Originally Posted by
zeke92
Can a kenya tree be a good hitch for seahorses? with the seahorses get hurt by the coral or will the coral get hurt by the horses? i've been studying for over a year now about caring for, breeding, raising seahorses and wanna start working on getting a tank going.
also, here is my shopping list so far.
protien skimmer
frozen mysis
live kelp and/or sea grass
50 gallon, tall, tank. tall is good correct?
live sand of course
how much live rock should i get?
my current 20 gallon i' working on will tunr into the refugium
live feeder shrimp?
i have brine shrimp already breeding in a bucket like mad
thermometer
i have a hydrometer
i have nets already
i think thats it but my mind is kinda blank
what am i missing that i absolutely have to have?
how much live rock should i get?
and, is tall tanks, better then wide tanks?
thanks in advance, thats all the questions i have for now.
A Kenya tree coral will be fine with seahorses...rule of thumb is that corals that don't sting will be fine, kenya, mushrooms, zoas, colt coral, those types of things. This is assuming you're talking about medium sized horses. A 50 tall would be a great seahorse tank. The horses like to have the vertical space. In a 50, I would venture to guess that you could keep 6 (medium sized) horses...I may be wrong about that though. I would steer away from the dwarf of the species...definitely not for beggining sh keeping. It would be my recommendation to start out with 2 females before trying your hand at breeding.
Another thing to consider would be to have garlic to soak the horses food in...it's supposed to be great for their (and other fishes) immune systems, and it really makes their food attractive to them.
Be sure when purchasing your horses, that they are CAPTIVE bred and raised. Tank raised is kind of decieving in that they may have been bred in the wild, captured and raised until purchased. It's my opinion that if you get true captive bred horses, you shouldn't need the live brine. They will take to the frozen mysis.
Also, NO nets!! A seahorse can become seriously injured if transferred via a net. Use your hand or a glass or cup...this also reduces the stress of transfer.
Purchase of a refractometer is essential...hydrometers are really VERY inaccurate. When I got my refractometer, I measured the SG of my tank at the time. I had been sure that I was keeping my SG at 1.025-6...with the new refractometer it measured at 1.031!! YIKES!!
As far as sea grass and live algae, definitely a good thing for hitching and pods, but I've found that fake plants offer the same benefits without the maintenance (there's enough of that in a seahorse tank).
A last thought. After getting your set up going, be sure to cycle completely!!! In a tank of that size, I would think that at
least 6 months, more if you can be patient.
There's so much...hope this helps, it just scratches the surface. Hopefully more will chime in to give you a hand...be patient and research what types of seahorses will be best in the system you're planning. I'm assuming that you know the lighting, temperature and aquascape differences in a seahorse tank compared to a reef...again, be patient!!! There's a segment in my thread where I explain how I did things...not that it's gospel, but it may give you some ideas...
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/273444/pics-of-my-girls
I forgot to add that I don't run a skimmer on my sh tank. On my 37gal, I run 2 Whisper filters, one 30 and one 40 which are filtering the equivalent of that for a 70 gal tank. Just an idea, and so far its worked for me. Don't forget sponge coverings over the intakes of your equipment. And also don't forget the twice/day feedings resulting in twice/week water changes (small changes).
I'm sure more will chime in here to help you out.
Lisa
