Setting up dwarf seahorse tank...

[NotFishyFishGuy]

Hey guys thinking of setting a dwarf seahorse tank. Gonna get a lifeguard aquatics tank, either the full view 7 or 5 gallon. Haven’t thought about it too much other than where I’m going to get the horses. What tank mates can go with them?
Ill keep the flow on the low and filtration may be supplemented with a sponge filter.gonna start hatching brine shrimp soon so i can also feed them that. Equipment and other stuff haven’t thought about too much...what do you guys think? Thanks

 

[rayjay]

Personally, I would recommend NOT using those tanks. Just get a plain 5g tank and it will hold up to around 50 dwarfs with no problem. With something to use for hitching, and a couple of open ended air lines for water movement and gas exchange, some reef rock (sterile before cycling) you are set to go. You don't really need much in the way of equipment as you won't need a heater, and most mechanical filters will draw the dwarfs to the intakes that will need to be protected and flow limited so the dwarfs don't get sucked against the protection. I also don't like sponge filters as the food gets drawn into the sponge only to decay and increase chances of bacterial infections.
I would never put tankmates with dwarfs, but then again I don't put them with my standard seahorses either, merely because it gives exposure to pathogens they haven't grown up with and MAY be susceptible to.
Most dwarf keepers will drop the hobby due to the continual work involved in the feeding process. First of all the dwarfs only live about 2 yrs +- under best conditions, but most often don't make it that long because of nutrient problems.
Feeding newly hatched brine nauplii doesn't provide proper nutrition as there is no DHA in them, and, in that Instar I stage the carapace is too tough for the nauplii to properly digest anyway.
This means that after hatching they need to be grown out to the Instar II stage where the digestive tract is completed and they can then feed. Proper enrichment of them will take at least 12 hours to be gut loaded, but a further 12 hours with new water and new enrichment means the enrichment with be assimilated into their flesh for much better nutrition.
Most keepers don't remove the uneaten, nutrient depleted nauplii before adding new brine so the dwarfs are again not getting sufficient nutrients. You don't have to remove every last one but get most of the old food out before adding new.
I hooked up a mini filter with protected intake to a timer that automatically came on a couple of hours after feeding so that the uneaten brine would be removed before I fed them again. Nutrient levels of the artemia nauplii deplete quite rapidly.
You can hatch out 7-10 days worth of food and enrich daily the amount needed for a day rather than hatch out each day. Just keep the remainder in aerated water and add a food to keep them until you enrich them.
As the feeding/enriching process is what makes most people drop out, I'd suggest doing that first for a week or so until you get an idea of the work involved in feeding dwarfs properly. If then you still think it won't be a problem long term, then you can go ahead with your dwarf tank.

 

[Gareth elliott]

Could you skip the brine entirely and feed with copepods?

i mean not incredibly difficult to hide say a 30 tall in a cabinet under the seahorse tank. hide equipment and would be 6x larger than a 5 gallon display. Can increase further by using materials to increase surface area for pod reproduction. Never had dwarfs, but used a similar setup for amphipods when i kept fw pipefish. Also kept 3 other cultures going in case the sump failed.

 

[Mrs. Herbert]

