Starting a tank

jeanheckle

jeanheckle

Member
OK John and I are at the very beginning research stage of starting a horse tank. We will most likely have a 30 or so gallon hexagon tank, Here are my questions:
1. Is it true that tank bred are easy to get to eat?
2. Does pony or horse do better in a tank?
3. Best book on subject.
4. Can a fish be kept in tank?
Thanks in advance for any help,
Dori
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Dori,
1) Yes.
2) Depends on the size of the tank! Dwarfs are very hardy, but should be kept in a smaller tank. Rykna (our dwarf pony queen here) prefers the 15 gallon tanks for dwarfs
3) the best book has yet to be published. Look at google for a guy named Pete Giwojna. In the meantime if you pm me your email address I'll send you a primer article that can help you get started.
4) yes you can, but you should be very picky about what ou choose....slow, laid back fish that are deliberate feeders work best. A very good chart that rates different species can be found here:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/315559/seahorse-compatibility-chart
 
cleve_seahorse

cleve_seahorse

Member
Hi , I have both dwarves and horses....I have 1 5g hex with 8 dwarves and 1 10g with 20 and a 55g with 6 h.erectus....captive bred horses are easier and eat frozen mysis, but My dwarves are pretty hardy as they have been through a move , power outages , bbs problems and all still survived...why not do both?
 
cleve_seahorse

cleve_seahorse

Member
oh , and with my h. erectus I house 2 firefish , a watchman goby , a citron goby , numerous snails , and 3 red hermit crabs....with my dwarves only snails as a cuc
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Cleve,
Not that I'm complaining or anything, but......
Why haven't you posted your tank pictures over on the full tank shot thread??? We need pics!
I was starting to worry that our seahorse crowd consisted of 4-5 people! I'd love to see a shot of the 55 gallon, and I know Rykna would love to see some more dwarf pony pics on the site! Grab the camera, man!!
 
rykna

rykna

Active Member
Cleve...You have Ponies????!!!!!!!

Don't be so modest!!! I'd love to see your ponies and your tank set up. So few people here have actually have kept ponies. What kind of set up do you have????
 
rykna

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by jeanheckle
http:///forum/post/2809360
OK John and I are at the very beginning research stage of starting a horse tank. We will most likely have a 30 or so gallon hexagon tank, Here are my questions:
1. Is it true that tank bred are easy to get to eat?
2. Does pony or horse do better in a tank?
3. Best book on subject.
4. Can a fish be kept in tank?
Thanks in advance for any help,
Dori
The 30g is not big enough to house seahorses, and much too big for ponies. Seahorses need a tank that is twice their adult length. Most people have at least a 75g tank.
1.) Do not purchase anything but captive bred. Wild caught seahorses will introduce harmful bacteria and viruses to your tank. Plus, they do not take well to captivity and usually parish.
2.) I'd pick ponies. They are much tougher than their larger cousins. The catch is you have to breed baby brine shrimp because that is what they eat. The hatchery is easy to set up, and I'd be happy too walk you through it.
The #1 thing I like about ponies is that you can have a tank up and running with in a week. I have sterilized all my LS, LR, from my pony tanks after a devistating attack of aiptasia anemones. It's been eight months since, and I have been adding cultured pods to recycle the sand and rock.
So since you do not need LR or LS, you can set the tank up sterile. However, if you choose to do this please use caution. The pony tank needs cleaning every 3-4 days. Especially if you have a sterile tank. Keep a very close watch on the water quality levels.
3. Before you go spending money on books~ you have come to the best place for help and info. I didn't purchase any books until I had gotten a little experience and had more specific topics I wanted to learn about. Most books out there are sadly out dated...but if you like I do have a few favorites.
4. Yes, however, until you have some experience with caring for horses, I'd keep the seahorse tank as a species only.
 
jeanheckle

jeanheckle

Member
Wow, thank you
your advice seems super. I would like a corner or hexagon tank, what size for ponies?
Do you always keep live plants for them or can they be artificial? I would be thrilled to know how to breed brine shrimp.
Thank you again for your help.
 
rykna

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by jeanheckle
http:///forum/post/2810899
Wow, thank you
your advice seems super. I would like a corner or hexagon tank, what size for ponies?
Do you always keep live plants for them or can they be artificial? I would be thrilled to know how to breed brine shrimp.
Thank you again for your help.
You are most welcome! I'm heading to a apple cider party and my Aunt and Uncle's for the after noon. But I'll start a for you later this evening
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by Rykna
http:///forum/post/2810825
The 30g is not big enough to house seahorses, and much too big for ponies. Seahorses need a tank that is twice their adult length. Most people have at least a 75g tank..

