boards and stores that specialize just in seahorses. Most of the time when people say it's hard to start or keep something it's because they didn't do their research or did something wrong. Check out the sites, do some research and go right ahead.
dreeves
Active Member
Seahorses are hard to keep due mostly to their feeding requirement, which usually creates difficult water conditions. Nitrate is a problem I constantly fight with with my seahorse tank. You have to feed quantities which allow for the slow, deliberate feeding habits of the species, and this usually means a bio overload, followed by higher nitrates.
The two biggest concerns for water quality with seahorses is nitrate and the ph.
Dwarf seahorses add additional feeding difficulties due to their size. More notably, the smaller size of food, ie..brine shrimp nepulai. My experiece with the dwarfs is they need to be in as small as tank as possible, around 5.5 to 10 gallon max. This would allow for the proper concentration of food for the little guys to consume. A good 20 minutes, 2-3 times a day is needed to allow the animals to consume their fill. I tried them in a 45 and it was a disaster. As you can imagine, removing the excess nepulai after the 20 minutes is impossible.
I currently house the larger species, H.kuda and H.barbouri in the 45 gallon. Even with these guys, the bio load requires tons of attention to maintain the proper water quality.
The two biggest concerns for water quality with seahorses is nitrate and the ph.
Dwarf seahorses add additional feeding difficulties due to their size. More notably, the smaller size of food, ie..brine shrimp nepulai. My experiece with the dwarfs is they need to be in as small as tank as possible, around 5.5 to 10 gallon max. This would allow for the proper concentration of food for the little guys to consume. A good 20 minutes, 2-3 times a day is needed to allow the animals to consume their fill. I tried them in a 45 and it was a disaster. As you can imagine, removing the excess nepulai after the 20 minutes is impossible.
I currently house the larger species, H.kuda and H.barbouri in the 45 gallon. Even with these guys, the bio load requires tons of attention to maintain the proper water quality.
jeff33436
New Member
This is a great site for seahorse info:
www.seahorse.org
There is a special section just for dwarf horses.
www.seahorse.org
There is a special section just for dwarf horses.
grumpyoldman
Member
Please, only get tank raised ones!! The poor creatured are way overharvisted from the wild and will soon be gone. With the enviro sensitivity of the animal, most people have problems and the seahorse is the one to suffer for it. I don't want to say not to get them, but do your research first, and then decide if you are ready for them. PLEASE!!!!