Seashore beginner help

Saltwtrlover · 05/13/2017, 09:10 AM

I am wanting to start just a small 10g tank for seahorses for my daughter. I currently already have a 30g saltwater tank that is mutual but she has always wanted seahorses. I need help with everything from what I need for the set up to any tips anyone can give on having them. I know they are difficult to keep but I'm up for the challenge! I'll take any advice you can give. TYIA.

nutbar29 · 05/13/2017, 09:20 AM

What type of seahorses are you planning on getting.

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rayjay · 05/13/2017, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saltwtrlover

I am wanting to start just a small 10g tank for seahorses for my daughter. I currently already have a 30g saltwater tank that is mutual but she has always wanted seahorses. I need help with everything from what I need for the set up to any tips anyone can give on having them. I know they are difficult to keep but I'm up for the challenge! I'll take any advice you can give. TYIA.

First of all, THANK YOU for taking the time to learn what seahorses need before you proceed. Seahorse lives are at stake.
We don't have a library of seahorse information on this forum but you can go to http://fusedjaw.com/ for the most up to date articles to help inform you, and to the library at seahorse.org Some of their information needs updating, but a lot of basics are great information.
My personal page for my opinions is My Thoughts on Seahorse Keeping
To start, the basic tank size best for dwarfs is about 5g and you can keep up to 50 in it.
However, for standard seahorses, the MINIMUM recommended size is 30g for ONE PAIR OF SEAHORSES with a minimum extra 15g for each additional pair. Dan Underwood of seahorsesource.com lately has been recommending 30g for all pairs as he finds greatest success with those numbers.
Please see also, http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2274878 especially posts by Dan Underwood and Pledosophy.

WitsNWrasse · 05/13/2017, 09:13 PM

Dwarf sea horses are pretty hardy- as long as you can provide them with proper sized food and you make sure the gravel stays clean. When/If they have babies, you don't even need to really remove them from the tank either- they hitch immediately and don't require a kreisel tank. Just make sure there is a small enough mesh on the overflow so they don't get sucked into the pump.
My favorite thing about the dwarf sea horses is when you get their foliage right, they start to REALLY grow cirri- like they are really long and sooooo cute. Since they are so small their little spikes seem so big in comparison.

Saltwtrlover · 05/14/2017, 02:01 PM

I am planning on getting the dwarf seahorses bc I know I'll have a small tank and don't want to crowd anyone. Actually looking for a tall cylinder type tank bc I've read that the need more height space than width.
Yes, I won't even buy the tank until I'm confident that I have all the info I can get on them and how to care for them. I refuse to harm or be stressing them out. The whole point is for them to have a happy home before l care about my enjoyment of them.

rayjay · 05/14/2017, 06:49 PM

You don't need to worry about height width relationship with dwarfs as I don't know of any tank that is lower than 3". Full size dwarfs run around 3/4" to an inch and you can put 3 or 4 on a silver dollar.
Buy a tank bearing in mind how many you wish to keep. A 5g tank will mean if you only have two or three pairs they will be difficult to see.
The biggest reason people leave the dwarf keeping is due to getting fed up with the hatching/enriching/feeding of the live brine shrimp nauplii to the dwarfs.
I'd suggest before you proceed with the dwarf keeping hobby, to buy some brine shrimp cysts and start hatching them so you get an idea of the workload you are going to be doing.
First you hatch, then harvest and rinse so they can be enriched, and then fed to the dwarfs about 3 times a day (the feeding part). You CAN hatch a larger batch to get you through about 5 to 7 days, but you will still need to enrich them for each feeding because the egg sacks quickly deplete and are not sufficient then for dwarf food. You can make a cheap simple HATCHER/ENRICHER with two litre pop bottles.
Unfortunately no one has succeeded in getting dwarfs onto non live foods for any duration so live brine is the easier of the options that do work. Pod forms are a great addition to the brine feeding but are almost impossible to provide sufficient for pods as the only source of food.

05/13/2017, 09:10 AM	#1
Saltwtrlover Registered Member Join Date: May 2017 Posts: 2	Seashore beginner help I am wanting to start just a small 10g tank for seahorses for my daughter. I currently already have a 30g saltwater tank that is mutual but she has always wanted seahorses. I need help with everything from what I need for the set up to any tips anyone can give on having them. I know they are difficult to keep but I'm up for the challenge! I'll take any advice you can give. TYIA.

05/14/2017, 06:49 PM	#6
rayjay Registered Member Join Date: Oct 1999 Location: London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 3,969	You don't need to worry about height width relationship with dwarfs as I don't know of any tank that is lower than 3". Full size dwarfs run around 3/4" to an inch and you can put 3 or 4 on a silver dollar. Buy a tank bearing in mind how many you wish to keep. A 5g tank will mean if you only have two or three pairs they will be difficult to see. The biggest reason people leave the dwarf keeping is due to getting fed up with the hatching/enriching/feeding of the live brine shrimp nauplii to the dwarfs. I'd suggest before you proceed with the dwarf keeping hobby, to buy some brine shrimp cysts and start hatching them so you get an idea of the workload you are going to be doing. First you hatch, then harvest and rinse so they can be enriched, and then fed to the dwarfs about 3 times a day (the feeding part). You CAN hatch a larger batch to get you through about 5 to 7 days, but you will still need to enrich them for each feeding because the egg sacks quickly deplete and are not sufficient then for dwarf food. You can make a cheap simple HATCHER/ENRICHER with two litre pop bottles. Unfortunately no one has succeeded in getting dwarfs onto non live foods for any duration so live brine is the easier of the options that do work. Pod forms are a great addition to the brine feeding but are almost impossible to provide sufficient for pods as the only source of food. __________________ Seahorses. Culture nanno, rotifers and brine shrimp. Current Tank Info: Seahorses

05/13/2017, 09:20 AM	#2
nutbar29 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Austin TX Posts: 83	What type of seahorses are you planning on getting. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

05/13/2017, 09:13 PM	#4
WitsNWrasse Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Hollywood, FL Posts: 65	Dwarf sea horses are pretty hardy- as long as you can provide them with proper sized food and you make sure the gravel stays clean. When/If they have babies, you don't even need to really remove them from the tank either- they hitch immediately and don't require a kreisel tank. Just make sure there is a small enough mesh on the overflow so they don't get sucked into the pump. My favorite thing about the dwarf sea horses is when you get their foliage right, they start to REALLY grow cirri- like they are really long and sooooo cute. Since they are so small their little spikes seem so big in comparison.

05/14/2017, 02:01 PM	#5
Saltwtrlover Registered Member Join Date: May 2017 Posts: 2	I am planning on getting the dwarf seahorses bc I know I'll have a small tank and don't want to crowd anyone. Actually looking for a tall cylinder type tank bc I've read that the need more height space than width. Yes, I won't even buy the tank until I'm confident that I have all the info I can get on them and how to care for them. I refuse to harm or be stressing them out. The whole point is for them to have a happy home before l care about my enjoyment of them.