id help?

[fishjem]

The lfs said they were H Reidi, but how do you tell the difference between Reidi and Erectus?

 

[teresaq]

I'm going with H Erectus aka the lined seahorse. Female.

 

[novahobbies]

The "saddle" pattern does look reminiscent of H. erectus, yes. The deep chest and belly look more like erectus than reidi also.
I like the tank....was that at your LFS, or is that little girl now in your tank?

 

[fishjem]

she is in my new horse tank been up and running for years but haven't had much in it so until lately it was full of copepods. I focused mostly on my big tank but wanted to do something different in the small tank
I I have bought two of the horses, they are tank raised and eating frozen mysis and brine shrimp

 

[spanko]

Very nice. Could you post a full tank shot please?

 

[meowzer]

Yes...we'd love to see a full tank shot...and what size tank is this?

 

[2quills]

Quote:
Originally Posted by meowzer http:///forum/thread/382232/id-help#post_3334505
Yes...we'd love to see a full tank shot...and what size tank is this?
I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark and say it's a 29G?

 

[meowzer]

Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///forum/thread/382232/id-help#post_3334506
I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark and say it's a 29G?
LOL....I saw on his id that he states a 125G and a 29G bio-cube.....BUT....I was thinking maybe he had another one...BECAUSE...and Teresa or NOVA can step in here.....I think the H.Erectus will need a bigger tank

 

[novahobbies]

IF you were going to use a BC to house seahorses in, then a 29 gallon 'cube is the....least problematic.... biocube to use. IIRC the dimensions of a 29g biocube are somewhere in the range of 20' x 20' x 19" tall..... and the height is what will become the problem for you kiddies. H. erectus and H. reidi are both fairly large species, and will use as much water height as you can give them. I personally feel that a 21 inch tall tank should be the minimum, with a 24 inch tall tank being the ideal for this sized horse. They will utilize the height for things like their morning courtship dance and especially the mating dances.
That being said, I don't think there will be an immediate problem with the height of this tank...but you may want to strongly consider another tank in the future for them. Just think of it as an excuse to get another tank set up...I know I hardly need much excuse to think about that kind of thing!

The biggest concern IMO would be the temperatures in a biocube. I don't have direct experience here, but I've read that biocubes - or any all-in-one system - tend to run a little warm. I've also heard that the HQI lighting biocubes are just plain hot! Either way, you should make very sure that you have some way of keeping the tank temp down. I keep mine at 74 with my open top and mini chiller, and truthfully this is the upper end of the seahorse's spectrum - 70 to 72 is really ideal. Although southern H. erectus are classified as "tropical" animals, they seem to be more active in the slightly cooler water. Most importantly, temperatures in the lower 70's help slow the growth of potentially lethal bacteria that seahorses tend to be so susceptible to.... conditions like tail rot, snout rot, and other flesh-erosion problems are usually bacterial in nature. The lower tank temps tend to keep these conditions at bay, whereas temps approaching 80 seem to ALWAYS cause problems.
If you can find a way to chill your biocube, I'd say you'll be fine for as much as a year. If you decide to keep them in the BC, make sure you get a chiller that will handle a future tank upgrade. And as others have said....... please post a FTS!!! We love them here! ;-)

 

[fishjem]

I don't seem to have any problem with the tank getting hot, but it is the original biocube and only has two 36 watt bulbs that are fan cooled. with the lights on all day it only raises the water temp 1 to 1.5 degrees.
Here is the fts,

 

[teresaq]

That is a Erectus. Tank looks good, but could use a lot more hitches and places to hide.
Temps in that tank should be kept below 77 degrees for the comfort of the horse. Higher temp can breed bacterial infections.

 

[novahobbies]

Quote:
Originally Posted by TeresaQ http:///forum/thread/382232/id-help#post_3334760
Tank looks good, but could use a lot more hitches and places to hide.
Agreed. I like the tank (Especially the big Easter island head!)

I strongly recommend some more live rock, though....at least another 10 lbs or so. If you're on a budget, you might consider dry tufa rock or a similar dry base rock, and it will colonize with bacteria in a few months. Also a few more hitches, with different height levels, would really help....for the horses' sake and aesthetically as well. If you're not in the mood to mess with live hitches, I just did a 'Bay crawl and noticed a lot of nice looking artificial corals that would be very suitable. There's nothing at all wrong with faux coral IMO as long as they're well maintained and kept clean....in fact, there are some on the market now that are looking more and more like the real thing.