thinking of dedicating my 55 gallon tank to seahorses!!

justilorah

Member
As soon as my 180 gallon aggresive tank cycles and i can move my livestock.. I am gonna dedicate my 55 gallon tank to seahorses.. Equipment that i will have with it is as follows: marineland 350 pro canister filter, 2 mj 1200, seaclone 100 skimmer, 60# of agronite sand, i am getting about 70# of reef rock, and i am planning on getting some plants and fake coral.. lighting i have oddysea 260w pcs w/ 4 lunar lights.. any suggestions of equipment and stocking list of what i can keep in here would be much appreciated.. thanks in advance..
 

teresaq

Active Member
Everything sounds pretty good, you may need to lower flow a little. Hydor rotating reflectors would help with the mj1200s. They may be a bit strong. A spray bar for you canister will give you a more even flow.
70 lbs of rock may be a little much. a couple of nice piles on either end with hitches in the middle would be nice. I think a 55 is a nice size for a couple of pair of horses.
Do you plan on any corals or fish? there is a list of tank mates here somewhere, I will bump it to the top for ya.
T
 

justilorah

Member
Originally Posted by TeresaQ
http:///forum/post/2554683
Everything sounds pretty good, you may need to lower flow a little. Hydor rotating reflectors would help with the mj1200s. They may be a bit strong. A spray bar for you canister will give you a more even flow.
70 lbs of rock may be a little much. a couple of nice piles on either end with hitches in the middle would be nice. I think a 55 is a nice size for a couple of pair of horses.
Do you plan on any corals or fish? there is a list of tank mates here somewhere, I will bump it to the top for ya.
T
i wasnt planning on any fish, just seahorses,, and as for coral fake coral lol i dont think my lights are good enough to keep much of anything..
 

teresaq

Active Member
pc's you can keep shrooms, xenia, kenya, zoos. If you wanted to. Cant wait for ya to post pictures of you adventure.
What species are yo looking at. Most people keep Kuda, erectus or reidi. Also H Comes.
Kellogi are concidered harder as they are deep sea horses.
Lots of research is a must, and captive breed horses.
Good Luck.
T
 

ci11337

Active Member
heres just a few little things of learned in only a few days of having kudas.
-having low flow really is necessary, or else some food may "out run" them and rot.
-since thier main food is mysis if you don't have a surface overflow of some kind oil builds up on the surface.
-for fake plants get the soft silk ones, they rarely touch the hard , spiky plastic ones
- they like frequent small feedings but need quite a bit of food per day
- they spend a surprising amount of time swimming in open water.
 

teresaq

Active Member
try looking up feeding dish. Most keepers train thier horses to one. It helps keep the food in one place.
I used a lrg clam shell, people have uses small glass dishes, and i have seen some neat ones that hang on the side of the tank.
T
 

justilorah

Member
Originally Posted by TeresaQ
http:///forum/post/2554771
try looking up feeding dish. Most keepers train thier horses to one. It helps keep the food in one place.
I used a lrg clam shell, people have uses small glass dishes, and i have seen some neat ones that hang on the side of the tank.
T
thanks for all the advice..
 

teresaq

Active Member
Here is my tank over a yr ago. Tank still looks the same, but i lost the horses.
I am hoping to start a tank makeover and restock with horses in the comming months.
T



 

kanicky

Member
Great suggestions on this thread, however I disagree about low flow being necessary, except maybe with Dwarf Seahorses and babies. A lot of seahorses in the ocean can be found in areas of mid- to high-flow, and since a lot of our seahorses were born and raised in the ocean, why should we give them a low-flow environment? My two h. comes (Tiger Tails) love to play in the flow, and the two h. kuda I had before them loved to, too.
Seahorses are not fragile creatures IF they are raised properly before and after we give them new homes in our tanks. Unfortunately, as you can see from the boards here, a lot of people who previously have had good luck, have been having bad luck with the batches of seahorses that are coming in...
It's definitely a learning process, but it's a much-needed one
 

ci11337

Active Member
Were your SH's born and raised in the ocean? If so i could see how they would be used to current. However mine were born and raised in a tank (which probably had low flow) and i can honestly say they prefer swimming and feeding in areas of low current. Also the term "low" is pretty loose, my corral has low flow compared to my reef, but you might consider it medium flow.
Anyway for SH's, just make sure they don't have to battle tidal waves all day and they should be fine.
 

kanicky

Member
No, they are tank-raised. As I've said, I've had h. kuda and I currently have h. comes and both pairs loved/love playing in medium flow. However, I understand that all 'horses are different, so my suggestion is to play around with the flow for the first few days and get a feeling of what your 'horses do and don't like

To the OP - I'm excited to see what this new venture brings for you!!
 
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