Thinking of starting a Seahorse Aquarium!

[rayjay]

Unfortunately here in Canada, we do not have major breeders of captive bred (read "tank bred and raised") seahorses. This means that we are usually only exposed to wild caught (cheap) horses, or net pen raised horses that many times are labeled as captive bred. Terminology should be changed IMO, to "tank bred and raised" for the recommended horses to purchase.
Wild caught seahorses bring with them all the pathogens they have been exposed to in the ocean, as are net pen grown horses. The net pen grown have the advantage that they have been trained to eat frozen mysis, whereas the wild caught are next to impossible to train off of live food.
Tank bred and raised will minimize the chances of having deadly pathogens with them, and, they are also trained to eat frozen mysis.
While I like this board for info for salt water, I don't believe it can supply sufficient quality information nearly as well as a specific seahorse site, so I hope the mods will allow me to direct you to seahorse.org where you will get a more complete education on keeping these wonderful fish.

 

[Nickel]

Hey What are the best corals to have in a Seahorse tank?
Also whats the best filtration system to use?

=)

 

[rayjay]

I personally don't have corals in my horse tank. Again, there are differences of opinion on what corals are acceptable. For sure you don't want any that can "sting" the horses.
Best filtration system will depend on who you talk to. For me, I use live rock.
Like I mentioned in my first post, the best information and most opinions on any topic regarding seahorses will be found on seahorse.org.
Read the articles first, followed by doing searches on the site for threads on topics you still have questions about. Lastly, if you have questions that can't be answered by the archived threads, then start a new one in the appropriate forum.
I believe you mentioned something about parents and three months of research, but in fact you need much more time than that IMO.
Once you learn enough to set up an appropriate tank, you can further your education on seahorses while the tank cycles properly.

 

[Anonymous]

I have sunpolyps with mine, and colorful 'shrooms. I use basic biological filtration, live rock, deep sand bed, and lots of macro algaes. I do run activated 24/7. I have HOT magnun I use when I harvest the algae.

 

[MachIV]

I am 18 too.. and i have had a 100 Gallon Saltwater for abuot 6 years.. what i would recomend for you is. buy an aquarium and set it up with salt and such. and then try caring for some basic fish; Chromis,Damsels, then if you can keep them alive and they cycle your aquarium. move on to Seahorses.. i have 4 seahorses and i have had them for abuot 8 months. and they are doing great! but the fish is definatly worth the investment. and they will add color to your aquarium. I use a Wet Dry filter with bio balls and it has been doing me wonders for 6 year, have never replaced any of it, i bought mine used for abuot 75 dollars.. but thats for a 100 gallon tank.

 

[Nickel]

Thanx for everything I was thinking of starting a 12 or 24 gallon tank with clown fish then if I can keep them alive for a while getting another tank for just my horses and I can put it next to my clowns and not have to worry about my horses fitting for food. =)

 

[MachIV]

i wouldnt even reccomend clownfish at first.. they are quite expensive 15-20 dollars.. i would start with Damsels they run about 2-5 dollars. and they arent harmful to clownfish and vise versa if you wanted to add clownfish.. like you said you dont want to rush things.. but having a normal aquarium and learning how the water reacts to certain chemicals and how the fish react to that is a great learning experiance and you will become second nature when you are caring for your seahorses.. good luck mate.. you will do just fine

 

[Anonymous]

Be careful with damsels. They are the meanest fish on the planet. They will attack your hand when your cleaning the glass!

I like green chromis, or blue. Gentle, hardy, good started fish.

 

[Nickel]

Now I'm thinking of getting a 24 gallon tank with two Blue-green Chromis, a Blue Linckia Starfish and a Firefish or two. I want to have some live rock (not sure how much) and some coral hopefuly Pulse Coral, Green Star Polyps, and Candy Coral. Then if I can keep those alive for a while I want to add a False Percula Clownfish or two. I also want to get fake Anemone for when I get my Clown(s).

Any thoughts?

=)

 

[bleedingthought]

Now I'm thinking of getting a 24 gallon tank with two Blue-green Chromis, a Blue Linckia Starfish and a Firefish or two. I want to have some live rock (not sure how much) and some coral hopefuly Pulse Coral, Green Star Polyps, and Candy Coral. Then if I can keep those alive for a while I want to add a False Percula Clownfish or two. I also want to get fake Anemone for when I get my Clown(s).

Any thoughts?

=)

Start with the chromis or the clowns. Add slowly and wait in between. Make sure the tank is properly cycled before you start (start with about 20 pounds of live rock and see what kind of structures you come up with) and steer away from the linckia! After that, add some hardy corals (according to your lighting and flow setup) and go from there.

 

[Mike612]

It's a few too many fish in my opinion. I wouldn't do the chromis. They're peaceful and easy to keep, but do much better in schools than they do singly or in pairs. In a tank that small, I would stick with just two or three fish, but not 5 or 6 like you have listed. The firefish are probably your best bet because they have tons of personality, are easy to keep, and have awesome colors.
I also agree with bleedingthought about the starfish. Blue Linkias are one of the more difficult stars to keep and they don't eat the regular algae and detritus that other stars eat. You should stay away from that.

 

[Nickel]

If the Blue Linckia Starfish is so hard to keep I was thinking maybe I should get a Fromia Starfish or some other one. Any suggestions on the starfish and any good starter corals.

=)

 

[bleedingthought]

Wait on the star.

Mushrooms, zoas, leathers, and green star polyps might be a good start.

 

[Mike612]

The problem with stars in general is that they can't withstand very sudden changes in water parameters. If anything changes too rapidly, the starfish will not be able to take it.
If you want a star, the best thing to do is wait a little while. Wait at least six months before getting one. This way, there will be tons of algae for it to eat.

 

[alien099]

this is for seahorse wisperer. Love the choices in Algea but coudnt tell is this the H erectus. I have 4 my self in a 30g. I have some bladed, feather, grape kulpera algea and some live rock and live sand. I am wacthing for some fry here soon. Well again nice pics I will now have to get some of the red algea and remove some of my kulpra as it grows so quick, which I use it as fedder in my other tanks.

Googd luck all

 

[alien099]

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[alien099]

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