Dwarf Seahorse Pico Tank

BobbyBPG · Jun 11, 2018

I saw an add on craigslist in my area a couple months ago selling a Fluval Spec III for 40$. I had been tossing the idea around in my head for a while about setting up a Dwarf Seahorse tank and decided to pick up the tank. Anyway, here it is after I got it home after a clean.

BobbyBPG · Jun 11, 2018

So after moving the tank, I got some fresh gravel and dry rock and decided to throw in a gorgonian branch so they would have something to grip onto. It is best to use fresh gravel and dry rock opposed to live in a seahorse tank because it is the best way to avoid encountering hydriods which are a common small stinging organism usually found in reef tanks and can cause harm to the seahorse which are very sensitive.

BobbyBPG · Jun 11, 2018

I also know that dwarf seahorses are known for being picky eaters and only eating live foods, so I decided to try culturing and gut loading brine shrimp. I have hatched brine shrimp before and it is very easy to do. Take a jar add saltwater an air stone and the brine shrimp eggs under a light and you're basically all set. Apparently, it is almost identical with phytoplankton and as long as you keep one culture staggered incase a culture crashes you should be fine. My LFS was selling phyto so I bought it there and ordered some phyto growing formula online although I've heard some people use miracle grow formula there has been a debate on how safe that is for aquarium use after. Pictured is a couple of carboys I have set up for growing phyto and gutloading. Anyway, I think I got the hang of the brine shrimp and will most likely buy some copepods from my LFS and try with them too in order to provide a variety of food. The Dwarf Seahorse are currently being shipped to me and I will post an update once they arrive.

BobbyBPG · Jun 12, 2018

I got in the Seahorses today. I was a little late for my package and there was one d.o.a but I ordered a pack of 4 off mysaltwaterfish.com and they sent me 12 one other one looks light it might be gone too but the others all look healthy and moving with normal colors.

Daniel@R2R · Jun 12, 2018

Awesome! Following!!

BobbyBPG · Jun 14, 2018

realized today I'm pretty sure one of the males I got is also brooding

BobbyBPG · Jun 16, 2018

Ok so figured I would just post a small update. If anyone else is interested in using the Fluval Spec III as a tank for dwarf seahorse tank I recommend putting some small mesh over the intake even though it is extremely small the other night I noticed a few of them caught in it they were fine for a while but it turned out to be to much stress on trying to get them out, so now I have 8 left. I am really grateful the website sent me extra at this point. I went to my LFS today and picked up some trigger pods and I am going to try to cultivate along with the brine and phyto. I also grabbed some scarlet hermits for clean up and Caulerpa to give the tank some more color as well as more area for the dwarfs to anchor and hopefully allow some pods to hide. I plan to grab some red macroalgae once they have some at my LFS too because I really can't justify paying for shipping when I only want one plant and such a small amount.

BobbyBPG · Jun 18, 2018

So I was right about that male being pregnant I'm not sure exactly how many but I got a video of the very last ponies being birthed. I counted 5 but I am really not sure on the average brood size for them.