I'm a noob. Can't wait to learn!

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Ponykeeper

New Member
Hello all!

I am very new to saltwater and about to set up two saltwater tanks: a 120 gallon tall (my husbands baby) and a 45 gallon corner tank strictly for seahorses (my baby). I am extremely interested in learning about a natural tank for the ponies. I am not new to tedious cleaning regimes, I currently have 2 5 gallon planted tanks with one male betta each, a 2.5 planted for my female betta, a 30 gallon for my labyrinth gourami (pink kissing and blue gourami) it is also a grow tank for a tiny angel fish and a silver tipped shark, and 2 75 gallons with an Oscar, a Salvini cichlid firemouth cichlid, sunshine peacock cichlid, blue errie cichlid, a snowflake eel, and a pleco. I am very knowledgeable about cycling a tank and different types of filtration but, I realize a seahorse tank is a horse of a different color (pun intended) :)

I am super excited to begin my journey toward becoming a seahorse keeper. I've looked over several forums and this one seems to have the most friendly members. I look forward to learning from you all!
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
snakeblitz33 said:
Get out while you still have a retirement account!
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LOL...true words of wisedom indeed!

Seahorses need colder tanks then regular fish, so instead of a heater, you need a chiller. Tropical seahorses need the temps to stay around 74 degrees, cold water types, such as the potbelly, need the temps in the 60s. A warmer tank will allow bacteria infections, the biggest killer of seahorses.

Purchase ONLY captive bred horses, they are already feeding on frozen Mysis shrimp, and are as easy to care for as any saltwater fish. Macroalgae is a must for seahorse tanks IMO. Because seahorses are super messy eaters, the macros will keep the parameters stable. Check out "Golf coast ecosystems" get the type of macros that a horse would hitch to. Botryocladia is a favorite of mine, if it isn't in season wait for it and get it. I used fake plants until I could get the right macros. The Caulerpa Prolifera looks just like Turtle grass, their favorite to play in. The great thing about Prolifera is that in the many years of keeping it, it has never gone sexual on me, the other caulerpas do, and it makes the tank water look like 2% milk when it happens.

You can also keep certain fish with your seahorses, so you don't have to have just seahorses in the tank. Seahorse.org has an awesome list of fish, so you can see what can live with them, and what can't. Seahorse source is a great place to purchase your horses, all they have are capitive bred (CB). This site sells CB Erectus... which is a great seahorse species. You can train them to eat at a feeding station, which helps to keep the tank clean from all they waste.

Oh and one last thing... Get an air line or two going, you can't have power heads where the horses can attach their tails to, and you can't really have good flow when they are young. They can handle pretty good water flow once they mature, but be picky about the type of power head for safety's sake. I keep three lines going in my 90g, they like to play in the bubbles, and it looks nice. The only problem is salt creep, but a weekly wipe down with a damp rag will take care of that without much ado.
 
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Ponykeeper

New Member
Thank you all for your imput! I'm looking at hippocampus erectus. I plan on having 1 (or 2) pair. I want to have starfish and a hermit crab possibly a horseshoe crab.... Macro algae is going to be a BIG part of my set up. I realize it's going to be months before I'll actually be purchasing my first ponies. I'm fine with that, i want to make sure they have a safe, comfortable, habitat before I purchase them.

As I hunt for equipment I am looking at a HOB with UV sterilization and a protein skimmer, both rated for a 50-55 gallon. Is this a good start. I have a canister but from what I've read they are not a good choice for seahorses.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Ponykeeper said:
Thank you all for your imput! I'm looking at hippocampus erectus. I plan on having 1 (or 2) pair. I want to have starfish and a hermit crab possibly a horseshoe crab.... Macro algae is going to be a BIG part of my set up. I realize it's going to be months before I'll actually be purchasing my first ponies. I'm fine with that, i want to make sure they have a safe, comfortable, habitat before I purchase them.

As I hunt for equipment I am looking at a HOB with UV sterilization and a protein skimmer, both rated for a 50-55 gallon. Is this a good start. I have a canister but from what I've read they are not a good choice for seahorses.
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Hi,

Sorry, you can't keep a hermit crab, and certainly not a horseshoe crab with seahorses. A variety of COLDWATER snails, margarita snails do well in the cooler water, black/onyx nessarius snails, nirite and cerith. Check out seahorse.org they have a nice compatibility chart to let you know what critter would be safe with them. You can have starfish, but again only certain ones. For example serpent or brittle stars, are not compatible. Sea-stars need a very mature tank, so you can't really add one of those for at least a year, so you have plenty of time to search for what is compatible.

A UV sterilizer is a waste of money. With macros, you don't need a protein skimmer either. Canister filters are the #1 choice, and next are the HOB filters....so I don't know who told you canisters are not good, and having a spray bar is even better. I run two C4 Fluval HOB filters, and 3 bubble lines, on my 90g potbelly horse tank, and one C4 Fluval HOB, and 2 bubble lines, on my 56g Kuda horse tank. I had canisters for years and years without a problem. Your most important, and expensive piece of equipment, is going to be a chiller. Regular T5 lighting, no heaters, no skimmer, or UV light. The set up is pretty simple.

It is best to use DRY rock and DRY sand, it's okay to use bacteria loaded sand from the bags, but not the live reef sand. You need the system to be as sterile as possible. The normal reef critters, such as isopods, hydroids and bristle worms, which come on live rock and sand are not what you want in a seahorse tank. UV lights kill the little copepods that swim at night, they help keep the tank stable by feeding on detritus, and if you ever want to add a mandarin or a pipefish to you set up...you need a nice copepod population. Seed the tank with amphipods, seahorses LOVE to hunt and eat them.

With using macroalgae, you won't have to wait months before the tank is ready. Ghost feed the tank once it's set up, just feed flake food to an invisible fish for a week or so. If you see an ammonia spike, then let it run it's course... ammonia turns to nitrites, and nitrites turn to nitrates. With macros everything will/should read 0, because the macros absorb that stuff including phosphates, to grow and feed on. When you remove the overgrowth of macros (called harvesting), you are removing all the nasty stuff out of the system.
 
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Ponykeeper

New Member
WOW!:) I guess I did join the correct forum. Thank you Flower!!!! I've been searching my brains out for something that was that specific. You've given me a much better idea of what needs to be done. Do you know anything about a company called ccritters.com? They sell seahorses but are suspiciously inexpensive......
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Ponykeeper said:
WOW!:) I guess I did join the correct forum. Thank you Flower!!!! I've been searching my brains out for something that was that specific. You've given me a much better idea of what needs to be done. Do you know anything about a company called ccritters.com? They sell seahorses but are suspiciously inexpensive......
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Hi,

If you are buying Erectus...get them from this site, they are captive bred eating frozen Mysis shrimp, and you have a 14 day guarantee (they are not that expensive). I also like Seahorse.com for Kuda, Potbelly, and a variety of other species (also reasonably priced). I have never heard of the place you mentioned, but the ones I mentioned, I'm certain about. I think it's best to go with what others know instead of "TRYING" another site nobody has any idea about.
 
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