seahorses in refugiums

[bfeit]

can you have seahorses in a 20gl refugiums work form 180 reef

 

[reefmutt1]

I just added 2 seahorses to my 10 gal refugium that is about 3 weeks old they have been doin fine...I use a pretty low turn over rate as far as over flow and return goes.. the refugium mainly houses feather calupera

 

[AnotherGoldenTeapot]

If you stick a seahorse in there then it's no longer a refigium...

 

[samurai9]

Why stick a seahorse in a refugium???? Is it under the tank, in a cabinet? Isn't the point of getting a seahorse to enjoy it, not put it where it can't be seen?

 

[reefmutt1]

My refugium sits above my main tank and is built into my canopy for display purposes... I have a 20 gal sump below my main tank. Why the statement of if you add seahorses it is no longer a regugium. It still houses macroalgae and performs the same duties with or without the seahorses....

[ December 30, 2001: Message edited by: reefmutt ]</p>

 

[naesco]

If you chose to keep seahorses, please ensure that you buy only captive raised ones for two reasons.
First the chances of survival is higher for captive raised species.
Second, seahorses are endangered as a result of over capture. (see Industry forum on this board thread from John Tullock)
Thank you

 

[morepunkthanewe]

It seems to me that one point of a refugium is to raise copepods and other small invertabrates so that they flow back in to the tank to feed the fish. Sea Horses are fish too, and they wouldn't otherwise be able to compete for food or swim in the currents of a reef tank. Putting them in a refugium seems like a great idea. You could also compromise and put a tank divider in the refugium so that there will still be some copepods that the seahorses can't eat them. I would put the seahorses in the "inflow" side and therefore the protected side would flow back into the tank with some of the copepods.

 

[Reef Engineer]

A 20 gal refugium would quickly get depleted of life with just a pair of seahorses. Seahorses have an extremely short and thus poor digestive tract so they need to be fed a high quality food several times a day. They would easily strip your refugium of suitable food before too long if you did not plan to supplement with nutritious food such as PE Mysids, etc. Additionally, they need to be protected from intakes and such since they can easily get caught in the return to the main tank. Since they're such poor swimmers, they wouldn't be able to escape and die there.

Another thing to keep in mind is that seahorses typically don't tolerate temperatures above 78 very well at all and many types prefer much cooler temps than that.

Have you gone over to www.seahorse.org? They're a great site for information on these awesome little guys.

I also second the notion that WC should be avoided at all costs and support given to the various breeders that are available. Ocean Rider has a great line although it is proprietory and there are strings attached with them and Flying Fish Express sells H.barbouri, H.kuda, and H.whitei from Tracy & Dave Warland and I happen to think the world of them!

Best of luck,

Randy

 

[esmithiii]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

Why the statement of if you add seahorses it is no longer a regugium.

The refugium is a refuge where microfauna (small bug-like creatures) can breed without predators cutting into their numbers. They then flow into the main tank and the fish can eat them. Sea horses are predatory (from what I understand) of some of the fauna that you want to protect. It is like letting a few hunters into a wildlife refuge. The caulerpa may be safe, but the pods may not.

E