first seahorse

[crossan]

I have set up a 55 gallon tank for seahorses. I have been doing lots of research and will buy one in about 6 months so I can read more and be better prepared. Is there any advice anyone has what is good for a beginner? I already have 2 other sw tanks so I know about the set up, just wondered how many more specifics there are. Also, on this site they have a black seahorse but does not say what it is. Does anyone know?

 

[rykna]

Yeppers
It's Hippocampus Kuda. Which is exactly what I have.
What would you like to know?

 

[rykna]

Oh! Don't forget to add yourself to this thread!
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/253621/seahorse-keepers-please-check-in-here

 

[crossan]

I am interested in a seahorse that would be good for a beginner. Is the Kuda a good one to start with, I read that the erectus is better. I want to eventually have 4 seahorses and 4 pipefish. Do you feed yours live food or will they accept frozen also. I read that the captive raise (which is the kind I will get) will eat frozen. I saw that yours is sick. Is their sickness harder to treat and will it kill the inverts?
Thanks alot!
I will register on the other thread!

 

[rykna]

Originally Posted by crossan
I am interested in a seahorse that would be good for a beginner. Is the Kuda a good one to start with, I read that the erectus is better. I want to eventually have 4 seahorses and 4 pipefish. Do you feed yours live food or will they accept frozen also. I read that the captive raise (which is the kind I will get) will eat frozen. I saw that yours is sick. Is their sickness harder to treat and will it kill the inverts?
Thanks alot!
I will register on the other thread!
~Is the Kuda a good one to start with- not really. The erectus is supposedly easier. But "easy" is not a word associated with seahorses.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/261594/heater-and-filter-intake-shields
~captive raise (which is the kind I will get) will eat frozen.
Purchasing a captive bred seahorse is crucial to being a successful seahorse keeper. Wild seahorse populations are in trouble to to declining habitats and over fishing for medicinal use.
~ want to eventually have 4 seahorses and 4 pipe fish Even though Pipe fish and Seahorses are compatible and live in the same habitat in the wild. They are not a good tank mate for seahorse because they are faster and will out compete your horse at dinner time.
~Do you feed yours live food or will they accept frozen also.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/261262/seahorse-foods-and-feeding
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/268677/seahorse-diet
Feeding live food food is a ultimate no no. Captive bred horses are trained to eat frozen mysis. As fry the first food they receive is live baby brine shrimp, which they are weened off of and are then switched over to Mysis, which has 100% more nutritonal value. As your tank matures Copepods and amphiopods will begin to populate the live sand bed. These little bugs are a favorite food of seahorses. Valiant spends the majority of the day hunting for these tastey treats. Seahorses are predators, this is evident especially when you see how they eat. Since seahorse are trained to eat mysis, and are known to be finicky eaters, it is best to stick with the mysis for their main diet. It is essential that you add food enhancers
that add nutritional vitamins and proteins to ensure a happy healthy horse. Another thing to know about horses is that they do not have a stomach as we do. Their digestive system is one long tract from the snout to their anus. That is why they need to be feed at least twice a day. Their ability to intake nutrients from their food is limited. This is also why you must keep a close eye on the water quality. The horses excrete a lot more waste than you average fish due to their poor digestive track. This is the main reason my Kuda is in the QT. When water quality declines it opens up a happy ground for parasites and other nasty diseases.
saw that yours is sick. Is their sickness harder to treat and will it kill the inverts?
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/261706/seahorse-safe-invert
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/270236/seahorse-dilemma
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/269298/sick-horse
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/259321/seahorse-is-gone
Tank Companions
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/261429/seahorse-tank-set-ups-companions
With the short 4 months of experience I had had, the biggest problem is identifying when a seahorse is sick. I could tell you if a horizontal swimming fish was sick from a mile away, but since seahorses swim vertically(the only fish to do so) my experience does not apply.
Preparation preparation and more preparation!!!!. Have everything on hand before you purchase your horse.
I know this may seem a little over whelming, but welcome to the world of seahorses. Once you post on the seahorse owner thread...you'll have a better idea of who has horses.
What else would you like to know?

 

[slowburn22]

I've had two seahorses and they both died. I think I can attribute them both to pumps. One got sucked up against my HOB and another wiggled his way into my surface skimmer. My advice is to cover all intakes very well. Also like Rykna said, get yourself tank raised. They do very well on frozen mysis...

 

[slowburn22]

I almost forgot. I was at a fish store in atlanta this past weekend and they had an out of the box approach to seahorses that I loved. They kept them all in their frag tanks which gave them a ton of places to hitch. If I ever try them again thats what I'm going to do.

 

[rykna]

Originally Posted by slowburn22
I've had two seahorses and they both died. I think I can attribute them both to pumps. One got sucked up against my HOB and another wiggled his way into my surface skimmer. My advice is to cover all intakes very well. Also like Rykna said, get yourself tank raised. They do very well on frozen mysis...
Yep! I built plexi shields to prevent any more accidents with the intake flows.

