Seahorses?

[AQUAHOLIC1]

Where do i post about sea horses on here? I just plumbed a 65gallon into my current 1.5year old reef, was looking to add extra water volume, and maybe have it act as a 2nd fuge. My question is...Can i add horses? Will i need to add live rock into this tank? Will i need alot of lighting to keep the rock and macro algaes going? What would be the min. amount of lighting i could put over this tank? The tank is the same Length and width as a 55gallon but it's about 5inches higher. It's a older style 65gallon. Now the 65gallon and my 105gallon reef are currently sharing the same 40gallon long thats divided into a fuge and a sump. Both tanks already circulating, So. my next step would to do what? Add a DSB to the 65 like i would a fuge? Add rock? Min. amount of lighting over the 65 to keep the rock and macro? How many horses can i get into a 65gallon thats about 4ft L x 18w x 24-28tall? Thanks sorry about all the Questions, im new to horses, and just want to do the homework b4 i hurt some poor animals. thanks a million.

John
New Jersey Reefers Club member.

 

[Ben1]

Generally posting on www.seahorse.org is the way to go for horses.

 

[AQUAHOLIC1]

hey ben it's Touchofelegance! how's the frags? I cant post on seahorse.org, because i have aol, and it wont let me. Already tried though.

 

[wade1]

After having maintained and raised batches of seahorses, I will say unless you are truly dedicated, don't try it.

1- the waste level in a seahorse tank is amazingly high (short digestive tracts/lot of nutrients ifrom their waste)
2- LR is not necessary and actually, you will find it easier to maintain them without it... just a decent sandbed. You will see an explosion of bristleworms in their tanks from the remaining/waste food.
3- you must have at least 18" of height in the water column in order to promote their health (breeding and gas bubble disease are considerations)
4- lower lighting is best, it prevents algae growth due to the excess nutrients and the seahorses certainly don't require it.

If you want to attempt this, you MUST purchase tank raised/reared specimens... you are wasting your time and their lives otherwise. You will have to feed them 2-3x per day, using mysis and or other shrimp like goodies (usually supplemented with vitamins).

Basically, its a huge pain for little return, although they can be cool.

If I missed anything, ask again... its late

Wade

 

[Ben1]

Hey, it was nice to meet you today. The frags look nice and the one cap has nice purple looking polyps, thanks!
You have to let me know when you have some of the blue polyp monti to trade and I can bring you some stuff.

Wade pretty much covered it up. I had one seahorse from http://www.oceanrider.com/ which lived awhile and accepted frozen mysis right away but was some weird mixed breed. I also had a wild horse that parished after a short few months. I tryed very hard to train it on the frozen but it never went for it.

I wish I went with a tank raised bunch from some where like the marine center or marinedepotlive.com