Personally, I would recommend NOT using those tanks. Just get a plain 5g tank and it will hold up to around 50 dwarfs with no problem. With something to use for hitching, and a couple of open ended air lines for water movement and gas exchange, some reef rock (sterile before cycling) you are set to go. You don't really need much in the way of equipment as you won't need a heater, and most mechanical filters will draw the dwarfs to the intakes that will need to be protected and flow limited so the dwarfs don't get sucked against the protection. I also don't like sponge filters as the food gets drawn into the sponge only to decay and increase chances of bacterial infections.
I would never put tankmates with dwarfs, but then again I don't put them with my standard seahorses either, merely because it gives exposure to pathogens they haven't grown up with and MAY be susceptible to.
Most dwarf keepers will drop the hobby due to the continual work involved in the feeding process. First of all the dwarfs only live about 2 yrs +- under best conditions, but most often don't make it that long because of nutrient problems.
Feeding newly hatched brine nauplii doesn't provide proper nutrition as there is no DHA in them, and, in that Instar I stage the carapace is too tough for the nauplii to properly digest anyway.
This means that after hatching they need to be grown out to the Instar II stage where the digestive tract is completed and they can then feed. Proper enrichment of them will take at least 12 hours to be gut loaded, but a further 12 hours with new water and new enrichment means the enrichment with be assimilated into their flesh for much better nutrition.
Most keepers don't remove the uneaten, nutrient depleted nauplii before adding new brine so the dwarfs are again not getting sufficient nutrients. You don't have to remove every last one but get most of the old food out before adding new.
I hooked up a mini filter with protected intake to a timer that automatically came on a couple of hours after feeding so that the uneaten brine would be removed before I fed them again. Nutrient levels of the artemia nauplii deplete quite rapidly.
You can hatch out 7-10 days worth of food and enrich daily the amount needed for a day rather than hatch out each day. Just keep the remainder in aerated water and add a food to keep them until you enrich them.
As the feeding/enriching process is what makes most people drop out, I'd suggest doing that first for a week or so until you get an idea of the work involved in feeding dwarfs properly. If then you still think it won't be a problem long term, then you can go ahead with your dwarf tank.

Wonderful write up! I have thought about starting a seahorse tank (mainly because my hubby finds them interesting).

 

[rayjay]

It takes an INORDINATE quantity of copepods to suffice nutrition wise and I've never in my 17 yrs keeping seahorses, found anyone successfully doing this long term. The closest I can remember was one person with I think just two dwarfs but might have been four, using just copepods, but after a period of time I never saw any more postings on it. Unfortunately the age of instant media like Facebook and MEWE has left many forums behind, making it MUCH harder to glean stored information from for incoming hobbyists.
As for use of a sump for dwarfs, you get more complicated because of their size which can range from newborn at maybe a quarter of an inch, to adults at 1 inch and therefore the need to keep them from the overflow. Not that it CAN'T be done, but maybe not worth bothering for most people.
As for starting a seahorse tank, dwarfs ARE more work than keeping their larger cousins, except when you may decide to raise the fry that CAN come about every two weeks or so, THEN you are into even more work.
Seahorses have very specific needs and you have to be pretty dedicated to the work involved in maintaining their systems that really need to be even better maintained than a reef tank as they are SO prone to bacterial problems. Unless you can have someone who also can be dedicated to help out when away, you may find holidays a big problem.
A big problem in the hobby is those starting out don't have too much of a problem doing what is needed at that time as it is new and exciting, but after time, it can wear on you depending on the individual, and human nature takes over and you skip a day or two when it should be maintained, gradually over time degrading the water quality and leading to bacterial infections or internal organ failure.
THERE ARE NO TEST KITS AVAILABLE to a hobbyist to be able to tell you when that water quality is degrading to the point that problems are likely to happen so we have to be PRO active rather than RE active in husbandry and water changes. Best for the seahorses to OVERDO it rather than not be sufficient.

 

[NotFishyFishGuy]

