Sea horse built

MonsterReef · May 2, 2016

Okay y'all I'm getting ready to build a 40-gallon seahorse tank anybody had seahorses any suggestions pros and cons would be grateful tank being built as we speak will start cycling this week

vlangel · May 2, 2016

Hi Matthew! I have a seahorse tank going on 2 years, although only have had the ponies a year and a half. I will share some things I learned the hard way.
1. Build in excellant filtration that is easy to maintenance and does not trap detritus where dangerous bacteria can grow. A sump system works great.
2. Plan for a minimum of 10Xs turnover with areas of high, medium and low flow for the seahorses to choose where they want to hitch. It is a myth that seahorses need only low flow.
3. Plan to maintain a temperature of 74° or below as dangerous bacteria multiply exponentially in temps above that.
4. Plan to keep 1 pair of seahorses per every 30 gallons of aquarium.
5. Plan to buy true captive bred seahorses. Seahorse Source is an excellant place to get very healthy seahorses at a fair price. Also Dan's customer service is the very best.
6. It is a good idea to have a medicine cabinet already stocked before you get seahorses. When they get sick, (and it can happen to any seahorse keeper) treatment should be started immediately for the best chance of success. I think @ seahorsekeeper has a sticky on medicines to have on hand.

I may have forgotten some things so hopefully other keepers will jump in and share as well.

MonsterReef · May 2, 2016

Thank you

MonsterReef · May 2, 2016

vlangel said:
Hi Matthew! I have a seahorse tank going on 2 years, although only have had the ponies a year and a half. I will share some things I learned the hard way.
1. Build in excellant filtration that is easy to maintenance and does not trap detritus where dangerous bacteria can grow. A sump system works great.
2. Plan for a minimum of 10Xs turnover with areas of high, medium and low flow for the seahorses to choose where they want to hitch. It is a myth that seahorses need only low flow.
3. Plan to maintain a temperature of 74° or below as dangerous bacteria multiply exponentially in temps above that.
4. Plan to keep 1 pair of seahorses per every 30 gallons of aquarium.
5. Plan to buy true captive bred seahorses. Seahorse Source is an excellant place to get very healthy seahorses at a fair price. Also Dan's customer service is the very best.
6. It is a good idea to have a medicine cabinet already stocked before you get seahorses. When they get sick, (and it can happen to any seahorse keeper) treatment should be started immediately for the best chance of success. I think @ seahorsekeeper has a sticky on medicines to have on hand.

I may have forgotten some things so hopefully other keepers will jump in and share as well.

Do you have any pic I'm setting up a 40 gal planing on one male and one female

shornik · May 2, 2016

Hey Dan, @vlangel is probably your best source and I highly encourage you to read through her thread its great and will teach you a lot. I'm in the process of starting a Seahorse tank too and if you'd like you can follow my thread as well. I think the more we share what were doing/learning the better.
Good luck and keep us posted with your tank.

MonsterReef · May 13, 2016

What should the salinity be in a seahorse tank I'm finally setting the tank up with Rock and water to start cycling

vlangel · May 14, 2016

Hooray for you setting up your tank today. One tip I learned the hard way is keep your rock work away from all the sides of the aquarium, even the back wall. When seahorses are in a tank their wastes causes leaves a slime coating on surfaces that should be removed once a week or else a dense carpet of algae grows. So you want to EASILY be able to access all the glass to keep it scraped off so that detritus does not get caught and fuel bad bacteria. I hide my rio powerheads behind my rock work. That way I have flow behind the rocks plus its makes the tank have a lower profile in regards to equipment cluttering it up. I also have a rio blowing both directions.