Sea Horses

[LiveRock]

Hello there,

I was thinking, since I have a tall, narrow tank, it may be suitable for sea horses but I lack the basic knowledge in choosing them and keeping them in a happy environment.

Are sea horses to avoid or are they to behold? Hope to find out real experiences on information about species selection, tank & water requirements, feedling and tank mates compatibilities.

Cheers!

[kelstorm]

i have this article on breeding seahorses.. and it mentioned that u need at least a 3x2x2.5 (LxBxH) coz when they mate, they will rise up the column (height) and the female will attempt to deposit the eggs inside.. if the height is too low, the eggs might not be deposited...

go for a species tank.. they dun do well with fishes.. and they strive only on live brine shrimps.. however, sea life (balestier) seahorses are known to feed on frozen.. so, u might want to consider getting from there coz they have been conditioned.

due to the slow feeding habits and need to feed up to 3-5 times a day(according to the article), u had better get a good filtration system...

[LiveRock]

Yes, kelstorm, I intend it to be a species tank with only a mandarin fish.

My tank's height is abt 2 ft.

I want to just get a pair of sea horses and no others inhabitants but the mandarin and the critters.

My filteration includes an Ehiem Pro II and Prism skimmer, DSB, no sump.

My lights are a 6500K and a blue actinic. No chiller, only fan. Is the setup OK?

Only corals are mushrooms.

[ong]

Yes, kelstorm, I intend it to be a species tank with only a mandarin fish.

My tank's height is abt 2 ft.

I want to just get a pair of sea horses and no others inhabitants but the mandarin and the critters.

My filteration includes an Ehiem Pro II and Prism skimmer, DSB, no sump.

My lights are a 6500K and a blue actinic. No chiller, only fan. Is the setup OK?

Only corals are mushrooms.

Hi there, I keep SH for almost a year now. So far so good. Your setup is OK but advisable to get a chiller & a UV. Try this webby, good info. for SH keeping:

www.seahorse.org

Happy horsing.....

[bawater]

LR, give it a try.

u can go for 4 horses but start slowly- 2 horses first to try for 6mths. if they still with u then increase.

the only part of keeping them is the feeding part-

sealife horses(abt $5 each)will take frozen BS & mysis.

try to get some mysis into their diets (for their fatty acids) cause horses on a pure BS diet become very skinny- due to low nutrition.

u can treat them once in a while with a bag of live BS.

dun go for the rare ones(the more colourful sort)when u just starting- they are 99.99% wild stock & are hard to feed.

i've had 2 of mine in a community for 9mths.....& they never got enough food so just transferred to 2ft horse tnk. temp 28c - one 15w light & lots of macro algae to sustain 12 horses. filtered by 3tier overhead(but i'm in the midst of making an intank overflow/sump out of acrylic)

[LiveRock]

Thanks, bawater, ong and kel..

Where do u usually buy your SH? I just want a single pair so I dun mind paying for healthy, beautiful and colourful ones. Darwf ones would be best!

Of course, eating mysis and brine s. is a must as I dun think I can supply life food everyday.

Also, I heard that SH need something or branch to hook their tails. How to provide for such a requirement?

All my readups on the behaviour of sea horses, especially during courtship are getting me very very excited!!!! they are just like little kids.

[ong]

Hi, I got most of them from Seletar as their price are reasonable, yellow for around 4~6 and black/brown for 3~4. You have to choose the SH carefully and solwly train them to eat forzen food. Not easy but mine can feed by hand now. For 2x2 tank, you can have around 1 male 3 females SH. For environement setup, use LR & lot marine plants so to make them feel at home. Rgds.

[bawater]

LR- setup just as ong says..rocks & macro algaes.

if u just want to keep & dun mind the sight then can add some pvc tunes 1/4 wif elbows so it creates bars. 1/4 is a good size to hook on.

damn...mine are eating feeder shrimps-which were meant for the lion. got to start stocking up oredi.

LR- dwarf heidi from pac marine @$35 each(imported from brazil)

i got the normal- brown/black/yellowtails from reefworld @$3 each.

normal LFS sell abt $5 each.

[LiveRock]

hi bawater

is reefworld in lor halus? I've been lor. harus a few times but dun know which is which as there are no signs....

woah! dwarf sh so ex., plus hard to take care right? recommended or not? If they do well in captivity, I dun mind. Maybe I just wif easy ones first and gain experience from there......

How abt chiller? Do they need as corals do?

ong mentioned abt marine plants.... what are these? do you mean like those fw java fern, etc.,?

Thanks!

[bawater]

they look like java fern only but in marine- there are a few kinds- u've been to lor halus so i guess u know the 2 marine ones there- reefworld is the one with blue koi ponds holding corals- all using natural sunlight.

There is a kirin(LH) shop just behind it.

pac marine is the one indoors. They have a blue tub outside with a big pac marine. they have macro algae $5 a piece(same price almost everywhere).

try not to start on dwarfs- start on cheap ones & if u have success after a yr then move on to the rarer species.Seahorse won't die immediately, they slowly starve to death & this can take up to 4mths.

28c is good enough- how u do it up to u, fan will do.& u only need the light for the algae to grow.

[ong]

Seletar T95 have a lot of marine plants (macro algae), Red, green & brown. Price around $5/ per pcs. Care need is just water PH and ofcos' Fe supplement & lighting. Green will require more lighting than red or brown. For SH temp. try to maintain at 27oC +- 1oC. is much better for them. As what Bawater's said, don't go for dwarfs. Try whose cheaper one. Choose you SH with 'big' tummy, active and always looking for food in the LFS tank. Take your time and choose. Keeping SH is not easy but very 'rewarding'. So good luck and happy horsing........

[bawater]

found 6 mini seahorses this morning....totally unexpected,totally unprepared(i expected somethin in 6mths)- started bbs this morning.

My copepods & amphipods cultures still not enough in numbers- so only managed to add maybe 4-5 of them in.

Dun think they will survive.Hopefully seahorse God is looking down on me.

[kelstorm]

congrats bran... u are now a father.. me will pray for u to keep the SH alive...

[LiveRock]

congratulations, bawater! It is this type of success stories that continue to motivate us in this wonderful hobby!

How big is yr SH tank? What equipment u have to support the system?

Thanks!

[bawater]

its a 2ftx1ftx1.5ft- filled wif LR,macro-algae & running a 3tier overhead(in-tank bio-filter in the making) + a15w 7500k FL. Holding 12 horses & nothin else.

feeding small feeder prawns,live brineshrimp,frozen brineshrimp,frozen mysis.

i just remembered that i suppose to provide somethin for the babies to hang on too for them to have a chance!!! i forgot!!!!oh damn!!.The facts Doesn't look good.

oh well!, should be ready next time.

Anyways a typical brood should be min 40 & can go to into hundreds. so these 6 a mystery?.

[derf]

wow! if u manage to keep them alive, u can start ur own biz selling SH...

[bawater]

no lah, testing wif the common types before i keep rare ones- dun want $$$ down the drain. try try for 12mths first-

same goes for my FW zebra plecs(dump them in a 4ft- expect to see some kind of results within 24mths*setup started 2mths ago)

& what's the point to keep them if u can't breed them-since lifespan is abt 3yrs for SH. They way we use them- they won't be around forever.