long post but if you have the attention span and care to read to the end, you may enjoy being a seahorse owner. Or at least have the perseverance for it, but maybe not the time or money. And sorry for the typos. My fingers are too tired to edit!
Seahorses are almost a full time job. First off, the tank. I have a 40 gallon vertical. There’s only one place to get that. I swear, no one else actually gets the recommended height on a tank. Do you really want a 100g tank to get the right height with nothing but seahorses? No. So you’ve gotta go through Aquadream, go freshwater tank and create a sump, or get a custom tank. Seriously. Also, I have 6 seahorses. That’s two too many because their bioload is huge. I swear, the equipment on my 85 gallon reef tank is what I need to handle 6 seahorses but all that won’t fit in the sump on the 40 gallon. (6 seahorses was an unexpected outcome btw - didnt mean to create a colony.) Anyway, apparently you need to have an even number girls and boys. They need to be fed frozen mysis 2-3x a day and it needs to be vacuumed up after. I only vacuum once a day (on top of sucking the bits out with a Turkey baster after every meal); the water still feels slimy. I have two skimmers (one in DT/ one in sump) - but right now I can’t use the one up top because I have a seahorse with pouch emphysema (prolly from all the dominance displays because there was one too many males). I have to do gas bubble evacuations at least twice a week. He and his girlfriend are depressed because of this, so I have to make sure that they actually eat. It’s heartbreaking to see him float to the top and the one medication that can help us is impossible to get without a prescription and - even tho there are 7 million people in my city - there’s no fish vet. The other alternative is putting him at the bottom of my swimming pool for a week, and I’m not even sure 5 feet would do. I’ve tried an extra large trash can. Nope. So now, I can reduce the gas bubbles by keeping him in a mesh box near the bottom. I think this is why you need a tall tank: mating at the top of the water exposes the males pouch to air. Plus, seahorses need higher water pressure like only a tall tank can give. Also, water flow is a problem - they like to get into the intake on any pumps, gyres or wave makers. I can only turn on my wave maker with supervision just to get the water going into the return. Oh yeah, you can’t have too many air bubbles or oxygen in the water because it contributes to the gas bubbles. You need to keep the temp and salinity low in the tank to reduce parasites and bacterial growth on those ever-present mysis shrimp globs. I just gave in to buy a chiller for $400 on sale. Other fish hate the cold temp and low salinity. I keep on having to treat with Paraguard because getting gas bubbles out can lead to infection. I’ve had to get rid of all live rock and all sand. Too hard to clean and lord knows what may kill a seahorse that hitchhiked on your rock and there are too many holes that hide errant mysis carcasses. I found a giant amphipod the other day. Scary. I’m sure a seahorse could find a way to injure itself on the Amphipod. It took 4 months to figure out how to feed the horses in a clean manner but no one wants food in cups suction cupped to the walls anymore. Plus, seahorses like groups. My original pair just kinda looked lost and lost their spunk. With 6, it’s like watching a circus. Expensive though.
HOWEVER, they seem to be resistant to Marine Velvet - not immune but they go downhill slower. 12 excruciating minutes in a freshwater bath killed off the marine Velvet (Paraguard didn’t work and seahorses can’t handle copper). I’ve hear their bony hides repel other afflictions, too. But they love to hurt themselves in the craziest of ways so you never know when a bacterial infection will strike. But, GOOD LUCK finding info on alternative treatments because all the options are steadily getting discontinued. I think it’s because people are using fish meds instead of going to the doctor, and then they post the results on Amazon. FDA backlash results. Seriously, why advertise that you’re doing that? Messing it up for the poor seahorse owners. Prolly why doctors don’t want to prescribe it either.
TO PUT IT SIMPLY, they are fun to watch and fearless. They have great personalities. But they have a bunch quirks and it really takes at least 20 hours a week. (As for vacations, In theory, You could train a house sitter. The feeding and vacuuming aren’t complicated, just kinda gross.) And finally, at the end of the day, when one gets ill, depressed or dies, it’s aching heartbreak. And to watch their mate slowly waste away, doubles the pain. Oh yeah, I think they only live max 4 years but I could be wrong. Another tragedy waiting to happen.
