Seahorses?

[suzee]

Hi,

I'm new to tropical fish keeping and so far I have

2 x Sunburst Platys
6 x Zebra Danios
6 x Neon Tetras

and I was wondering if I can keep seahorses, are they compatible and if so wher do I get them, are they specialist?

Also one of the Platys seems to have defective swimbladder, can I do anything to help, I'm worried she's not getting enough food because the Danios are always in there first. I do sit and watch to make sure I see her eat something.

Any advice would be greatly appreciaited.

Thanks Suzee x

 

[aquila]

and I was wondering if I can keep seahorses, are they compatible and if so wher do I get them, are they specialist?

The clue is in the name - seahorses. They're marine, not freshwater.

We might be able to offer more help with regards to your platy if you give us some more information about your tank - how big is it and how long has it been set up for?

 

[Esfa]

Seahorses are marine, so you couldn't keep them in the same ank as your other fish.

 

[suzee]

The tank is 230 ltrs and has been set up for 2 weeks, platys in for 1 week. Didn't know about fishless cycling before coming on here. Followed advice from shop re set up when to put fish in etc.

Suzee

 

[rabbut]

can you give any tank stats for ammonia, nitrite and pH please? Bottom sitting may be due to poor water quality, or excessive feeding of flake. If tank stats are OK, try feeding some live or frozen food to flush the system out a bit. Swim bladder issues are usualy mechanical, and thus off the shelf products probibly won't work.

HTH
Rabbut

 

[andywg]

The clue is in the name - seahorses. They're marine, not freshwater.

Seahorses are marine, so you couldn't keep them in the same ank as your other fish.

Aaah, would that it were quite that simple. There are brackish species of sea horses so they do not all require marine conditions by any means. While FW sea horses do seem extremely rare (if present at all) there are FW pipefish, which are very similar.

 

[aquila]

The clue is in the name - seahorses. They're marine, not freshwater.

Seahorses are marine, so you couldn't keep them in the same ank as your other fish.

Aaah, would that it were quite that simple. There are brackish species of sea horses so they do not all require marine conditions by any means. While FW sea horses do seem extremely rare (if present at all) there are FW pipefish, which are very similar.

Whatever the species they're still not suitable for a beginner, hence the general consensus of 'No' Wouldn't want to get the OP's hopes up.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

I don't like the phrase 'not suitable for a beginner'. I honestly don't believe that a beginner cannot immediatley begin by keeping specialist fish if he/she chooses to do so. However if they want to have success they need to do a considerable amount of research before hand. You don't need experience to keep specialist fish, you need knowledge really.

So no, if you really really want some seahorses then fine, you can have some. But you'll need to be prepared to expend a considerable amount of time and money to get them to be honest. The species you'd ever be likley to find in the shops are saltwater (marine) so you'd need a whole new set up, and marine tanks do not come cheap. There's loads more equipment than for freshwater and there's also a lot of science you need to learn before you get into it. Take my advice (as someone who has kept marine tanks before) and don't cut corners on the cost, if you wanna do it then go for it, but be prepared to spend the money in the first place making sure the set up is right before you start. There's a marine section of this forum where there's plenty of advice for newbies to saltwater that should give you all the basics and you can then work on the specialised stuff from there.

 

[pastabake]

There are seahorses in the river Mersey (for those not from the UK its a river that runs from Manchester to Liverpool) - a sign that they have cleaned the river up. So I wouldn't be at all surprised if other freshwater species exist. Getting hold of them might be a bit tricky though and keeping them alive will demand top water conditions.

 

[andywg]

I don't like the phrase 'not suitable for a beginner'. I honestly don't believe that a beginner cannot immediatley begin by keeping specialist fish if he/she chooses to do so. However if they want to have success they need to do a considerable amount of research before hand. You don't need experience to keep specialist fish, you need knowledge really.

Indeed. A someone who bought a frogfish as his first ever marine fish, I can wholly concur.

marine tanks do not come cheap. There's loads more equipment than for freshwater and there's also a lot of science you need to learn before you get into it.

Ok, I am going to play a little devil's advocate here. Ther is certainly loads more equipment one can buy in SW, but you seldom need it. A simple small SW Fish Only set up is basically a FW set up with some salt in the water. No more and no less. you then have the options of skimmers to help prevent DOCs decomposing, live rock as a natural filtration system with some nitrate export, macro aglaes, DSB et cetera, et cetera ad infinitum.

Obviously, the more you soend at the start the easier it can become, but SW doesn't have to be expensive. I shall hopefully tonight be moving in two new SW tanks which have cost me a total of about £50 plus pump (which I already had).

If you are prepared to really research (and by that I mean getting away from the SW section of this board as it tends to just promote the Berlin system or slight variations thereof) then you can cut costs quite a bit, especially with a few simple DIY projects.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

OK Andy, accept your points, you may not need lots more equipment, i apologise if my phrasing was off. you could probably subsititue need for could and will help vastly and the above still stands!!

as marine fish go seahorses are pretty delicate, therefore they require super clean water. there's all sorts of extra equipment available to marine keepers to get your water spot on. I would strongly advise anyone wanting to keep seahorses (particularly if you are new to fishkeeping in general) to invest a bit of money in this equipment to make your life a lot easier!

(why do i feel like every discussion with you is like a legal argument?! lol.... not that that's a bad thing mind you)

 

[connorsbala]

OK Andy, accept your points, you may not need lots more equipment, i apologise if my phrasing was off. you could probably subsititue need for could and will help vastly and the above still stands!!

as marine fish go seahorses are pretty delicate, therefore they require super clean water. there's all sorts of extra equipment available to marine keepers to get your water spot on. I would strongly advise anyone wanting to keep seahorses (particularly if you are new to fishkeeping in general) to invest a bit of money in this equipment to make your life a lot easier!

(why do i feel like every discussion with you is like a legal argument?! lol.... not that that's a bad thing mind you)

Once seahorses are settled in a tank..they can prove to be fairly hardy
Suzee, if you wanted to get seahorses and start up a SW tank, iwould get to grips with the marine world by setting up a fish only tank or fish only with live rock, even a reef tank in order for you to get used to the water chemistry, equipment and feeding. Well, thats what i did
The only major thing with seahorses is the feeding...as long as you know that the seahorses you purchase are captive bred you are fine, as they will ahve become accustomed to eating frozen foods as supposed to wild caught ones, which will usually only take live foods which will become exspensive etc.

EDIT: im not saying that feeding is the only difficult thing, theres alot more to consider with theses creatures...but they arent as sensitive as people think..other inverts and coral are alot more sensitive in some instenses.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

lol, ok there are things you can keep that are more delicate, i'll happily agree with that.

but seahorses are tricky to acclimitise and get feeding, so new keepers are relativley likley to experience loss early on, and as such I'd still class them as delicate.

never mind thought it's all a bit hypothetical, i suspect you andy and i would all agree that in principal the OP can keep seahorses if she wants to, she just needs to do a whole bunch of research into marine keeping first.

 

[connorsbala]

lol, ok there are things you can keep that are more delicate, i'll happily agree with that.

but seahorses are tricky to acclimitise and get feeding, so new keepers are relativley likley to experience loss early on, and as such I'd still class them as delicate.

never mind thought it's all a bit hypothetical, i suspect you andy and i would all agree that in principal the OP can keep seahorses if she wants to, she just needs to do a whole bunch of research into marine keeping first.

lol yeah i understand

 

[Ace Of Spades]

Found one, a Freshwater Horse...

http/www.mro.org/mr/archive/24-3/images/horse.jpg