Dearest Rykna, I'm so sorry but I fear I must respectfully disagree with you here.
A 30 gallon hex, provided it is tall enough and properly filtered, could easily house a pair of horses. Not Kudas, of course, but reidis or barbs would be fine! You're right about the height, of course -- but if Jean's talking about the aqueon 35 gallon hex, then there is no problem at all with that tank! This tank measures 23"x20"x24", which means that each of the six sides measures 12 inches.....more than enough to provide adequate filtration. They'd definitely need a gentle powerhead near the bottom, and a HOB nanoskimmer to help O2, but these are things recommended for any seahorse tank. And most of us do not have 75 gallon tanks, we keep our horses in ranges of 37 to 50-ish tanks.
Like I said, not trying to be argumentative, you know how much I respect your opinions, I just had to open my big mouth and disagree on that one point!

So, that being said, Jean, what are the dimentions of your tank??
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by dingus890
http:///forum/post/2811375
I agree with you Nova.A 35 hex tank will be fine for a pair of horses given there is enough flow in the tank.
On the other hand, if Jean has decided on ponies instead of horses, we'd better not convince her otherwise......I think Rykna's still mad at us for converting Sue when she was SO close to choosing ponies. If we get another one, Rykna may come after us with a teeny-tiny zosterae-sized switchblade!
 
rykna

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by novahobbies
http:///forum/post/2811370
Dearest Rykna, I'm so sorry but I fear I must respectfully disagree with you here.
A 30 gallon hex, provided it is tall enough and properly filtered, could easily house a pair of horses. Not Kudas, of course, but reidis or barbs would be fine! You're right about the height, of course -- but if Jean's talking about the aqueon 35 gallon hex, then there is no problem at all with that tank! This tank measures 23"x20"x24", which means that each of the six sides measures 12 inches.....more than enough to provide adequate filtration. They'd definitely need a gentle powerhead near the bottom, and a HOB nanoskimmer to help O2, but these are things recommended for any seahorse tank. And most of us do not have 75 gallon tanks, we keep our horses in ranges of 37 to 50-ish tanks.
Like I said, not trying to be argumentative, you know how much I respect your opinions, I just had to open my big mouth and disagree on that one point!

So, that being said, Jean, what are the dimentions of your tank??
So it's "Dearest Rykna" now.....
....I've been married for 13 years...that's one of the oldest lines in the book!!!!
Originally Posted by novahobbies
http:///forum/post/2811370
"Like I said, not trying to be argumentative, you know how much I respect your opinions, I just had to open my big mouth and disagree on that one point!
You rock!!!

I look forward to seeing the hex set up. Sometime I will try horses again. But I very happy with my ponies for now. If I ever get my stupid over flow to work correctly I'll finally be able to order my ponies. I am starting to think that keeping seahorses in large tanks is not all it's cracked up to be. Especially when it comes to feeding. I have a 45g corner tank that has seahorse written all over it. Larger is not always better. A lot of dead spots can hide in larger tanks, which would be a death trap for water quality.
Which ever jeanheckle picks all of us will be here to help and support
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by Rykna
http:///forum/post/2811697
So it's "Dearest Rykna" now.....
....I've been married for 13 years...that's one of the oldest lines in the book!!!!
Oh, ya heard that one, hmm? How about, "Hey, sweetheart....?"
You KNOW that one means they want something!
 
rykna

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by novahobbies
http:///forum/post/2811725
Oh, ya heard that one, hmm? How about, "Hey, sweetheart....?"
You KNOW that one means they want something!

Yep- Brian uses that only for extreme circumstances, such as clean underwear!!!
 
rykna

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by novahobbies
http:///forum/post/2811414
On the other hand, if Jean has decided on ponies instead of horses, we'd better not convince her otherwise......I think Rykna's still mad at us for converting Sue when she was SO close to choosing ponies. If we get another one, Rykna may come after us with a teeny-tiny zosterae-sized switchblade!

No hard feelings what so ever. You win some you loose some
....at least I didn't say:
Originally Posted by Barack Obama
"This issue is over my pay grade."
 
rykna

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by Rykna
http:///forum/post/2811170
You are most welcome! I'm heading to a apple cider party and my Aunt and Uncle's for the after noon. But I'll start a thread for you later this evening

I apologize, but I am going to have to take a rain check on the thread. I'll post info for you, but not until Sunday or Monday. But here is a link to another thread I started about pony tank set ups. Hope this will give you some ideas
 
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