GUESS WHO'S GETTING SEAHORSIES!?

Me

My friend is selling me her weird tank... It's 48" long, 10" wide, and 8" tall. PERFECT. I'll post pics once I get it up and running

just letting you know, please dont put them in for at least 5 months, the tank needs to be stable and matured before any delicate creature can be placed in a tank. you plan on corals also?

I'm good on the saltwater knowledge, I've already got one going now. Yes I'm going to do corals as soon as I can find lights that are suitable for something like that... Long but shallow. I wouldn't want the light to be too bright... Maybe get two lights? Idk! The only thing I'm worried about is feeding the little guys. I'll probably get the corals going before I add in the horsies. Take a big chunk out of my 20 and put it in there, to help with the process.

NICEEEEEE

Learn to feed them at a certain spot! Snow feeding a 48" long tank will be a b**** to keep clean!

I'm so excited I suppose I'll need some powerheads too, oy. I forgot how much starting a SW costs

NOOOO POWERHEADSSS

they HATE, and I mean HATE flow.

What kinda horses ya getting?

I need powerheads for my corals! I'll probably put one on each side so I can have corals on the sides and have some sort of dead zone in the middle with some live rock that doesn't have coral on it. Idk about what kind yet. Gotta get the tank first. I just REALLY want sea horses. I'll probably get my spare 5 gallon up and running and try keeping live brine shrimp or something... Idk. We'll see how it goes. I'm not sure when I'm getting the tank, my friend's fish got stuck in between her live rock and the side of the tank and died so she's depressed and getting rid of the tank lol

The magnum 350 canister filter has allot of power for that small of a tank... you are gonna have to buy a spray bar for it regan, so it slows flow down. Your tank would also be perfect for a shell dwellers cichlids, or sand dweller cichlids..... Our Group Buy that mikey and I are putting together this sunday has a huge selection of gorgeous cichlids... maybe you can come down, check out the selection, and get in on the sale?!

and lights for it would be easy.... since its such a small tank, 108 watts would be perfect! check out this sight... lights are very cheap

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Alright well you have NO idea what you are doing so I would start here. Research before you start geting seahorses (and killing them) I did not write this but it will atleast get you started.


First, I feel like I need to let you know that these animals are extremely delicate, and that they are probably one of the most high maintenance captive animals out there available to your hobbyist.
These animals are beautiful yes, but with that comes the sacrifice - they are exceptionally susceptible to disease and infections as their bodies are so delicate and their immune systems are naturally (no matter what you do) weak in comparison to most other marine animals.
Additionally, they have no teeth, and believe it or not - they have no stomach either. They ingest food by sucking it into their snout where it passes quickly through a digestive tract - much like your intestines, where it is broken down by acids, nutrients are absorbed and the waste is expelled. Because of this inefficient digestive system however, they are unable to utilize all of the nutrients they bring into their bodies, so even though you may see them take in 50-60 prey items, the amount of sustainable nutrition they are going to receive from those, would be roughly equivalent to them having only ingested say 10-15. This is the reason why these animals must be fed several times a day, and in the wild can consume over 2,500 prey items (mysis shrimp, plankton, etc.) A DAY!!!

Additionally, aside from some general biological facts, I would like you to consider issues regarding these animals and conservation. Seahorses are being extracted from our world's ocean's at a terrifying rate, causing many of the 35+ species of these magnificent animals to become threatened and face extinction if proper protections are not put into place and responsible consumption is not adopted. Mainly these animals are used in Asian Medicine (dried out, ground into powder, served as a delicacy, added into creams, pills, etc.) because of their supposed "magical powers" within that culture. Because of this, natural numbers are quickly being decimated, and therefore, animals which are further collected for the aquarium trade are only adding to this problem seeing as how the mortality rate in the hobby is frighteningly high due to inexperienced individuals keeping these animals, and the stress which is placed on them from capture, transport and re-acclimation - stress of which is a death sentence to these animals in most cases even with the "Best" of care. They simply are too delicate to endure a lot of the "Use and abuse" that most trade fishes and inverts can handle.
If you are serious about keeping these animals, and have taken the time to educate yourself, and have the time, money and dedication to tend to these animals, then please read my "novel" (lol) of basic requirements to ensure you get started on the right path.

