Seahorses

[brownsalt92]

I'm turning my 9 month old 29 gal. Saltwater tank into a seahorse tank it has some coral in it. It was a well established reef but I upgraded to a larger tank. It has a hob filter and power heads. I would like to know easy but colorful sea horses to keep what type? How many etc I don't wanna mess it up first go around. I do a lot of reading and I know going cheap and just diving in is WRONG.

 

[brownsalt92]

First picture was before and second pic is now. I gotta clean the tank.

 

[JedClampett]

@SeahorseKeeper might be able to help

 

[rajkovich207]

I can't find it currently but I believe ocean riders and seahorse. Com have an entire test they want you to take before you can buy their seahorses. It was a pain to do but I learned a ton!

 

[Naiad]

Don't "clean" too much. It may look dirty but pods love having that to munch on.

 

[brownsalt92]

The green cyno I scoped some of the clumps of it out

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

A 29 gallon tank would be a good tank for a pair of seahorses. I would recommend h. erectus. They would be the easiest to care for. You will want to make sure that the seahorses that you get are captive bred. I would also remove the power head. A seahorse would try to hitch on it and be seriously injured. You will want to protect the seahorses from injury due to equipment. They will try to hitch on anything that they can get their tail on so you will want to be proactive to prevent injury. Do you plan on running a chiller? Seahorses need cooler temps, some need the water cooler than others. For h. erectus, I recommend temps between 70 and 74. As far as coloration, I do not recommend buying seahorses based on color. They will change their colors based on their environment. Good luck with your journey into keeping seahorses!!

 

[brownsalt92]

No chiller on my 29 the temp usually stays around 77 but I can dial it down to I think. And yea I could remove the power head that's not a big issue

 

[vlangel]

Hi brownsalt92! Welcome to R2R and the world of seahorses. And i would agree whole heartedly with seahorse keeper about the cooler temperatures and staying away from powerheads. I do have small Rio pumps in my tank for flow with the protective covers. The grating is small enough that the seahorses are safe.
My erectus seahorses did change color. They were darkish and now they are a pretty reddish brown. I chose erectus because they are considered a hardy good beginner seahorse. They are an out going specie and mine greet me every morning.

 

[lyrical]

I kept a pair of H. reidi in a biocube 29 with success. I kept them in a cooler room with temps stable at 74. They are awesome and amazing creatures to watch and interact with. Make sure they don't have strong water current, plenty of long stringy algae/grasses/plastic coral to hitch onto and make sure to feed them often. I target fed mine with an eye dropper to make sure each one got plenty of food. I did not go with any tank mates I made it a species only tank.

 

[brownsalt92]

Sound like it will be fun and I got the tank steady at 73 degrees and I will keep the power head in just inplugged. I just don't know if I'm gonna suck out the sand and put new in I can't keep the green cyno from growing in the sand.

 

[vlangel]

Sound like it will be fun and I got the tank steady at 73 degrees and I will keep the power head in just inplugged. I just don't know if I'm gonna suck out the sand and put new in I can't keep the green cyno from growing in the sand.

Many seahorse keepers do run bare bottom tanks as it allows them to syphon out excess food and wastes. Sand however with vigilant maintenance is also doable.
If your temperature drifts above the 74 degrees try blowing a fan across the surface of your display tank.

 

[brownsalt92]

Many seahorse keepers do run bare bottom tanks as it allows them to syphon out excess food and wastes. Sand however with vigilant maintenance is also doable.
If your temperature drifts above the 74 degrees try blowing a fan across the surface of your display tank.

Yea the only thing is I don't like the look of bare bottom. I think they just looking finished.

 

[vlangel]

I agree with you, I don't like the looks of a bare bottom tank either and my own tank has sand.
I do not agree with the above poster who said not to clean the sand much. A sand substrate needs to be kept as free of detritus as possible so it does not harbor dangerous bacteria. In a seahorse tank that is more important than pods.

 

[brownsalt92]

Would or should I do a deep sand bed.

 

[vlangel]

Some folks do deep sand beds but more do shallow sand beds. If I did do a DSB I would way under stock the tank so the sand bed is not a sink for detritus. I have found DSB to be very effective in nitrate control but seahorses are ok with some nitrates, 20 ppm or less.

 

[Naiad]

I agree with you, I don't like the looks of a bare bottom tank either and my own tank has sand.
I do not agree with the above poster who said not to clean the sand much. A sand substrate needs to be kept as free of detritus as possible so it does not harbor dangerous bacteria. In a seahorse tank that is more important than pods.

Having a fish doesn't cause problems?

 

[brownsalt92]

Well I'm starting to rethink my 29 for seahorses because I can't keep it under 78 in the summer... I've kept it at u4 for about 2 weeks now. Maybe put a puffer fish??

 

[vlangel]

Having a fish doesn't cause problems?

Many experienced keepers do not recommend keeping fish with seahorses at all. Most fish are wild caught and captive bred seahorses do not have an immunity against the pathogens they carry. Seahorse.org has a rating system for tank mates that you can check out. I risked the royal gramma because it is a docile individual that I have had almost 3 years. However, I knew I was taking a calculated risk.

 

[Naiad]

Many experienced keepers do not recommend keeping fish with seahorses at all. Most fish are wild caught and captive bred seahorses do not have an immunity against the pathogens they carry. Seahorse.org has a rating system for tank mates that you can check out. I risked the royal gramma because it is a docile individual that I have had almost 3 years. However, I knew I was taking a calculated risk.

Thank-you for the info. My mom loves seahorses and I have been thinking about setting her up a tank for them. I got the pipefish because they are a middle ground so to speak lol. More successful in reefs but still have that seahorse quality.