What is the minimal tank requirement for 2 seahorses?

m0nkie · 09/30/2017, 04:39 PM

edit. minimal tank size*** requirement

Hi guys. I want to get a small seahorse tank for my workroom. I have a salt water tank already. Not looking to put any fish in. Just 2 beginner seahorses.

-What is a good cube sized tank?
-as small as possible so it doesn't take much space.
-recommendation on a good beginner seahorse?

Planning on going barebottom. tonga branches for rockscape. some easy corals SH can use.

thanks!

nutbar29 · 09/30/2017, 06:44 PM

You can get a 20g tall and have 2 erectus seahorses. That’s the smallest size you can go.

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rayjay · 09/30/2017, 10:21 PM

Please ignore that 20gT recommendation. The actual recommended size for ONE pair of STANDARD sized seahorses is 30g, but larger can be better.
Adding a sump/refugium can increase the odds of success.
A hugely oversized skimmer is a great benefit.
It's not IMPOSSIBLE to keep two erectus in a 20g tank but the odds of success are VERY low in the long term. For it to work you would have to do an exorbitant amount of large water changes and do extreme husbandry to keep the tank clean enough to prevent the number one killer of seahorses, bacteria and internal chemistry problems that seahorses are so susceptible to. Not too many people can keep up such a regimen for too long even when they THINK they can.
IMO, water quality needs to exceed that of any reef tank and seahorses themselves are bent on destroying that quality with their feeding habits. They are selective eaters, leaving a lot of food pieces uneaten, and, when they snick their food, they masticate it, passing particulate matter out through the gills and into the water column.
Unfortunately, there are NO test kits available to the hobbyist to tell us when the water is deteriorating to the point the bacteria are going to become problematic so a preventive husbandry protocol works best.
Two great sites to start your learning of what gives the best chances of success in keeping seahorses: www.seahorsesource.com and click on articles.
www.fusedjaw.com and see articles.

nutbar29 · 10/01/2017, 01:15 AM

Rayjay yes bigger is better but a 20g is possible cuz I did it for years. When I first started I had a 20g T and I never had any issues with my seahorses. I also didn’t do big water changes I did 10% weekly and I had a hob skimmer meant for a 40g and a hob filter. I always kept my temperature at 70 and never had bacteria or any other problems with my seahorses.

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rayjay · 10/01/2017, 09:20 AM

And, you are not the ONLY one to do so.
However, the ones like you are FEW compared to the number of hobbyists who FAIL in the attempt to do so and many seahorse lives are lost because of it. This is based on my experiences and what I've followed on the forums for 14 yrs now.
For that reason, I prefer to recommend what gives the BEST chances of success as opposed to what the few are succeeding with.
Seahorses, like people, have varying degrees of health capabilities. We humans are a wide mix of those who don't ever seem to get sick or have problems as well as the majority who have some affinity for warding off problems but in reality do succumb from time to time to life's maladies, and, others still that seem to be always sick and have problems.
When we buy seahorses we have no way to know what their status might be, so putting the last category of seahorses in that situation is almost certain to be problematic. Putting the middle class into the same situation you will probably have fewer problems but they will be there. Of course the first and healthiest ones are much more able to tolerate conditions as you describe and perhaps most of those will do OK. (no guarantee though)
Of course, you can do EVERYTHING right and STILL end up with losses sometimes.
With some luck and with good care, your standard seahorses should live in the range of 5-7 years, and some beyond that even.
Of course, these are my opinions, and rather than depend just on those, please be sure to do plenty of research to find the opinions of others who are successful keepers, keeping in mind to lean towards those who seem to share opinions with a lot of others before going the route of lesser numbers of successes, bearing in mind you won't know what your new seahorses are capable of handling.

Pandagobyguy · 11/24/2017, 11:51 AM

Dwarf seahorses are different! From what ive read they actually prefer 10g to get high cope density. Please let me know if i am ill informed though!

rayjay · 11/25/2017, 01:44 PM

It's not what they prefer that we have to consider as they prefer their natural habitat that we cannot give them.
You can't provide enough copepods even in a 10g tank for long term survival of a pair of dwarfs and that is why the primary food for captive dwarfs is enriched live brine nauplii.
Pods therefore are just a great additional nutrient profile for them.
A ten gallon tank would need a lot of dwarfs to really be able to be worthwhile as they are hard to see.
I have no problem with up to around 50 dwarfs in a 5g.

