Sea Dragons

[stessman]

hey guys wonder if anyone hear has any knowledge of Sea Dragons? I want to do a sea horse only tank but ive run across sea dragons on the net before and they look alot cooler but there isnt very much info on them. I was wondering if they are harder to keep than sea horses or if you can even get one. :notsure:

 

[ssweet1]

From what I have read they have to have a very large tank 500+ galllons and the water has to be chilled around 68 degrees farenheit. They are almost impossible to feed and the water has to be kept absolutely pristine. Sea World and the Tennessee aquarium keep them, you may call there and inquire about how they keep them. I would love to have them too but all I have been told is that it is not practical SO..... I am getting my seahorses this week I will also add a couple cool looking pipefish. Carrie

 

[stessman]

yeah that sounds a little bit too much for me to get into so i guess i well stick with the sea horses which are pretty cool. Anyone else know anything about sea dragons?

 

[chrisnym]

are these endangered species? i do not see these fasinating creatures too often. also, where are they found in the wild?

 

[speg]

I've seen them here at Sea World and they are NOT in 500 gallon tanks. More like 50ish gallons or so. I'd assume their care would be much like sea horses... I have honestly never seen one for sale at a LFS ever... so finding one of these may be more of a challange than actually keeping one

 

[dogstar]

Sea Dragons:
Leafy Seadragons are infrequently offered from their restricted ranges around Australia (where they are protected by law); they have a notoriously poor record of survivability in shipping and short lives if at all in aquariums. If you must try them, the two species least prone to die in my opinion are the Leafy Seadragon, Phycodurus eques and the common Seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus. These should be collected and attempted only as subadults, about half maximum size.
Thats from wetweb

 

[stessman]

well i definetly dont want to get get something that just isnt going to survive i just thought maybe there were about the same as sea horses for care

 

[meb99]

what kindof sea horse you getting and will all your other fish leave him alone

 

[fishieness]

fish leaving them alone is not the problem with sea horses. the problem is that other fish are too fast, while they are very slow, to be able to compete for food. when you feed your fish, all the other fish will eat all the food before the seahorses will eat any.

 

[stessman]

that it is the reason for a species only tank tank for sea horses

 

[fishnerd]

Leafy Sea Dragons are next to impossible to get.
I work at a major public aquarium, and we waited 4 years and still paid thousands of dollars each. They are endemic to Southern Australia, and protected by the Aussie Government.
I don't mean to burst your bubble, but you won't be getting one.

 

[dual45s]

For something so fragile and rare I think that they would be better left to the wild. Positively fascinating creatures though.