Who's our resident seahorse expert?

[Candi]

I'd love to chat with whomever is our seahorse expert, or anyone who keeps them. I lost my juvi green spotted puffer this week (reason unknown, other two fish are in perfect health) and I've decided against another puffer. Transfered the other 2 fish in the tank to my 70g and have been considering breaking it down but had another idea today. Seahorses!

I have a lot of research to do before deciding, not even sure the tank is suitable. It's a 30g oceanic cube. Basically an antheila jungle right now but it would be redone with hitching posts and suitable corals/rock/etc if this might work out. I've seen talk of captive bred mysis eating seahorses so those are what I'd be looking into.

Love any additional info/hints/etc

Thanks

 

[GregW]

That would be Matt - panmanmatt

 

[MadReefer]

Candi,
Matt would be the one to spreak with. From what he told me 30gllons is minimum requirement. He also referred me to seahorse.org

Mark

 

[Candi]

Thanks Mark & Greg, I'll check out the link and check in with Matt depending on my findings. I had a feeling the tank size was at the lower end of the limit.

 

[MadReefer]

FYI Saltwaterfish.com is sell the black Kuda seahorse for $9.99 while supplies last, one per order.

 

[panmanmatt]

30 cube is perfect. I have one myself with seahorses in it.

FYI Saltwaterfish.com is sell the black Kuda seahorse for $9.99 while supplies last, one per order.

They are wild caught specimens and I would advise against buying them.

 

[Candi]

Yes I'd only be interested in captive bred, ease of feeding frozen mysis as only one of the reasons. Matt I'm going to be doing lots of reading on seahorse.org but is there a specific type of seahorse I should focus on in my reading that is best suited for the 30g cube, best number kept, etc.

Thanks! Do you have any photos of your cube setup online? I'd love to see them!

 

[panmanmatt]

Are you interested in breeding them or just enjoying them? If breeding I would look for Hippocampus erectus, if just for enjoyment I would say H. reidi. In the 30 cube I would start off with 2 horses.

 

[Candi]

I'd say just enjoying, otherwise I can see this turning into needing to set up more tanks and a divorce lawyer being called LOL.

Also going to jump ahead of myself, but I've always loved pipefish... are there such a thing as CB pipefish who happily take mysis as well?

I'm getting that excited giddy feeling thinking about getting this going... must remind myself to take it slow and make an educated decision

 

[panmanmatt]

If you don't want to breed then either one will really do. Just know that if you have males and females they will breed. You can go with a same sex tank to stop that though.

Unfortunately the only breeder of CB pipefish is in Australia at this time. Import and shipping fees make them all but unobtainable right now.

The best thing you can do is research and take your time.

If you tell me about the current tank set up I can help you with any changes that may need to be made if any at all.

Pics of my 30 cube can be found here:
http://s56.photobucket.com/albums/g178/panmanmatt/30 cube/

 

[MikeNapoli]

I've turned my Biocube into a seahorse tank. Just got the horses from www.seahorsesouce.com ... Abbie is great. And the company is amazing with great customer service. I picked up two Hippo. Reidi. and they started eating right away. I recomend them. When I told Abbie that matt was in the same reef club as me she was thrilled to hear I knew him and said they just love panmanmatt. Sweet lady.

 

[panmanmatt]

Wow, Mike. Didn't know you took the plunge too. Glad you had a good experience with Abbie and company. They truly are great people and very passionate about seahorses. You do know that this requires pics, right?

 

[MikeNapoli]

yup. Just got them in so i'm a little superstitious about photographing new inhabitants. Last time I got a new fish was my Sargassum Trigger and he jumped on me. I'm gonna give it a couple weeks and then i'll post so many pictures that you're gonna be sick of looking.

 

[panmanmatt]

I'm gonna give it a couple weeks and then i'll post so many pictures that you're gonna be sick of looking.

I highly doubt that.

 

[reeferwanabe]

my daughter has been after me to set up a seahorse tank for a long time. do you set it up with live rock and a sump the same as areef tank? what is the flow rate ? parameters etc.

 

[panmanmatt]

Live rock and sump is fine. Flow rate is 5-7x turnover as long as it's a dispersed flow such as flare nozzles and spray bars. Parameters are as clean as you can get it.

Minimum tank size would be a 29 gallon. They prefer a taller tank than a longer tank.

 

[reeferwanabe]

Is lighting an issue? do you run a sump or would a canister with spray bar be enough. with that small a flow do you deal with algae problems at all? run a phos. reactor? what else can you put in the tank that wont hurt them. too many questions? sorry

 

[panmanmatt]

No such thing as too many questions.

Lighting is dependent on what you keep with them. Seahorse will do fine with just regular NO fluorescents.

Canister filters are fine, that is what I use on mine. Although I run them empty and just for circulation.

Algae can be an issue with the low flow but usually water changes will keep that in check.

I personally don't run phos reactors on my Sh tanks but you can.

Most soft corals are fine as are slow moving non-aggressive fish such as gobies. We are currently working on a new tank mates guide over at Seahorse.Org. Once it is done I will put up a link to it.

You can browse the forums over at Seahorse.Org for more information if you'd like. Or just ask any questions you may have here and I will do my best to answer them.

 

[Candi]

Hey Matt can you give me a contact email for someone at seahorse.org so I can create an account? I saw the notice about needing to email to have one created but don't see an email.

Thanks!

 

[panmanmatt]

Hey Matt can you give me a contact email for someone at seahorse.org so I can create an account? I saw the notice about needing to email to have one created but don't see an email.

Thanks!

I'll PM you