Because it is such a huge factor that needs to be stressed, I will start with nutrition first. Like any animal, seahorses require constant an varied diets to maintain proper nutrition, assuring they receive generous amounts of vitamins, minerals and fats. Because their digestive system burns through nutrients and calories so quickly, these animals need to be fed no less than 4 (four) times a day - more with a mated pair or small family. A lot of places who sell seahorses try to get them on frozen foods. While this may make it more convenient to the supplier and the future owner, it is not the best for the horses and they can be quite picky when it comes to eating frozen foods and can actually starve themselves.
A lot of places will actually advise against using live food as anything more than an occasional treat- however, the use of live food is probably the healthiest option for your horse(s), which means you should - purchase, or culture on your own live:
*Copepods
*Amphipods
*Brine Shrimp
*Mysis Shrimp
*Plankton

You will thank me later. And in addition to your routine hand feedings, You can also purchase these live and add them into your tank to culture their own colonies - which they do quite quickly in a mature system. This will provide for "snacking" and "double coverage" of available food for your horses, though you should still manually feed and never solely rely on in-tank living colonies as they can be decimated at shocking rates with active horses.
If you would like to try this though, as a double-coverage, I would recommend you purchase them several weeks before introducing the horses so that they can establish themselves, and start reproducing.

When it comes to what you are going to need for your tank, its pretty simple really, the basics are;

Protein Skimmer- Seahorses are extremely susceptible to poor water quality, and disease, and cannot handle even relatively mild fluctuations, so enlisting the help of a protein skimmer will ensure that your waters remain clean and steady by removing biological surface accumulating waste (can look like an oil slick or foam) as well as larger particles within the water column such as excrements and uneaten foods. You will need to make sure that you place a protective guard over all intakes so that your horses do not injure themselves (by getting stuck on the intake and damaging tissue when they swim by, or if they try to post themselves on it).

HOB Biological Filter - This is to ensure that your waters are dense with nutrifying bacteria, and provide continued nourishment to your live food colonies - as well as keeping the waters rich and clean. Some will argue that use of one with a bio-wheel can create a nitrate problem, however this would only be the case (as with any marine habitat) if the filter was left unattended and media was not routinely changed/cleaned. The use of a sump is also popular, and can in some ways benefit you more considering that they are fully customizable. Additionally, canister filters are used because they too offer the ability to pick your media and layer them accordingly.

Florescent lighting (or higher if you intend on keeping corals) - Seahorses actually do not like bright lighting, and are more comfortable in dimmer settings. This doesn't mean you have to reduce lighting to unattractive levels, it just simply means don't opt for Halide just because its wicked bright, unless you have a genuine need for it - with corals. Your standard fluorescents will work fine and T5's should also be ok, just provide shaded areas for the horses should they become irritated with the intensity of the lighting.

Heater - Careful with this one! Seahorses love to anchor themselves, and with those long tails, to them, wrapping them around a seemingly nice and warm heater is ideal... Not so, heaters can burn them very quickly if they are not protected by this! Some will actually hang out by the heaters because they like the warm currents blowing off, but it can be dangerous to them if your heater is larger than you need for that tank - thus putting out much more heat than needed, or if it is not concealed from them properly. I would suggest purchasing a fully submersible heater and using a heater guard.

Live Rock - The benefits of live rock go without saying (assuming you are a somewhat experienced keeper - which you should be to even consider keeping these animals, as they are not easy). But in addition to its biological benefits, live rock also provides shelter, perches and shading from harsh lighting for the horses. A few pieces of larger rock can be used as a base and to create ledges, but also try to invest in some good branched rock to provide the horses with several hitching posts.

Sand - Whether or not you opt for live sand is up to you. You will hear a plethora of arguments both for and against it in a seahorse tank. Some claim that live sand can introduce bacteria, fungus and micro organisms which can be harmful to the seahorses. And well.... While theoretically I can see their point, because honestly, it is always a possibility; the benefits of live sand for your overall system far outweigh any "potential" detriment. Note also that if you opt to not use live sand, your cycling period is going to be significantly extended in order for the substrate to mature and become seeded with the crucial bacteria and organisms needed to filter substrate beds.
When you decide on the sand you want, go for the finest grade you can manage, and make the bed at least 2 inches thick.

Hitching Posts - These are vital to any seahorse tank, as they provide resting/sleeping anchors for the horses when they are not actively cruising or eating. Posts are important for these animals because without them, they will become exhausted and stressed - which can lead to disease or death. Seahorses have very active metabolisms, and thus the reason they must be fed so often - so imagine for a moment if your horse was unable to anchor to anything, unable to comfortably rest, but instead had to try and tuck into the rock or settle on the bottom and be pushed by the current and left exposed... That would be one unhappy - and quickly unhealthy animal.
Hitching posts can be things that either naturally would occur in the Seahorses wild environment - Such as Gorgonians or Sea Fans, Branched Live Rock, or Kelp, OR they can be items that would not naturally be found in the wild, but are however acceptable in the captive environment; Things like fake branching corals, Artificial Plants, or even natural rope an inch or less thick that can be hung either vertically or woven like vines. Whatever you choose to use, the most important thing is that it provides sturdy and readily accessible posts for the horses to latch onto. make sure that if using rope, you do not use ones which are coated and sealed, as sea water can cause them to deteriorate and leech harmful toxins into your water.

Tankmates - Seahorses are calm and peaceful animals which are slow moving and possess literally no protection from aggressive predators. In addition, because they are so slow, they cannot compete for food as faster swimming, more aggressive animals can, and therefore can suffer nutritionally, or become severely stressed by constant pestering.
Therefore, any addition of tank mates into a seahorse aquarium needs to be well thought out, and limited to a select few who have shown adequate to excellent compatibility with these animals.

Some of the preferred mates would include the following;
*Blennies
*Some Filefish
*Gobies
*Pipe Fish
*Draganets/mandarins
*Percula clowns
*Some butterflys
*Most Wrasses
*Jawfish
And more....

Some Cleaner Crew and Benthic Mates could include;
* Nassarius Snails
* Nerite Snails
* Sand Sifting Starfish
* Brittle Stars
* Hermit Crabs
* Emerald Crabs
* Turbo Snails
* Most Shrimps
* All Sponges
And more...

BUT ANIMALS WHICH SHOULD BE AVOIDED ARE;
* Cuttlefish
* Eels
* Sharks
* Octopuses
* Tangs
* Triggers
* Squids
* Lobsters
* Mantis Shrimp
* Urchins
* Nudibranchs (Except for the Lettuce Nudi.)
* Sea cucumbers
* Anemones
* Groupers
Etc. (Basically, use common sense - Nothing poisonous(by ingestion or through secretion of toxins into the water), venomous, or aggressive.)

Selecting your Horse - When it comes to selecting your horse, one of the most important things you need to consider is the size of your tank, and the adult size of your selected species. Just like with keeping any fish you will need to ensure you can house these animals comfortably and ethically for life before making the purchase as they do not handle stress well, so upgrading later once they are established in their environment could prove detrimental. UNLIKE keeping other fish, it is not so much the footprint of swimming space in these tanks that is number one, but rather, it is the height of the tanks that comes first. Seahorses' body's are quite long at maturity and when fully erect, and therefore, they need to be in an environment that is at least two times as high (deep) as their body is long. Therefore, if your horse's adult length would max out between 12-14 inches, you would want to make sure that your tank was at least 24-26 inches deep (tall/high), to allow your animal unrestricted movement.
Going off the dimensions you listed, it sounds like you may have a 29 gallon tank? If that is the case, you are going to want an animal that AT MOST max's out at or below 10 inches for it's adult size.

