24 gal seahorse tank

[saltyell]

Hi, I have a DD 24 gal nano cube , and would like to keep seahorses. Preferably reidi, just one pair. Or is there a better option - dwarfs, perhaps? Now should I modify this particular tank to make this fit for the horses? The flow coming out of the back of the tank (where the media is) is quite fierce - whow do you restrict this? Also, what are the best methods of feeding these things...a hatchery might be possible! AAnd I plant to use sponges as the media, with a few kilo's of Live rock and some fake SPS and some live caulerpa algae...I'm not new to the hobby but have never kept seahorses..been told that they are much easier to keep now due to the abundance of tank bred varieties...any help would be much apreciated! :D

[Peculiar_Clown]

Hi,

Simply recommend a minimum of 100 litres for a pair, so you're just under this. I'd say go for it.

As for the 'return', can this not be directed at the surface or an aquarium wall to bounce the flow and allow it to dissipate. Or add a deflector, or reduce the intake capacity of the pump.

[jamesh]

i had 2 kuda in a 20 gal the best thing i did was put a spray bar on the tank, it not only solved the flow problem but solved the cyno problem(its a pitty i only found this out 2 days before my mum told me i could upgrade :( )

oh and its 5 times too big for dwarfs

[saltyell]

so reidi or kuda? which are better beginner 'horses? And is it Ok if nitrates are around 40 - with sponges as the main filter I sttruggle to bring em down?:thanks:

[Sailfin]

Hya Saltyell

When you say which is best what do you want? There are a few you could have in a tank that size (but not dwarfs). I wouldn't say any horses are better begginers horses - if they're bred right they are all as strong/weak as each other. The fry of kuda are marginally easier to raise than reidi but apart from that. However be very careful that you don't go and buy the kuda hybrids which are increadible difficult to keep long term. I'm probably going to be shot for saying this but yes you can keep seahorses in nitrates of 40 - mine are in anything from 10 to 50.

You shouldn't need a hatchery - all the captive bred seahorses available in this country are weaned onto frozen food at an early age. as long as you have a load of mysis shrimp to hand with some method of enrichment you'll be fine.

Keep asking questions mate - you'll be sound with them.

[JasandJules]

No, nitrates of 40 are not really ideal. 20 or so max for hippos IMHO. And the important factor is maintaing a stable PH, thus a spraybar at the surface is a good idea from that point of view as well.

remove the sponges?
And can you feed them 3-4 times a day as well? And ideally can you get an overtank fuge? If so, caulerpa and copipods in there is a great way to keep a live food supply at all times, and I also used to breed brineshrimp in the little hatcheries and add them every few days as well... Also adding vitamins to the frozen food is useful, I assume that you will only get tank bred so they will be raised on Frozen food...

[nik9591]

Hi its great to see young people having a go at marines.
A pair of Seahorses require a min of 100 litres, your D+D nano holds less than that.
A nano tank is not suitable for seahorses they require a larger tank for them to have any chance of surviving long term . It is very difficult to maintain water quality in these tanks as water changes very quickly i.e S.G/PH/NITRATES. If you want seahorses go for a 24"x24"x24" cube pre drilled with sump tonga living rock and caulerpa in display tank and living rock as your filtration in the sump.
A pair of seahorses will set you back between £120/180 from a good retailer in Cheshire cant name them they are not sponsors for this forum.
Think carefully before you buy and get your system up and running a couple of months before adding these beautiful mythical creatures

[Sailfin]

Hya saltyell

Is this tank alreay running? As you say Nitrates of 40 I'm assuming it is - if so whats in there now to maintain these nitrates? Or are you guessing that the nitrates will be 40 when its set up. I would think very carefully before removing any sponges in filters as you will not be able to maintain the flow required for using live rock as biological filtration with horses in there. (All my seahorse tanks are run on various canister filters with varying amounts of sponges in them, they are however cleaned every week).

An overtank fuge is obviously a good idea for pods but I would assume that if this is a s/h only tank you will have a lot of macro algae in there anyway - the pods can hide in this. Always a good idea to top pods up occasionally. By all means use a brine shrimp hatchery but ime adult seahorses rarely take bbs, and you don't want to be feeding adult brineshrimp to them.

It is more difficult to maintain stable water params in a smaller tank but I notice your not a complete newcomer to the hobby so don't see why in reality this should be a problem as long as you research properly, (three of my seahorses tanks are considered nanos - one is only 20 litres!)

Have a look at Tiger tails (H. comes), these are small seahorses anyway and 90 litres is fine for them. They are nocturnal but mine are out and about through the day most of the time.

hth

[Bill19]

Its set up as a Qt at the mo. It has had copper in 'ages ago', but he says it should be gone by now? lol and he will test for it. he wants it to have lots of xenia for them, to attach too. lol i am mates with him.