Seahorse tank setup

LOVESALLMOSTEEVERYANIMAL · Apr 7, 2015

Hey Everyone! I'm new here, well not new to saltwater tanks but just new to this forum. I have had a tank for over a year and I wanted something different. My heart was always on seahorses in the beginning. I've done a ton of research and ready to take the dive into the world of sea horses. My tank has been running for the last 7 days and it is a 30 gallon i previously had. So all the live rock is from a year ago(just all new water). My question is do I still need to wait a month or so before I add corals and the seahorses? Also what places do you recommend for seahorses? I wanted erectus since they are the easiest. What corals do yours like best? Different people have different opinions so I just wanted to see what you all suggest. Thank you so much!

Shep · Apr 8, 2015

While you may not have to wait, I would still sugest that you do. Its better safe then sorry and I would look at live aquaria becasue you can buy the ORA breed ones from them.

nelson"s reef · Apr 8, 2015

Test the water And see what are the results if amonia is 0ppm and nitrite 0ppm you can have livestock in that tank and live aquaria have good sea horses.

vlangel · Apr 9, 2015

Hi LOVESALLMOSTEVERYANIMAL! I have seahorses and like you, I chose h erectus for their hardiness. I bought mine from Ocean Rider and they were very healthy. I however asked for 2 females but recieved a male and female. They have spawned about 5-6 times resulting in fry 3Xs. She missed his pouch the other times, LOL. At any rate I would highly recommend Seahorse source. I ordered enrichment and probiotics from them and talked to Dan the owner on the phone the night before my seahorses were to arrive. He spent almost an hour giving me helpful information so I could be successful even though I had not bought my seahorses from him. From now on I will purchase ponies from him. He is more reasonably priced than Ocean Rider also.

vlangel · Apr 9, 2015

One thing I found with seahorses is a good oversized skimmer is very helpful. Dissolved organics in the water column is thought to contribute to many maladies that seahorses get. Also a probiotic like sanolife mic helps out compete dangerous bacteria which seahorses are very prone to. Finally keeping cooler than normal reef temperatures like 74 degrees or less also helps control dangerous bacteria and big water changes done often.

Gopi · Apr 9, 2015

I got my H. erectus from seahorse source in early March. They are very healthy and I've already had offspring!

SeahorseKeeper · Apr 9, 2015

Shep said:
While you may not have to wait, I would still sugest that you do. Its better safe then sorry and I would look at live aquaria becasue you can buy the ORA breed ones from them.

vlangel said:
Hi LOVESALLMOSTEVERYANIMAL! I have seahorses and like you, I chose h erectus for their hardiness. I bought mine from Ocean Rider and they were very healthy. I however asked for 2 females but recieved a male and female. They have spawned about 5-6 times resulting in fry 3Xs. She missed his pouch the other times, LOL. At any rate I would highly recommend Seahorse source. I ordered enrichment and probiotics from them and talked to Dan the owner on the phone the night before my seahorses were to arrive. He spent almost an hour giving me helpful information so I could be successful even though I had not bought my seahorses from him. From now on I will purchase ponies from him. He is more reasonably priced than Ocean Rider also.

vlangel said:
One thing I found with seahorses is a good oversized skimmer is very helpful. Dissolved organics in the water column is thought to contribute to many maladies that seahorses get. Also a probiotic like sanolife mic helps out compete dangerous bacteria which seahorses are very prone to. Finally keeping cooler than normal reef temperatures like 74 degrees or less also helps control dangerous bacteria and big water changes done often.

All of this is great advice!! I highly recommend a chiller to ensure that the tank stays cool enough and for stability.

What type of equipment to plan on running? Just be aware that seahorses try to hitch on anything that they can wrap their tail on.