Personally, I would recommend NOT using those tanks. Just get a plain 5g tank and it will hold up to around 50 dwarfs with no problem. With something to use for hitching, and a couple of open ended air lines for water movement and gas exchange, some reef rock (sterile before cycling) you are set to go. You don't really need much in the way of equipment as you won't need a heater, and most mechanical filters will draw the dwarfs to the intakes that will need to be protected and flow limited so the dwarfs don't get sucked against the protection. I also don't like sponge filters as the food gets drawn into the sponge only to decay and increase chances of bacterial infections.
I would never put tankmates with dwarfs, but then again I don't put them with my standard seahorses either, merely because it gives exposure to pathogens they haven't grown up with and MAY be susceptible to.
Most dwarf keepers will drop the hobby due to the continual work involved in the feeding process. First of all the dwarfs only live about 2 yrs +- under best conditions, but most often don't make it that long because of nutrient problems.
Feeding newly hatched brine nauplii doesn't provide proper nutrition as there is no DHA in them, and, in that Instar I stage the carapace is too tough for the nauplii to properly digest anyway.
This means that after hatching they need to be grown out to the Instar II stage where the digestive tract is completed and they can then feed. Proper enrichment of them will take at least 12 hours to be gut loaded, but a further 12 hours with new water and new enrichment means the enrichment with be assimilated into their flesh for much better nutrition.
Most keepers don't remove the uneaten, nutrient depleted nauplii before adding new brine so the dwarfs are again not getting sufficient nutrients. You don't have to remove every last one but get most of the old food out before adding new.
I hooked up a mini filter with protected intake to a timer that automatically came on a couple of hours after feeding so that the uneaten brine would be removed before I fed them again. Nutrient levels of the artemia nauplii deplete quite rapidly.
You can hatch out 7-10 days worth of food and enrich daily the amount needed for a day rather than hatch out each day. Just keep the remainder in aerated water and add a food to keep them until you enrich them.
As the feeding/enriching process is what makes most people drop out, I'd suggest doing that first for a week or so until you get an idea of the work involved in feeding dwarfs properly. If then you still think it won't be a problem long term, then you can go ahead with your dwarf tank.

how is a lifeguard aquatics without the overflow? Basically a normal five gallon just with the slanted glass in the front. THe temperature in the room gets to about 60 degrees sometimes if i leave it there and it is cold. WIll i need a heater?So what filtration should i go with? you are saying i need to hatch the shrimp, raise them for a day and feed them before i feed them to my seahorses? Maybe i could feed something else then... what do you feed? wont put anything with the dwarfs then, except maybe snails? Are any type of snails ok? Something that is carnivorous of course. Sorry aobut asking all these questions and the typos lol

 

[NotFishyFishGuy]

Could you skip the brine entirely and feed with copepods?

i mean not incredibly difficult to hide say a 30 tall in a cabinet under the seahorse tank. hide equipment and would be 6x larger than a 5 gallon display. Can increase further by using materials to increase surface area for pod reproduction. Never had dwarfs, but used a similar setup for amphipods when i kept fw pipefish. Also kept 3 other cultures going in case the sump failed.

Hmmm maybe ill do that. Only problem is since it is only a five gallon, i may not even get an stand for it. Might just put it on a countertop or something. how would i keep pods? Never done research on that. I have a small five gallon container could i use that and put it inside a cabinet somewhere else?

 

[NotFishyFishGuy]

Personally, I would recommend NOT using those tanks. Just get a plain 5g tank and it will hold up to around 50 dwarfs with no problem. With something to use for hitching, and a couple of open ended air lines for water movement and gas exchange, some reef rock (sterile before cycling) you are set to go. You don't really need much in the way of equipment as you won't need a heater, and most mechanical filters will draw the dwarfs to the intakes that will need to be protected and flow limited so the dwarfs don't get sucked against the protection. I also don't like sponge filters as the food gets drawn into the sponge only to decay and increase chances of bacterial infections.
I would never put tankmates with dwarfs, but then again I don't put them with my standard seahorses either, merely because it gives exposure to pathogens they haven't grown up with and MAY be susceptible to.
Most dwarf keepers will drop the hobby due to the continual work involved in the feeding process. First of all the dwarfs only live about 2 yrs +- under best conditions, but most often don't make it that long because of nutrient problems.
Feeding newly hatched brine nauplii doesn't provide proper nutrition as there is no DHA in them, and, in that Instar I stage the carapace is too tough for the nauplii to properly digest anyway.
This means that after hatching they need to be grown out to the Instar II stage where the digestive tract is completed and they can then feed. Proper enrichment of them will take at least 12 hours to be gut loaded, but a further 12 hours with new water and new enrichment means the enrichment with be assimilated into their flesh for much better nutrition.
Most keepers don't remove the uneaten, nutrient depleted nauplii before adding new brine so the dwarfs are again not getting sufficient nutrients. You don't have to remove every last one but get most of the old food out before adding new.
I hooked up a mini filter with protected intake to a timer that automatically came on a couple of hours after feeding so that the uneaten brine would be removed before I fed them again. Nutrient levels of the artemia nauplii deplete quite rapidly.
You can hatch out 7-10 days worth of food and enrich daily the amount needed for a day rather than hatch out each day. Just keep the remainder in aerated water and add a food to keep them until you enrich them.
As the feeding/enriching process is what makes most people drop out, I'd suggest doing that first for a week or so until you get an idea of the work involved in feeding dwarfs properly. If then you still think it won't be a problem long term, then you can go ahead with your dwarf tank.