 

[rykna]

Originally Posted by slowburn22
I almost forgot. I was at a fish store in atlanta this past weekend and they had an out of the box approach to seahorses that I loved. They kept them all in their frag tanks which gave them a ton of places to hitch. If I ever try them again thats what I'm going to do.
Just be careful what types of frags they are.

 

[crossan]

what kind of setup do you have for your seahorses?

 

[slowburn22]

Im not sure that I would worry about what types of frags. Whats the worst there is? Frogspawn and hammer? I had my horses with a condy anemone for a while and saw it actually get caught. The horse wriggled free and never tried to hitch on it again. I think they are smart enough to learn from their mistakes so long as they have a chance to not repeat them (hence why mine died... the maxijet 1200 wont let go like an anemone).
crossan: what kind of setup do you have for your seahorses?
I had mine in a 28 bowfront reef w/soft corals. Just make sure they have some places to hitch and they should be fine. As for tankmates, you can get away with clowns, firefish, gobies, stuff along those lines. I even had mine with a juvy dwarf lion for a while.

 

[slowburn22]

Oh, and how exactly do you have over 2000 posts only being a member since Sept of 2006 Rykna??? 9 months at 30 days a month is 270... 2100/270 gives you right around 8 posts a day??? Thats nuts.....

 

[rykna]

Originally Posted by slowburn22
Oh, and how exactly do you have over 2000 posts only being a member since Sept of 2006 Rykna??? 9 months at 30 days a month is 270... 2100/270 gives you right around 8 posts a day??? Thats nuts.....
Well............ssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I'm a well known fish addict.

 

[rykna]

Originally Posted by crossan
what kind of setup do you have for your seahorses?
90 gallon
I had to set up this temporary plexi devider because my percs were being too aggressive towards the horse. After I moved the percs out I built a big cover that blocked off both intake filters.
What size tank were you thinking?
There are many types of horse setups. A favorite book I have is
"Seahorses", By Frank Indiviglio. Nice little book I picked up at Borders, worth every cent. It includes tank set ups.

 

[crossan]

Your tank looks really nice. I have a 55 gallon I am going to put them in. I will go to the bookstore at look at books.
Thanks for all the help!!

 

[rykna]

Good Fishing

 

[slowburn22]

Originally Posted by Rykna
Well............ssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I'm a well known fish addict.

Ha, I guess so. Saltwater is worse than crack.

 

[slowburn22]

Crossan... You should pick Ryknas brain about those gorgonians. They make good hitching posts, and natural ones at that from what I understand. I think you just need to suppliment the tank with Phytoplex by Kent... But im no expert so check with him.
I never did it but I was going to add some colt coral or kenya trees for more hitching posts as well. I wouldnt imagine that they would harm the corals, as mine hitched on my pulsing xenia all the time and never caused any harm.

 

[monalisa]

I'm going on week 2 of releasing my 2 females into my 37 gallon tank. These critters do take a lot of preparation and planning...they're a different mind set from even a reef in that you have to re-think temperature, flow, lighting...the whole gammet. So far, my fillies are doing really good and getting better every day in their new home.
After all the preparing I did to see these girls home, I still feel a little inadequate in that I still need to have meds on hand and set up my hospital tank...that's all coming this weekend. I don't want to be left just staring as something happens with my horses. Thank goodness that (so far) they're doing great. I don't want things to go downhill before I decide that I need these things handy...right?
Lisa...

 

[poniegirl]

Originally Posted by slowburn22
Crossan... You should pick Ryknas brain about those gorgonians. They make good hitching posts, and natural ones at that from what I understand. I think you just need to suppliment the tank with Phytoplex by Kent... But im no expert so check with him.
I never did it but I was going to add some colt coral or kenya trees for more hitching posts as well. I wouldnt imagine that they would harm the corals, as mine hitched on my pulsing xenia all the time and never caused any harm.
How funny..Rykna is a she: a princess, at that!
The seahorses will not harm the corals; the concern is stinging corals harming the seahorses.
NO hammers, carpets, etc...
Ideally for seahorses, use a variety of things with hitching opps. Plants, rock.
It is a tough line to walk and here is why:
Seahorses love to hunt and for their health (very important!) their tank should have a great population of "incidental" live food. Pods, in other words. The seahorses need to have a good flow of nutrition and the best is a good, fat pod every now and then to supplement the mysis you feed them.
For pods to thrive, you need a good environment for them, which means you leave yourself open for the undesirables, also....whatever comes with the live rock and vegetation that you purchase.
Seahorses live wild in some not so perfect places. Shallows, bays. They live where their food supply lives. Their food supply is VERY low on the oceanic totem pole.
The differences between their wild habitats and our systems is WATER EXCHANGE. The breeding grounds for the food are there, but so is the water quality.
Tough balance.