caring for seahorses

ok before we start you can see by my sig that one of my fish will enjoy the seahorse more than me. i was just wondering how to care for them. i WILL NOT put them in with my dwarf lionfish because that would be suicide for the seahorse. my lfs has tank raised seahorses for 40 dollars and i was just wondering if it would be worth it to try them when i no longer have the dwarf. my tank has been set up for 3 months now and we have had no problems so far. what are the seahorses special needs and nutrition? How big of a tank? i have done barely any research but am now kind of curious about them and since some people have seahorses on here i figured i might ask. thanks in advance

Gexx

 

Lots of threads here that go into great detail on this subject.
Give it a seach...you'll be amazed.
Good luck.
LG

 

I know that they eat mysis shrimp and cope pods, and they can't be fish that will take its food. But why can't you keep it with the dwarf lionfish? are the seahorses small?

 

yes they are pretty small. only about 1 to two inches in length.

 

would be a small snack for the lion. Plus seahorses are species only tank. They are very picky and slow eaters and are poor swimmers

Tank raised are the only type of seahorses you should get...stronger and healthier.

They do eat mysis and brine shrimp. But you also have to have the ability to raise live food (brine) because at times seahorses will all the sudden stop eating for no reason and then you will have to supplement live.

You will have to mod your tank to decrease flow as they are poor swimmers. Also have to watch out and cover (more then likely) any grates for your overflow They will get sucked in very easily. You will need to have hitching posts for them (dead acro, sea fans, etc)

I kept a large patch of cheato in my tank that I would supplement tiger pods into it so that they had live food all the time. Seahorsess require couple time a day feedings and pristine water conditions with freq changes (since they are so messy eaters)

 

First of all, you should know that over the last decade of the seahorse hobby, it has been determined that the majority of seahorse kept at reefing temperatures have died.
The biggest problem (just one of many problems) is the horse's susceptibility to the various bacteria (most times vibrio) found in tanks that multiply exponentially as temperatures rise 75°F and above. The higher the temperature, the faster they multiply.
Another problem is that the seahorses become used to parasites they encounter as they grow up, but can't handle the infestations that occur when exposed to parasites other fish and other seahorse species. (even seahorses of the same species but from a different source)
As if that is not enough, having tank mates that can swim fast can stress the seahorses so that they refuse to eat, and that's if the tankmates leave food for the slow seahorses to search out and snick up.
Even the recommended seahorse specific tank and keeping temps under 75° are not a guarantee of success.
While I have no facts to back this statement up. From seeing sales of seahorses around here, and not able to find hardly anyone who still has the horses after a year, I doubt that there are 1% of the seahorses sold last year in this area, still alive today when kept in reef type conditions or with other tank mates.
I have tried numerous times with very limited success and I won't risk more seahorse lives trying again.
Conversly, the seahorse fry I'm raising came from a hobbyist that while he has no other fish in the tank, it is basically kept under reefing conditions.
Know also that LFS's many times lie about the source of their seahorses, or, at least repeat lies they have been told by their suppliers.
Wild caught, net pen raised, tank raised, captive bred, all can be and are misused more than not.
Most "tank raised" from a store means that the male has been removed from the wild to capture the fry he is carrying, which are then started off in tanks and moved to net pens which are in the wild and subject the seahorses to the same pathogens that wild caught are.
A true captive bred seahorse should at the very least be 2 generations from wild caught, and bred, born and raised to for sale size in tanks.
An indication of what the store is actually selling can be determined somewhat by looking at the price.
Cheapest horse will be the wild caught, which doesn't usually eat frozen foods and must be fed live food.
Next up the price scale is net pen raised (started in tanks and moved to pens) where they have the same pathogens as wild caught but are usually trained to eat frozen mysids.
(probably what the $40 horses are)
Most expensive will be a true captive bred tank raised seahorse as sold by places like Seahorse Source dot com.
They normally would have far fewer problems with pathogens, eat frozen mysids and have a better survival record.
You mentioned not having done much research yet so I would urge you to see the site with the most and best information available at seahorse dot org.

 

Um.. I have a 55 hex seahorse tank some suggestions I would give to you is I would specify a tank for seahorses only. