Does anyone here keep seahorses?

[Abarnswell]

I am in the process of researching the needs of a SHOWLR (seahorse only w/LR) tank and have been reading the forum at seahorse.org. They're scaring me to death over there because many of the young posters know nothing about the requirements for maintaining a marine environment. Some of them have never even heard of RO water, let alone anything else beyond that.

I hope I haven't offended anyone by saying that, but I am literally cringing after reading some of the posts I've just read on that forum.

Does anyone here keep seahorses, or does anyone know of a good forum for them?

 

[drty811]

april,

all the posts here lead to seahorse.org but there is one person that i know has been keeping them.
http://www.nanotank.com/forum/viewtopic ... =seahorses
evil genius has a couple of them. from what i have heard they are very hard to keep in a nano tank. IMO just to hard for me to deal with, i spend alot of time with my tank let alone a seahorse tank.lol. i would definitly never laeve the house. :roll: hope this helps and good luck.

 

[incysor]

I've had one in my work nano for about 6wks now. They've got pretty specific needs, and you've already found the best forum/site for info.

And there are rank newbies on EVERY forum I visit, that are putting tangs/mandarins/angels in 10g tanks, people using tap water, "You mean I have to have special lights to keep corals?", "The guy at the LFS sold me a clam with my new tank setup, what do I feed it?", etc....

The only ones that get on my nerves are the ones that CONTINUALLY ask beginner questions, showing that they're too lazy to try a search function, or do any basic research on their own.



B

 

[skipm]

If you are not sure about some of the information on the forum then take a look at their library where they have some very informative articles.
I used to have dwarf seahorses, they originally started out in a 6 gallon Eclipse but I later moved them to a 2 1/2 nanotank. I no longer have them due to the fact that I ended up with all males and when their lifespan was up I didn't replace them.

 

[smoke eater]

Skipm hit the nail on the head about seahorse.org library. That is where the owner of my LFS sent me before he would sell them. I am still thinking of doing a seahorse tank, but after I have my new pico up and running for awhile. Check out www.melvesreef.com under hidden treasures, he has a seahorse in a 2 gal. pico cube. Download the video it is a riot.

 

[skipm]

The care articles in the library are also available to be printed off and distributed at a LFS for people wanting to keep seahorses, The people on the board are a caring bunch that want the best for all of the seahorses that are going to be kept in captivity.

 

[Abarnswell]

I've been doing a ton of research on seahorses and have just about made up my mind to get some dwarf seahoreses -- about five pairs are recommended for a 5-gallon tank. They are very social and easier to keep in large numbers because of needed feeding density. Alisa Abbot has written a pretty good book on keeping dwarf seahorses. She's sort of the guru on them.

You have to hatch live baby brine shrimp for them regularly (that's ALL they eat), but other than that, they are easier to keep in many ways than the larger breeds. I've started culturing live food for other pets that I have, so one more culture or 20 won't kill me.

The manager of one of my LFS said she'd buy any offspring I bred, but I know I won't sell them to the LFS. I'm too afraid they'd sell them to someone who doesn't know how to take care of them. One of the benefits of the dwarf seahorses is that they are so small, you can keep five pairs, plus all the offspring they could ever think of having in a 5-gallon tank. And if you do get overrun, you can just move up to a 10-gallon and be fine forever. Their fry are benthic, stay in the tank with the adults, and eat the same food that the adults eat. Right now I am just reading everything I can get my hands on about them.