10 Gallon Seahorse tank?

dixaisy930 · Jul 15, 2004

In a saltwater aquarium book, they had a shopping list for a 10 gallon seahorse tank. It consisted of a pair of seahorses, and a few starfish and snails. Could you comfortably house a pair of seahorses in a ten gallon?

I would love to have a this set up, but it seems small to me for a marine setup. Thanks.

Max · Jul 16, 2004

i would say no, ten is to small pluss sea horses are very fragile so nano and fragile fish and first marine dont mix, sorry...

Navarre · Jul 16, 2004

Seahorses look fantastic. They bring many to the hobby (like yourself) as people (usually fish shops) sell these saying htey are easy to keep and nnot very demanding. OK.. money handed over, you take em home and within a month they are dead adn you have been sold a system that simply isnt suitable even for marines as the flow will be too slow for a reef tank).

Basically, seahorse should only be tried by experts. I feel there is a need for people to try and keep them as i feel that if these can be bred in captivity then it will help us all understand them better and take the load off them in the wild. However, to keep these successfully you need a person who really knows his/her stuff. Can spot potential problems before they arrise etc. These look slow and peaceful fish but in fact htey are highly demanding cretures that take up alot of time. They need cosntant water monitoring as they require perfect water conditions. They needs to be fed several times per day as they have tiny stomaches and cannot digest enough to keep them sustained in 1 or 2 feedings. They canonly digest part of the food they intake so this means alot is sent back as waste. They wont eat it a 2nd time around as they will only accept live food (usually). This means several feedings of live food per day with alot of waste. This also means a vigorous filtraion system to cope with their waste. This causes complcations as it will increase the flow which seahorses cant usually cope with.

This is just the tip of the iceberg... They are lovely fascnating fish but i would never even try to atempt them. Its great that they have tempted you into the world of marines but i would advise that you try something else for a tank of this size. Gobies or even a clown fish would make a colourful and far easier tank to keep and be just as equally rewarding.

Hope ths helps

Daveo · Jul 17, 2004

Daveo

dixaisy930 · Jul 18, 2004

Yeah, I had a feeling they would be pretty high maintence fish to keep.

I LOVE gobies! That would be great. But aren't nano marine tanks (forgive me as I'm not very familiar with marine terms, etc.) :lol:

more work than the bigger tanks? I've only done freshwater (and I'm still learning about that lol). Would a small tank be a good idea for me?

Max · Jul 18, 2004

well not really i mean most people say nanos are hard to start with... i satrted with a nano though... still going great (except i have a HUGE alge problem but it looks good)

Navarre · Jul 18, 2004

Larger tanks are defiantely more forgiving. I would not even attempt to try tanks the size some of the people here are running and i take my hat off to them for the successes they have. :nod:

Larger tanks allow people to spot problems long before they become serious. I would encourage all beginners to have the largest tank they can possibly aford just to be able to cope with the problems that occur when learning this hobby.

Max · Jul 18, 2004

i just started with the 10G to see if i liked SW before goign out and spending 500+ $'s (like im doing now... :blink:

) to bad its so expencive... well kinda... the fish are about the same price because you cant have as many... (ex. in a 75G (FW) i could have like 100 neons... but if it were SW like 10 fish...)

Max · Jul 18, 2004

Navarre said:
Larger tanks are defiantely more forgiving.

although a 10G could be like 500$ and a 50G could be 3 grand, if a 3 grand tank crashes YOU ARE PISSED, a 500$ tank you just like... omg im pissed, gald it wasnt 3 grand... see what i mean? :huh:

yeah i just thought of that so it probably doesnt sound good... well its sorta ture though

Navarre · Jul 19, 2004

Once a tank has fully matured (over 1 year) then i would say that its almost impossible for it to crash on a large scale if you are keeping a diligent check on water perameters. As mentioned, the larger the tank the more time you have to put it right. You might only have a matter of hours in a nano but in a 100 gallon you might be able to last 48 hours to get it sorted. Larger systems also have larger populations and a variety of different micro life (more space give more change for diversity) so this will make the tnk more balanced overall.
It is possible for a tank of this soze to completely crash but its usually down to the owner not recognising the warning signs (and this is also partly due to inexperience).

Blusypder · Jul 26, 2004

Well I started with a 10 gal. Its really not as hard as every one saids if u do ur homework. Look online for the fish you want and have a day or to and research them. After u start you tank KEEP A EYE on ur new fish. For some reason fish like dying in the first few dayes u have them but after a week or so they should be fine.

I have had my 10 gal for a yr and 1/2 and I have only lost 2-3 fish and that was b/c i didnt know what a oscar was at the time lol. And dont over stock u will want to kill ur fish if u do.

I would have my 100 gal going but i have no room for it in my house. arggggg. :angry: