? For Experienced Seahorse owner

[meowzer]

OK, I am looking to purchase my first Seahorses....I think I will start with 4. 2 female 2 male. Should I get 2 kelloggi and 2 reidi? Or should I stay all with the same type? Do you recommend SWF.com seahorses? What food should I have?
I already have frozen: Marine Cuisine, Emerald Entree, Spirulina Brine SHrimp/Mysis.
Of course I have your standard flakes and stuff, but from what I have been reading that is not what seahorses eat.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...I want to have everything they require before I get them.

 

[reefnutpa]

It is best to not mix species. I would stay clear of Kelloggi. The majority of foods you list are not acceptable for seahorses. They should be fed mysis shrimp. I use a mixture of both Hikari mysis and PE Mysis.
Reidi are large seahorses, IMO 2 pair could be kept in a 30 gal tank minimum. They would be cramped a bit, but it's do-able if you keep a pristine tank and are very diligent with water changes and tank maintenance.
I won't offer my opinion on where to purchase CB seahorses publicly. If you'd like to PM me I'll give some suggestions.
Tom

 

[meowzer]

Is the hikari or PE frozen in cubes?

 

[novahobbies]

I use the Hikari mysis, and yes it is frozen in individual cubes. And reefnut is right, in general, it's not a good idea to mix species, and never mix wild caught with captive bred.
PM me your email address and I'll send you some info on starting out if you're interested. But in the meantime, why don't you think about keeping just H. reidis? They come in many different color morphs if that sort of thing interests you, and they're pretty hardy for beginners. What are the dimentions of your tank, by the way? You'll want something on the tall side to keep them happy; seahorses definitely utilize the full water column.

 

[meowzer]

My tank is a 54g corner bow...bow front is 42"...each corner is 27"...Height (I think) is 24, if not it is 22. I will keep the same species now.

 

[novahobbies]

Oh that's right.

We've been through that on another thread. Don't mind me, just gettin' old. OK, so two pair would be easily kept in that size aquarium, even three pair wouldn't be bad so long as your filtration is good.

 

[meowzer]

I have a Cascade 700 that comes with the spray bar across top of water, a Seaclone 100 protein skimmer. I plan on getting a Koralia 1...(per the other thread..LOL)
Will that be sufficient?
And you think I would be okay with 2 pair? ANd if I do get 2 pair, would it be better to get them ALL at the same time or can I get one pair now, and maybe the other pair in a month. I just want to be sure they do okay.

 

[zeke92]

Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/2806039
OK, I am looking to purchase my first Seahorses....I think I will start with 4. 2 female 2 male. Should I get 2 kelloggi and 2 reidi? Or should I stay all with the same type? Do you recommend SWF.com seahorses? What food should I have?
I already have frozen: Marine Cuisine, Emerald Entree, Spirulina Brine SHrimp/Mysis.
Of course I have your standard flakes and stuff, but from what I have been reading that is not what seahorses eat.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...I want to have everything they require before I get them.
I went through 5 kelloggi before finally realizing they were the worst choice anyone can possibly make when buying seahorses. I would go with reidi for sure.
Brine shrimp and mysis are the average foods but they will also love cyclops aswell, which you can buy in frozen cubes.
Don't use any foods that may float on the top like flakes, even for freshwater fish this is usually a nono. It can cause them to get air in there bellies and that's never good.
To your newest question about when to get the pairs, there is always a chance of stress when adding new fish to a tank that already has fish in it. But with seahorses they are very social so i am not sure if this would be a problem or not.

 

[novahobbies]

Just start with one pair. Take the time to get used to the way seahorse act, how they feed and how the tank is with the horses. A 54 gallon tank gives you a lot of options to do complex environments with your horses, but for now just stick with a simple pair. When you've decided you're comfortable with those, go ahead and do another pair. Seahorses are very social, and won't be agressive to the newcomers. Like I said, you could probably do three pair in that sized tank, and even a few slow, deliberate feeder fish as well.
By the way, Zeke....I love that avatar! My cat is an orange tabby, but she adopts that pose a lot, and I swear that's what's going through her mind!

 

[meowzer]

OK, I am going to get 2 Reidi's, 1 male, 1 female......Will my frozen cubes spirulina brine/mysis work? I plan on getting some of the other foods mentioned too, but I have to order everything.
Thanks so much for everyones time they have taken to answer me too!!!

 

[novahobbies]

Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/2806581
OK, I am going to get 2 Reidi's, 1 male, 1 female......Will my frozen cubes spirulina brine/mysis work? I plan on getting some of the other foods mentioned too, but I have to order everything.
Thanks so much for everyones time they have taken to answer me too!!!
Well.....it'll do in a pinch. I've tried that as well, and they don't seem to like the spirulina enhanced as much as they do the plain mysis. But they ate it when I tried.

 

[teresaq]

Southern Erectus are also good horses. Their young are also easier to raise. Also only by captive bred horses, They should be eating frozen and are a lot healthier
TeresaQ

 

[meowzer]

I just order mysis, brine shrimp, spirulina, clams, etc...for both tanks. Probably ordered enough for a few months, but it made sense to do that since I have to pay overnite shipping costs. Plus it got cheaper the more you ordered.