sea horses in a 12 gallon nano

nanokid

nanokid

Member
My little sister asked me a good qustion last night and i didnt know how to explain to her because i didnt know. The qustion was can i put 2 little black sea horses in my 12 gallon nano? My water flow is pretty good because one day i bought this little spinner that flows water from every direction it will go around and around in cyrcles so it gets the hole tank but i have 1 clown fish in there perc clown hes an adult now his mate died about 2 months ago so hes alone in there with no coral besides yellow star polyps and about 50 pounds of live rock but my real qustion is can 2 sea horses b fine in a 12 gallon if i set it up with whatever i need for them to stay alive?
Your friend Aaron
 
bsp

bsp

Member
I had a sea horse in 1/2 of a 10 gal. tank, and he lived for 1 year. However he was very hard to feed. I had to buy live brine shrimp all the time. Don't know what else they eat but they move very slow so the clown would get most of the food. Good luck.
 
bsp

bsp

Member
I have been able to buy them at most stores,but 1 in my area doesn't have them.Check at your stores.
 
bsp

bsp

Member
My tank pretty much stayed between 78-80 but no higher. After the sea horse died I dried him out because I want to keep it, but my dog found him and ate it. Gross ha.
 
xdave

xdave

Active Member
Seahorses wont appreciate you tanks good flow, they prefer still water. The changing flow direction will be very hard on them, they will just get blown around and die of exaustion. With the flow at a constant rate and direction at least they will have a chance to learn where to swim. They don't like to be around fish much but clowns are't exactly what you'd call "swimmers". On the other hand, when you put live brine in there he'll probably swim like he's never swam before. Make sure they have some good branchy shelter. That size tank is ok for them.
One interesting note, Seahorses don't accept "arranged mariages" easily. Get a pair that are hanging on to eachother as they swim, not just 1 hanging on to 1 thats hanging on to something else.
Hatch your own brine, a 6 gram tube costs about $3, that should last a long time. I hatch them in a 2 litre Pepsi bottle with an airstone.
 
bsp

bsp

Member
I had live rock and a few mushrooms. Like xDave said they like slow moving water and something to hang onto with thier tails or low body. I also tried to raise brine but had no luck. Don't know what I was doing wrong.
 
nanokid

nanokid

Member
o thats no problem i can just switch out the flow of the water and put my stock one on there but put it up wards so the water flow goes up not strait into the water. is that good
 
bsp

bsp

Member
Give it a try and see what happens. I have been thinking about doing a seahorse tank only,( they are so cool) but don't know if I want all the work with the food.
 
nanokid

nanokid

Member
o ya seahorses r really cool and ive also been thinking about it also. My dads taking me to the fishstore today and ima go look and if i sea some ima do what Xdave said to look for. Im wanted black seahorses not to expensive. 40$ is not bad but do you think 2 will b good in a 12 gallon nao cube aquapod?
 
poniegirl

poniegirl

Active Member
Sorry, but no, seahorses will not be okay in a 12. The blacks you are talking about are probably either mustangs or erectus, niether one will do well in that small of a tank.
They require a tank that is at least 2X their extended height at adulthood.
Seahorses are not, IMO, as difficult to keep as people make them out to be, but I believe the high mortality rate is due to trying to keep them in an environment that won't support them.
If you have, at minimum, a 20gal TALL, then you might consider it.
Also, if a seahorse is tank raised, they will have been trained on thawed mysis shrimp and won't be difficult to feed at all. Wild caught seahorses are next to impossible to wean off of live food.
 
alyssia

alyssia

Active Member
Originally Posted by PonieGirl
Sorry, but no, seahorses will not be okay in a 12. The blacks you are talking about are probably either mustangs or erectus, niether one will do well in that small of a tank.
They require a tank that is at least 2X their extended height at adulthood.
Seahorses are not, IMO, as difficult to keep as people make them out to be, but I believe the high mortality rate is due to trying to keep them in an environment that won't support them.
If you have, at minimum, a 20gal TALL, then you might consider it.
Also, if a seahorse is tank raised, they will have been trained on thawed mysis shrimp and won't be difficult to feed at all. Wild caught seahorses are next to impossible to wean off of live food.

Ponie Girl is right on the mark on everything she said, especially tank size. No seahorses in a tank that size, unless they are dwarves, which you have to hatch live brine for EVERY day.
Also, I have captive bred horses and they are trained on frozen mysis.
 
madi-poo

madi-poo

New Member
I've had a seahorse for over a year now. She was first in a 10 gallon and now she's in a 15 gallon. I feed her frozen brine shrimp with a turkey baster and it works great! It is so easy to feed her with it! I just recently started doing it and she caught on really quickly. We both love it!!
 
alyssia

alyssia

Active Member
Originally Posted by madi-poo
I've had a seahorse for over a year now. She was first in a 10 gallon and now she's in a 15 gallon. I feed her frozen brine shrimp with a turkey baster and it works great! It is so easy to feed her with it! I just recently started doing it and she caught on really quickly. We both love it!!

Do you gut load the brine first?
 
alyssia

alyssia

Active Member
Originally Posted by alyssia
Do you gut load the brine first?

I was asking b/c brine has no nutritional value.
 
madi-poo

madi-poo

New Member
Originally Posted by alyssia
I was asking b/c brine has no nutritional value.
I just recently started to soak the frozen brine shrimp in "Reef Plus" by Seachem. It is primarily used to promote coral growth however, you can also use it to provide additional nutrients for your fish.
There has to be something good about frozen brine shrimp since she's survived on only that for over a year, right?
 
torno

torno

Member
Wondefully put Poniegirl! I completely agree!
I agree with you too alyssia. Brine shrimp is equivalent to eating celery everyday. I'd need to see a picture to tell if your horse is malnourished or not. If its taking frozen brine, why not start giving it frozen mysis? Much, MUCH, better food source in my opinion. This is a complete diet and will keep your horse healthy...
 
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