Fresh Water Horses

[garick]

I've heard so many people talk about fresh water sea horses.. is this true and if so why do you not see them anymore?

 

[ann83]

As far as anyone knows, there is not a "freshwater seahorse" and never has been. Of course, new species do get discovered, so one may eventually be found, but at this point, the answer is that they do not seem to exist. Some seahorses have been known to travel into brackish waters and survive there for periods of time. They may be the "freshwater seahorses" you've heard about.

 

[danu]

There have been several rumors of freshwater seahorses. Nothing has yet materialized. I was recently contacted by a collector that supposedly found a freshwater seahorse in a lake in Burma, but have yet to see any evidence that this is indeed true. Unfortunately the area that the collector is in is in the middle of hostilities between different fractions. The jury is still out.
At this point, there are no confirmed freshwater species. There are however, some freshwater pipefish.
Dan

 

[garick]

If you had to choose, for horses. Which would be a better choice. a 29 Gal or a 55. As well which would be a better choice, Live sand or an inert sand made for salt/cichlids?

 

[teresaq]

depends on how many horses you are keeping. As always with saltwater the bigger the tank the better. I have a 58 gal with 4 horses and have plenty of room.
What are your plans for the tank.
I would just use live sand.

 

[garick]

I have never ever kept Horses. I was planning on going with the more well known hardy species H. Erectus (The Southern Version) and keeping a single horse, or a pair.
I don't have a canister though. I have whispers with dual Bio wheel filtration and 3 levels of mechanical.

 

[teresaq]

If you are just doing one pair then go with the 29 gal. (dont do a single it will be lonely)
Read thru the first three threads here.
so for filteration all you have is a hob filter?? it should be enough but a canister filter or a sump would be better. I dont like the flow HOB filter give.

 

[garick]

If I use the 29. I have several Koralia Nano's that I can use to up the flow (if you think its to low with the HOB) which is made for a 75 Gal. (picture of it below)
I also wanted to remove the old canopy. Use hanging compacts to light it up so that it will have far less heat to deal with and top it with glass to reduce evaporation.

 

[novahobbies]

That's a good choice, as HOB filters go. I started my 37g horse tank with an Emperor 400 HOB...almost identical to the one you have pictured. Koralia nanos are also a good choice, but be aware you *may* have to cover the output with netting or tulle. Have you considered anything for keeping the tank cool? Having a glass enclosed top will raise the amount of heat in the tank regardless of what light you choose.

 

[garick]

I had not really given cooling a though. I'm pretty close to being north. My tanks rarely get above 75 degree's since I use central heat and air to keep the room they are in about 76. I had considered though hooking myself a CPU cooling fan and element to some pvc ends and using the fan to cool the pvc, hence cooling the water. The only source of heat will be the filter, heater in the tank and power heads. My lighting I plan to hang around 18 inches above the tank and use strong lumen low wattage bulbs with heat vents at the tops of them.
Just came to me. Has anyone thought of using granite as a cooling element. It naturally stays fairly cold and is completely inert so with a tube or slab of granite and a fan or way to disperse the heat at the top...

 

[teresaq]

one thing you dont need in a seahorse tank is a heater. The cooler the tank the better. 72 to 74 degrees is best. I keep my chiller at about 73.
T

 

[garick]

How about using filter media from an established salt tank? I have a 125 gal FOWLR tank thats been up for around 5 months now. I use (oddly enough) about 6 120gph HOB's on it along with its 40 gal sump. Each has a bio pad in it.