Seahorses for beginners

[marshyjames]

Hello! I’m very new to the saltwater world, but love ocean animals and caring for animals. I’m very attentive and precise, so I think saltwater should go well. I wanted to start with a small aquarium (5-15 gallons) but I wanted to start with a slightly *cooler* animal. I’ve already considered clownfish, but I’ve wanted to check if there are any beginner friendly seahorses I could start with, along with care, size of tank, if they need companions, salinity, temperature, etc. thank you!

 

[Stinson Beach Aquatics]

From the little that I’ve heard I think sea horses are on the unusual and harder side in terms of care but I’d be very interested to hear about other people’s thoughts are on this. They sure are beautiful…

 

[Rubymoon286]

I don't recommend them for a beginner, but they are a pleasure to keep once you have a good handle on the basics.

For a tank the size you want, you'd need to keep dwarf seahorses which are even harder than full sized ones. You will have to hatch baby brine shrimp, enrich them for no more than 24 hours, and feed three or more times a day.

Full size seahorses require a 30 gallon or more, but also do better on live or frozen foods than dry pellets and need to be fed multiple times a day due to their inefficient digestive system.

Water in all species must be kept pristine, and with dwarfs that means you're doing significant water changes daily to every other day depending on your set up.

If you decide to go ahead with seahorses, do as much reading as you can about the different species, and stick with a larger species to begin with. Make sure you stay on top of maintenance, and make sure the tank is very well cycled before adding them. They really are a joy to keep if you put in the work to keep good husbandry.