A bunch of Q's about a Seahorse setup

[patm]

This summer I'm planning on setting up a seahorse tank. I'm hoping to make it a 29 gal. tall, but may have to settle with something slightly different (like a 30). I want to keep one or two pygmy seahorse pairs depending on the size of the tank. There will be LR for bio filtration along with LS. I would like to keep some macros and feather dusters, but probably no corals, or maybe a couple polyps or shrooms as I don't want expensive lighting. Now to the Q's:

First is the lighting. What would everyone reccommend for this kind of setup? What kind of wattage do I need for macro algaes? I'm thinking PC, but am open to suggestions. Like said, I don't want really expensive lighting like on my reef tank, I'd like to stay abot $100 or under. However, if really necessary I'll go over.

Next, what kind of water turnover should I use? I'd be relying on power heads because I'd like to go sumpless.

Third. What is the best method for hatching large amounts of BBS? I use a small setup for my FW fry, but it wouldn't be near enough for the seahorses. Also, has anyone had success with any other prepared foods? Do they eat pods from the rocks?

If I was to go with a larger tank, what are sutible tankmates for the seahorses besides pipefish? I'd especially be looking for bottom dwellers that wouldn't upset the seahorses.

What kind of skimmer should I go with on a tank like this? Would I still have to go on the expensive side, or could I go with something cheaper on this small tank? What does everyone reccomend, and from where do you order?

The last question is a bit off subject. I'm hoping to buy an RO/DI unit, as I don't want the algae problem like my reef. I see RO units AND RO/DI units in the catologs. Is there a big difference beside the price? Where has everyone found the best prices for them? Could I get a decent one for around $150? And lastly, do I need to have a plumber or someone to set up something to hook it up to, or will it hook up to a hose or sink?

Sorry for all the questions, but I want to make sure I do things right the first time.

Thanks,

Pat

 

[JennM]

Hi Patm!

If you're wanting to keep pygmy horses (Hippocampus zostrae), then the tank sizes you are suggesting are ENORMOUS! You can keep 20 or more H. zostrae in a 5 gallon tank! In fact, it's recommeded to keep them in a small tank so you can easily concentrate their food. I've got one H. zostrae in my 45 seahorse tank, she's in a breeder net on the side, with a wad of Caulerpa and she loves adult brine.

The setup you are suggesting would be perfect for the greater horses, H. erectus, H. reidi, H. barbouri, H. kuda, all of which are readily availabe as captive bred as well as wild-caught. These horses, regardless of their origin, can be trained to eat frozen mysis shrimp. I've had a pair of H. reidi for over a year now and they get the odd live "treat" but their staple diet is PE Mysis.

As for hatching brine, San Francisco Bay makes a little base that you screw an upside down soda bottle on, or you can build your own. If I've got seahorse babies going, I usually have 3 or 4 of these pots going at all times. I throw the leftover brine into some old nasty tank water out on the back step, and I've had a live brine culture going for almost a year now. I'm near ATL and the culture survived the winter, the brine went dormant even though the culture froze over on several occasions, and it came right back to life in the Spring! The water being out in the sun creates nice soupy greenwater: phytoplankton, and the brine are enriched with that. My H. zostrae loves to eat adult brine, and the H. comes, H. reidi and H. erectus in my store all eat the live brine too, in addition to grass shrimp, and I'm weaning them onto PE Mysis.

As for a 29 or 30, for horses (big horses in that tank!) you can go with an Eclipse system (with or without bio-wheel, just have live rock if no wheel) and you can get a 55 Watt Power Compact retrofit kit for it for about $100 online. Skimmer I use a Prizm by Red Sea.

In my store I have a 20 tall (very tall, fits the footprint of a 10 gallon tank, but twice as high) and have a single-flourescent Eclipse hood, Prizm skimmer, a Maxi Jet 400 for extra circulation, about 10 lbs of LR, caulerpa and my horses are happy. No corals with them, just a tiny goby. At home I have a 45 Oceanic reef ready with 10 gallon sump/refugium.

As for tank mates, peaceful community fish are OK, just watch that your horses are getting their fair share of food. I've kept big horses with Pyjama Cardinal, 6 lined Wrasse, you could also keep a firefish goby or two. Watch out for ornamental shrimp, if they are small, they will be DINNER. Larger shrimp are OK, but use good judgement. I keep snails, hermits, a large shrimp, and a cuke in my home horse tank.

Hope all this helps

Jenn

 

[tlc]

jenn has given some great advise, check out www.seahorse.org they are the authority. these animals take a lot of commitment to be successfull but they are awesome. i kept 6 from ocean rider until a hitchiker crab killed them all...

 

[danmhippo]

JennM has given you great advise. I too agree, 29G is too big for keeping just a pair of pygmys. Zostrae are called pygmy seahorse for a reason, pygmy. They are really small.

The light is for the other critters you also want to keep, not for the seahorses. eg. If you want to have forest of caulerpa, you might want to consider VHO or PC. If you also want to keep phytosynthetic corals, you may want to go with MH. Seahorses doesn't care about the light over head.

I would suggest you hold off on buying seahorses. Seahorses availability are not seasonal. They are available year round, and with sucessful breeding programs, you should expect their price to go cheaper year by year. I would actually suggest you establish lush growth of caulerpa and tank-scape first and add seahorses last. Macro algae of various kinds are great pony hitching posts and provides refuge and breeding ground for pods, favorite foods for ponies. No doubt, PE mysis are their staple diet, but between meals, I enjoy watching my seahorses forage for pods in sea grass bed. Another benefit of macro algae........nutrient export.

 

[patm]

Wow! Thanks everyone for the info. Maybe I'll go down to a smaller tank then.
So now I have another Question. Where does everyone buy their seahorses? If I do go with pygmy sehorses I was thinking seahorsefarms.com, as I thought they had good prices on everything. I really haven't seen any places selling full sized seahorses at a good price.
And last, can anyone tell me about the RO/DI units?

Thanks everyone,

Pat

 

[danmhippo]

It's best if you can open a dedicated thread for RODI. Many experienced folks ignor threads starts off re:Seahorses.

Another H. Zostrae collector is http://www.floridacollector.com

Full size seahorse are trickier. Many wild caught specimens may not survive the shipping stress. Many only accept live feeds, and starve to death from reluctance to take frozen mysis. Unless you can buy tank bred species, otherwise cheaper price (wild caught) does not equal to long term success (tank bred).