Got reeftank, want seahorse, worried about food mess

[hmobahi]

Hello everyone,
I have an established 15gal reeftank with some turbo snails and hermit crabs and a Xenia coral. I would like to add a couple of seahorses. I read about them and it seems that feeding them is challenging. From my understanding, a lot of food must be released in the water to provide a good concentration so that they see and eat them.
My concern is such concentration of food, while may keep seahorses happy, will make a mess and degrade water quality which might put corals in danger. So my question is simple: is there a clean way for feeding seahorses? I read something about "dishes" in earlier posts, but seems they are not very effective (the seahorses do not know that they should look for food in the dish).
If this question also puts constraint on types of seahorses that I should think of buying, please let me know about that as well.
Your help would be highly appreciated
H.M.

 

[teresaq]

Hi, and welcome to the boards. first, Horses must be trained to eat from a feeding dish. Yes it takes time, but can be done. I wouldnt worry to much about them finding food that is released into your tank, They are natural hunters. one cube of mysis twice a day is plenty. I like to keep small peaceful gobies in the tank to clean up the left overs.
Now my main concern is the size of your tank. If you read many of the threads here a 15 gal is really too small for 6 to 8 inch seahorses. You really need at least a 29 gal tank.
T

 

[hmobahi]

Thank you very much for your response. So you believe that the frozen food will not float in water but remain in the dish?

 

[reefnutpa]

Frozen mysis will sink and stay in the feeding dish provided it is thawed in saltwater as opposed to freshwater.
Tom

 

[btuck]

What type of seahorses are you wanting to keep. If you want to keep dwarf seahorses then a 15 gallon is more than enough tank size but you can't feed mysis. If you are keeping erectus, kuda, kelloggi or some other large seahorse then a 15 is way too small.

 

[hmobahi]

I have not decided about what type of seahorse to buy. However, from the comments it seems I cannot go with dwarf seahorses and hence I must think of getting a bigger tank.
Thanks
H.M.

 

[texasmetal]

Deeper tanks are better also. Less gas-bubble/bloat problems. Ponies are a lot of work. Just FYI.

 

[novahobbies]

Originally Posted by hmobahi http:///forum/post/2833943
I have not decided about what type of seahorse to buy. However, from the comments it seems I cannot go with dwarf seahorses and hence I must think of getting a bigger tank.
I don't know, I think 15 gallons is perfect for dwarf ponies. Did you read this thread?
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/339042/dwarf-seahorse-tank-setup
It's right where you need to be looking, my friend.

 

[hmobahi]

Thank you. very useful link.