Wow, there is a lot more I could get into but at this point in time, I think my fingers are going to snap off if I keep typing, and your head might explode, so I am going to save the rest for a later date if and when you might need that information. I hope this has helped you some and answered your questions, but if not, do not hesitate to ask!!

The tank you are getting is nowhere near big enough for a seahorse. Sorry to be rude but people really need to know what they are getting into before they buy something.

I thought seahorse could go in tiny tanks?? see how much I know about marine? lol

Wow ashley, that's some good info!

Thanks! Well everyone thinks seahorses stay tiny! They can get over a foot tall. It depends on what kind you get of course. They are just so delicate and are only for really experienced hobbyists. I think they are adorable but I try to NOT buy on impulse.

I went and checked the gallonage, I didn't think about it. I was thinking 48" is closer to 55 gallons, not 16 like it is in actuality. I'm not an idiot, I know to read before I buy. And I've been reading about them a lot. I understand you guys want what's best, but I'm not your typical idiotic hobbyist. So I appreciate the info, but it's nothing I didn't read about. And I was not doing this on impulse either, just so you know.

And as far the as the lights, I meant the actual top, as in how am I going to find one that's the same dimensions as the tank.

Dwarf seahorses stay under an inch. (:

Anda rule of thumb is seahorses need a tall tank. The height of the tank should be 3 times their length

regan24 wrote:I went and checked the gallonage, I didn't think about it. I was thinking 48" is closer to 55 gallons, not 16 like it is in actuality. I'm not an idiot, I know to read before I buy. And I've been reading about them a lot. I understand you guys want what's best, but I'm not your typical idiotic hobbyist. So I appreciate the info, but it's nothing I didn't read about. And I was not doing this on impulse either, just so you know.

And as far the as the lights, I meant the actual top, as in how am I going to find one that's the same dimensions as the tank.

Just get a 48" long light, put legs on it. The legs on my lightbar are only 5" apart

Yeah yeah I got it now. I'll save seahorses for another day. Idk what to do in the tank now. I'll look into the cichlids I guess. But I really want it to be a reef

regan24 wrote:Yeah yeah I got it now. I'll save seahorses for another day. Idk what to do in the tank now. I'll look into the cichlids I guess. But I really want it to be a reef

Do a reef then. You can do seahorses! I KNOW YOU CAN GIRL!!!!

I appreciate the support

You will work this out. I think its great that you are gonna do alot of research before hand to.

Ive got a site where you can get extremely cheap lighting. Ill grab it for ya.

Really the only way some people will learn, (not saying this is you regan), is to just do it.... Even if it takes loosing some fish.... I am one of those people... when I was first introduced into the hobby, I went out and purchased a 55gal and seven S. american cichlids.... everyone (including the guy thats sold me the fish) said, "Do not put that many large American Cichlids in your tank... they get way too big, only one of the fish I chose shouldve been in that tank....
Well, I watched as my fish slaughtered eachother slowly over a period of 8 months... finally remained just two.... I ended up gettin a second tank for the weaker one, I couldnt bare to watch the daily beatings.... it was brutal!.... anyway, and that started the addiction. Learned my lesson as I saw $$$$$ dieing right before my eyes. lol

I just bite my lip when I hear of a person planning on breeding two fish that shouldve been culled because of there deformities.... Or if someone puts a frontosa in a 5gal bucket (lars).... Only thing we can do is tell them what we would do in there situation to get the fish they want.... and cross our fingers they arent stupid like me! lol

OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, IT WAS IN A 20 GALLON!

I ate a seahorse once..on accident.

Spyral wrote:I ate a seahorse once..on accident.

hahaha how was it an accident???? and was it good

i would definatly save the seahorses for another day, they are extreamly hard to care for. get an anglerfish and go SPS reef. im setting one up now and if you do it right it looks great!

shua wrote:

Spyral wrote:I ate a seahorse once..on accident.

hahaha how was it an accident???? and was it good

I would rather not say how it happened, but it was delicious. Delicious.