If i could fit 50 in a 5 gallon, maybe i ll just go with a smaller tank. Is a 3 gallon enough?

 

[rayjay]

NFFG For me, I just can't see spending the extra money when a basic 5 will do so it's just a personal choice.
Dwarfs are best kept in the 68° to 74°F temp. so a heater might be needed for you but it will have to be protected to prevent burns to the dwarfs.
You don't actually need filtration as you can use a mesh net to capture the depleted brine. The reef rock when cycled is the biological filter.
Yes, hatchout, growout for a day and then enrich for 12-24 hours before feeding.
As I mentioned before, using only copepods hasn't worked for anyone long term so you still need to do the brine thing.
Until you have experience growing pods you don't realize the amount of space you will need to provide sufficient amounts for the dwarfs. Amphipods are too large for dwarfs and the others are so small it takes thousands of them per feeding.
I've had best success with copepods using shallow trays but with the three cultures I have going, and the time it takes to repopulate after harvest, it would be about 3 weeks to get sufficient copepods to feed 10 dwarfs for a couple of days.
Don't use tiggerpods as they jump onto the dwarfs and stress them out.
I started out using a 2.5g aquarium for the dwarfs and switched to the 5g as they increased in numbers.
seahorse.org is an older seahorse forum and not much traffic now, but in the day it was the best. There is a dwarf seahorse forum there with stickies that have lots of info with other peoples opinions, and, you can use the search feature to get specifics if needed. The only problem is that if I recall correctly you need to join first AND be accepted before you can view it. Sometimes it takes some time to get accepted if the responsible parties aren't checking in too frequently. If that happens let me know and I could probably help that way as a friend is a moderator.

 

[NotFishyFishGuy]

NFFG For me, I just can't see spending the extra money when a basic 5 will do so it's just a personal choice.
Dwarfs are best kept in the 68° to 74°F temp. so a heater might be needed for you but it will have to be protected to prevent burns to the dwarfs.
You don't actually need filtration as you can use a mesh net to capture the depleted brine. The reef rock when cycled is the biological filter.
Yes, hatchout, growout for a day and then enrich for 12-24 hours before feeding.
As I mentioned before, using only copepods hasn't worked for anyone long term so you still need to do the brine thing.
Until you have experience growing pods you don't realize the amount of space you will need to provide sufficient amounts for the dwarfs. Amphipods are too large for dwarfs and the others are so small it takes thousands of them per feeding.
I've had best success with copepods using shallow trays but with the three cultures I have going, and the time it takes to repopulate after harvest, it would be about 3 weeks to get sufficient copepods to feed 10 dwarfs for a couple of days.
Don't use tiggerpods as they jump onto the dwarfs and stress them out.
I started out using a 2.5g aquarium for the dwarfs and switched to the 5g as they increased in numbers.
seahorse.org is an older seahorse forum and not much traffic now, but in the day it was the best. There is a dwarf seahorse forum there with stickies that have lots of info with other peoples opinions, and, you can use the search feature to get specifics if needed. The only problem is that if I recall correctly you need to join first AND be accepted before you can view it. Sometimes it takes some time to get accepted if the responsible parties aren't checking in too frequently. If that happens let me know and I could probably help that way as a friend is a moderator.

Ok probably gonna go with the full view or some hexagon still because I’m already saving money on the stand. Thanks for the idea though. I tried seahorse.org but i also found info on seahorse.com . Ill try those pods thanks. I think i already have a spare heater so that’s good