Pandagobyguy · 11/25/2017, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayjay

It's not what they prefer that we have to consider as they prefer their natural habitat that we cannot give them.
You can't provide enough copepods even in a 10g tank for long term survival of a pair of dwarfs and that is why the primary food for captive dwarfs is enriched live brine nauplii.
Pods therefore are just a great additional nutrient profile for them.
A ten gallon tank would need a lot of dwarfs to really be able to be worthwhile as they are hard to see.
I have no problem with up to around 50 dwarfs in a 5g.

Do rotis work as well?

rayjay · 11/26/2017, 08:48 AM

The problem with Rotifers is that they still need to be enriched, but mostly it's a case of too small. It takes an inordinate amount of rotifers to be of any food value and that means maybe 5 or more times as many snicks which is expending energy of the dwarfs.
I only use rotifers for initial week feeding of pelagic seahorse fry like H. reidi.

SimplyDani · 12/11/2017, 10:13 PM

Love this discussion! what do you guys think is the best beginner seahorse?

vlangel · 12/12/2017, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SimplyDani

Love this discussion! what do you guys think is the best beginner seahorse?

I would start with H erectus. They are commonly accepted as the hardiest specie.

m0nkie · 12/12/2017, 03:46 PM

thanks guys!

I found a pair of seahorse at the LFS. they have been there for over a month and feeding on live ghost shrimps, so I picked up the pair.

they are inside a Nuvo20 gal drop off tank. I'm currently still messing with the tank. Trying to add another 20gal refugium with an oversized skimmer. Trying to do this without increasing the heat output. The tank is at 74 degrees in winter. Im sure it will go up in summer. I have 2 fans waiting and a split AC for the room if needed.

can you guys confirm the specie? is this H Erectus? LFS said they are from Brazil.

I also setup a 10gal for live ghost shrimps. These guys aren't eating frozen food. I feed about 3 ghost shrimp per sea horse daily.

the plan is to change 5gal WC weekly.. toss in some Ciporax bio rocks. hopefully eliminate nitrate issue

rayjay · 12/13/2017, 11:09 AM

FWIW, I've NEVER checked nitrates as they won't cause my seahorse deaths, especially with proper sized/timed water changes.
I don't think 3 shrimp a day per seahorse will be sufficient for long term survival so be extra vigilant watching to see if they begin to thin out in the main body.
While Brazil does have some erectus, it has been in my experience that most coming from brazil are H. reidi. ID from pictures is difficult but you can go to the ID Guide and check out for yourself. https://cites.unia.es/cites/file.php...-seahorses.pdf

m0nkie · 12/13/2017, 02:39 PM

thank you! I thought nitrate reading would mean the water is not as clean. guess I'll just stick to WCs

locito277 · 12/13/2017, 06:58 PM

Man brilliant minds think alike! Just purchased a marine land almost cube tank for pipefish and seahorses lol!

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rayjay · 12/14/2017, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m0nkie

thank you! I thought nitrate reading would mean the water is not as clean. guess I'll just stick to WCs

Unfortunately, the problem most seahorses are susceptible to are the nasty bacteria, and, there are NO tests available to a hobbyist that can tell when the water and tank have hit the point where the bacteria have started their expansion so that it is some time down the road where finally you see something wrong with the seahorses. Some assume it to be caused by something recent, but in fact it may have been a general decline over a long period of time.
For a new hobbyist I can see testing for the general parameters normal for salt water, but for me, I find that now I only really test for s.g., temperature. If I set up another tank, then I also check for ammonia until I know it is OK.
For my personal choice of husbandry and water change volume and frequency, the nitrates should NEVER be a problem.
I can't advise on tanks using the Triton method though as I don't see how the testing report (which may take time to get results) can tell you if the water or unseen detritus buildup is at the point seahorses are vulnerable.
I would be really receptive to anyone in the know explaining how that would work.

vlangel · 12/14/2017, 02:38 PM

Also, with your tank having 10 gallons less volume that is normally accepted for a pair of seahorses, you will need to compensate by doing more than the usual amount of water changes for a pair of seahorses. I personally do not think 5 gallons a week will be enough while you are waiting to get the sump and skimmer on line. I have 3 seahorses in a 56 gallon, a skimmer rated 3Xs my tank volume and a fuge full of thriving macro algae and I do 24 gallons a week and I still sometimes worry if that is enough. Better overkill than inadequate is my motto. I also never check nitrates.

