Seahorse Advice

[ShifyShify]

Hi there,

My girlfriend is has always been interested in seahorse's. As i am about to move from FW to Marine I am going to have a 70l Juwel tank with the filter and light going spare. I was wondering if this would be suitable for keeping seahorse ?

I could quite easily turn it into a saltwater tank as I understand they do not like too much waterflow.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Betta5]

I would have posted this in the saltwater posting section.

 

[ShifyShify]

Sorry guys not paying attention - should have gone in the SW section..

 

[freshwaterfishlover]

I do not have Saltwater or never had a SeaHorse.

This is what I know.

1- SeaHorses must be hand feed they are not able to grab their own food.

2- I do not know how many you can have for xxx Gallons, but I do know that you can not have fish in the same tanks as SeaHorse.

Thats all I know.

 

[n3ont3tra]

I know they must be fed at LEAST twice a day. Also, I think they only eat live foods, but I'm not positive. If I'm not mistaken, they grow to about 8 inches. Good luck!

 

[andywg]

I do not have Saltwater or never had a SeaHorse.

This is what I know.

1- SeaHorses must be hand feed they are not able to grab their own food.

2- I do not know how many you can have for xxx Gallons, but I do know that you can not have fish in the same tanks as SeaHorse.

Thats all I know.

The above is just plain wrong.

Sea Horses are more than capable of grabbing their own food. the problem is they are not big hunters of the food, preferring to wait for food to come to them. As a result of this you often have to start feeding them live food.

Tank mates are possible, but due to the above one must be careful. If they are kept with aggressive feeders then the sea horses may not get all the food they need or require. If you search the marine forums there are a few threads with a lot of very good information on sea donkeys from people who know what they are talking about.

 

[Eelzor]

I do not have Saltwater or never had a SeaHorse.

This is what I know.

1- SeaHorses must be hand feed they are not able to grab their own food.

2- I do not know how many you can have for xxx Gallons, but I do know that you can not have fish in the same tanks as SeaHorse.

Thats all I know.

The above is just plain wrong.

That's what you get for posting a saltwater question in a freshwater section, freshwater newbies taking random stabs at complex saltwater questions in an attempt to look intelligent LOL

j/k'z freshies I'm sure your all smart in your own right.

 

[Matthew5664]

"Sea Horses are more than capable of grabbing their own food. the problem is they are not big hunters of the food, preferring to wait for food to come to them. As a result of this you often have to start feeding them live food"?

andywg>> Come round my house and watch my Seahorses when I put some live shrimp in and tell me that don't hunt! Because SH's don't have stomaches they constantley hunt the sea floor for food!



ShifyShify>> That tank would be fine for a pair but theres alot of work involved. Also with that lighing you may get away with a few soft corals.

go to seahorse.org? for better answers to your questions.

 

[ShifyShify]

Thanks guys for the advice, I have looked on seahorse.org and decided to give it a go with a few changes to my tank and a lot of hard research !!

Will let you know how it goes and post some pics when I have the tank set up

............to be continued....

 

[andywg]

"Sea Horses are more than capable of grabbing their own food. the problem is they are not big hunters of the food, preferring to wait for food to come to them. As a result of this you often have to start feeding them live food"?

andywg>> Come round my house and watch my Seahorses when I put some live shrimp in and tell me that don't hunt! Because SH's don't have stomaches they constantley hunt the sea floor for food!

I stand by my point that they are not big hunters. They will never go for food like a true hunter such as a grouper will. You even concur with my point about live food being better to initiate a feeding response.

I have seen a number of tanks with sea horses fed, ranging from public aquaria to lfs tanks, and have never seen a big hunting response. The sea donkeys tend to slowly move around and be somewhat careful and deliberate about each strike. Keeping such a fish with anything that likes its food (conflict the feeding habits of a sea horse with those of a Pseudechromis sp.) is likely to end in the donkey getting less food than it requires.

 

[Opcn]

Sea Horses are more measured hunters, They don't go into a frenzy and they can't move very quickly. However in a SW planted tank they are sure to amaze. I had one for a short while, he wouldn't eat much, and deffinitely wouldn't hand feed, but he did grab my hand when I stuck it in the tank to do maintanence.

 

[Flumpus]

I'm setting up a tank for seahorses right now actually. I plan on a pair of H. Erectus, as well as at least one jawfish, not sure on other tankmates yet. Anyway, try to find captive bred seahorses, that were raised on frozen food. From my research, you'll be doing yourself a huge favor, and the captive bred seahorses are actually quite hardy.

 

[connorsbala]

Hopefully, im able to get a marine tank later in the year 2007, as for xmas im hopefully getting a bigger tropical tank. Im going to get for my small marine tank(if im able to) 2 clown fish, clean up crew and some dwarf sehorses that only get to around 1.5" which is perfect size!!!!

 

[rhysiboy]

I'm setting up a tank for seahorses right now actually. I plan on a pair of H. Erectus,

haha that made me laugh. just shows my maturity