Seahorses & Water Flow

rykna

rykna

Active Member
What flow does a seahorse desire?? Most books say low flow anything stronger will stress the horses.
My Kuda sea horse is now 5 months old. When I bought him he was skinny and about 3.5 inches long. Valiant is now 4.5 inches and eats everything in site.
I had placed shields over the intake flows after he got sucked into one. That was 2 months ago. About 5 days ago I removed the shields....he kept slipping over the top into the shield....which most have guessed was hording a treasure trove of pods.
He's swimming around fine...as I'm cleaning the tank. I even added the extra fluval filter that I use while cleaning.
I guess what I wondering about is, was it his poor health that caused the problem when I first got him?
Was it his size~strength?
And why do most books say low flow when horses come from shallow coral reefs that have more medium flows??? :notsure:
 
darthtang aw

darthtang aw

Active Member
The bigger they get the more flow they are able to sustain. It is just like children, a small 2 year would have significant more problem walking into a 60 mile an hour wind than a much larger adult. Think of it that way. Ideally I prefer a flow rate of five times your tank size. In my tank the side that is designed with seahorses in mind actually only has HOB filters to move the water, my powerheads are actually further over.
Occasionally my horses will travel to this side (not often) and play in the current...Occasionally the do get whipped around pretty good but they handle it.
Before I tried my experiment my horses were in a 55 gallon with a HOB filter and one powerhead rated at 250 GPH at the top of the tank blow length wise.
 
rykna

rykna

Active Member
Hmm let's see here...90 gallon
2 110 aqua clear 500/110 Filter:Maximum Output: (500 U.S. Gal./h). Full Flow Control:(166 U.S. Gal./h). Currently both are set on low..so 332 gph
eheim pro 2 250 gph
so that would be a total of 582 gph
90x5= 450
It's a little over, but it's not hindering swimming.
 
poniegirl

poniegirl

Active Member
Originally Posted by Darthtang AW
The bigger they get the more flow they are able to sustain. It is just like children, a small 2 year would have significant more problem walking into a 60 mile an hour wind than a much larger adult. Think of it that way. Ideally I prefer a flow rate of five times your tank size. In my tank the side that is designed with seahorses in mind actually only has HOB filters to move the water, my powerheads are actually further over.
Occasionally my horses will travel to this side (not often) and play in the current...Occasionally the do get whipped around pretty good but they handle it.
Before I tried my experiment my horses were in a 55 gallon with a HOB filter and one powerhead rated at 250 GPH at the top of the tank blow length wise.
I have to agree with this in its broad form.
What I mean is, I think they like it all (LOW AND MED, of course) We don't want the thing blown out of the tank.. And I think it is healthy, in moderation.
In the wild, seahorses do cross currents, they do deal with stormy seas and they are strong animals, if healthy and well-fed.
In the last tank where seahorses were kept, I had a number of different combinations. The Magnum canister ran 24/7, as did the Prizm skimmer. The two PH and the bubble bar (forgive me) ran on occassion, in varying combos.
The two seahorses in that tank lived long healthy lives.
You will be easily able to tell what is acceptable and what is too much. Thank goodness that most of this equipment is easy to moderate and adjust.
 
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