09/30/2017, 04:39 PM	#1
m0nkie Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: LA Posts: 6,264	What is the minimal tank requirement for 2 seahorses? edit. minimal tank size*** requirement Hi guys. I want to get a small seahorse tank for my workroom. I have a salt water tank already. Not looking to put any fish in. Just 2 beginner seahorses. -What is a good cube sized tank? -as small as possible so it doesn't take much space. -recommendation on a good beginner seahorse? Planning on going barebottom. tonga branches for rockscape. some easy corals SH can use. thanks! __________________ 560gal in the making

09/30/2017, 10:21 PM	#3
rayjay Registered Member Join Date: Oct 1999 Location: London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 3,969	Please ignore that 20gT recommendation. The actual recommended size for ONE pair of STANDARD sized seahorses is 30g, but larger can be better. Adding a sump/refugium can increase the odds of success. A hugely oversized skimmer is a great benefit. It's not IMPOSSIBLE to keep two erectus in a 20g tank but the odds of success are VERY low in the long term. For it to work you would have to do an exorbitant amount of large water changes and do extreme husbandry to keep the tank clean enough to prevent the number one killer of seahorses, bacteria and internal chemistry problems that seahorses are so susceptible to. Not too many people can keep up such a regimen for too long even when they THINK they can. IMO, water quality needs to exceed that of any reef tank and seahorses themselves are bent on destroying that quality with their feeding habits. They are selective eaters, leaving a lot of food pieces uneaten, and, when they snick their food, they masticate it, passing particulate matter out through the gills and into the water column. Unfortunately, there are NO test kits available to the hobbyist to tell us when the water is deteriorating to the point the bacteria are going to become problematic so a preventive husbandry protocol works best. Two great sites to start your learning of what gives the best chances of success in keeping seahorses: www.seahorsesource.com and click on articles. www.fusedjaw.com and see articles. __________________ Seahorses. Culture nanno, rotifers and brine shrimp. Current Tank Info: Seahorses

10/01/2017, 09:20 AM	#5
rayjay Registered Member Join Date: Oct 1999 Location: London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 3,969	And, you are not the ONLY one to do so. However, the ones like you are FEW compared to the number of hobbyists who FAIL in the attempt to do so and many seahorse lives are lost because of it. This is based on my experiences and what I've followed on the forums for 14 yrs now. For that reason, I prefer to recommend what gives the BEST chances of success as opposed to what the few are succeeding with. Seahorses, like people, have varying degrees of health capabilities. We humans are a wide mix of those who don't ever seem to get sick or have problems as well as the majority who have some affinity for warding off problems but in reality do succumb from time to time to life's maladies, and, others still that seem to be always sick and have problems. When we buy seahorses we have no way to know what their status might be, so putting the last category of seahorses in that situation is almost certain to be problematic. Putting the middle class into the same situation you will probably have fewer problems but they will be there. Of course the first and healthiest ones are much more able to tolerate conditions as you describe and perhaps most of those will do OK. (no guarantee though) Of course, you can do EVERYTHING right and STILL end up with losses sometimes. With some luck and with good care, your standard seahorses should live in the range of 5-7 years, and some beyond that even. Of course, these are my opinions, and rather than depend just on those, please be sure to do plenty of research to find the opinions of others who are successful keepers, keeping in mind to lean towards those who seem to share opinions with a lot of others before going the route of lesser numbers of successes, bearing in mind you won't know what your new seahorses are capable of handling. __________________ Seahorses. Culture nanno, rotifers and brine shrimp. Current Tank Info: Seahorses

11/25/2017, 01:44 PM	#7
rayjay Registered Member Join Date: Oct 1999 Location: London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 3,969	It's not what they prefer that we have to consider as they prefer their natural habitat that we cannot give them. You can't provide enough copepods even in a 10g tank for long term survival of a pair of dwarfs and that is why the primary food for captive dwarfs is enriched live brine nauplii. Pods therefore are just a great additional nutrient profile for them. A ten gallon tank would need a lot of dwarfs to really be able to be worthwhile as they are hard to see. I have no problem with up to around 50 dwarfs in a 5g. __________________ Seahorses. Culture nanno, rotifers and brine shrimp. Current Tank Info: Seahorses

11/26/2017, 08:48 AM	#9
rayjay Registered Member Join Date: Oct 1999 Location: London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 3,969	The problem with Rotifers is that they still need to be enriched, but mostly it's a case of too small. It takes an inordinate amount of rotifers to be of any food value and that means maybe 5 or more times as many snicks which is expending energy of the dwarfs. I only use rotifers for initial week feeding of pelagic seahorse fry like H. reidi. __________________ Seahorses. Culture nanno, rotifers and brine shrimp. Current Tank Info: Seahorses

09/30/2017, 06:44 PM	#2
nutbar29 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Austin TX Posts: 83	You can get a 20g tall and have 2 erectus seahorses. That’s the smallest size you can go. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

10/01/2017, 01:15 AM	#4
nutbar29 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Austin TX Posts: 83	Rayjay yes bigger is better but a 20g is possible cuz I did it for years. When I first started I had a 20g T and I never had any issues with my seahorses. I also didn’t do big water changes I did 10% weekly and I had a hob skimmer meant for a 40g and a hob filter. I always kept my temperature at 70 and never had bacteria or any other problems with my seahorses. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

11/24/2017, 11:51 AM	#6
Pandagobyguy Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Overland Park, Kansas Posts: 333	Dwarf seahorses are different! From what ive read they actually prefer 10g to get high cope density. Please let me know if i am ill informed though!

12/11/2017, 10:13 PM	#10
SimplyDani Registered Member Join Date: May 2017 Posts: 7	Love this discussion! what do you guys think is the best beginner seahorse?

12/12/2017, 03:46 PM	#12
m0nkie Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: LA Posts: 6,264	thanks guys! I found a pair of seahorse at the LFS. they have been there for over a month and feeding on live ghost shrimps, so I picked up the pair. they are inside a Nuvo20 gal drop off tank. I'm currently still messing with the tank. Trying to add another 20gal refugium with an oversized skimmer. Trying to do this without increasing the heat output. The tank is at 74 degrees in winter. Im sure it will go up in summer. I have 2 fans waiting and a split AC for the room if needed. can you guys confirm the specie? is this H Erectus? LFS said they are from Brazil. I also setup a 10gal for live ghost shrimps. These guys aren't eating frozen food. I feed about 3 ghost shrimp per sea horse daily. the plan is to change 5gal WC weekly.. toss in some Ciporax bio rocks. hopefully eliminate nitrate issue __________________ 560gal in the making

12/13/2017, 11:09 AM	#13
rayjay Registered Member Join Date: Oct 1999 Location: London, Ontario, Canada Posts: 3,969	FWIW, I've NEVER checked nitrates as they won't cause my seahorse deaths, especially with proper sized/timed water changes. I don't think 3 shrimp a day per seahorse will be sufficient for long term survival so be extra vigilant watching to see if they begin to thin out in the main body. While Brazil does have some erectus, it has been in my experience that most coming from brazil are H. reidi. ID from pictures is difficult but you can go to the ID Guide and check out for yourself. https://cites.unia.es/cites/file.php...-seahorses.pdf __________________ Seahorses. Culture nanno, rotifers and brine shrimp. Current Tank Info: Seahorses

12/13/2017, 02:39 PM	#14
m0nkie Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: LA Posts: 6,264	thank you! I thought nitrate reading would mean the water is not as clean. guess I'll just stick to WCs __________________ 560gal in the making

12/13/2017, 06:58 PM	#15
locito277 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: miami Posts: 1,535	Man brilliant minds think alike! Just purchased a marine land almost cube tank for pipefish and seahorses lol! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk __________________ Nothings Free in this hobby Current Tank Info: 224 and 720 gallon in progress!

12/14/2017, 02:38 PM	#17
vlangel Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 2,409	Also, with your tank having 10 gallons less volume that is normally accepted for a pair of seahorses, you will need to compensate by doing more than the usual amount of water changes for a pair of seahorses. I personally do not think 5 gallons a week will be enough while you are waiting to get the sump and skimmer on line. I have 3 seahorses in a 56 gallon, a skimmer rated 3Xs my tank volume and a fuge full of thriving macro algae and I do 24 gallons a week and I still sometimes worry if that is enough. Better overkill than inadequate is my motto. I also never check nitrates.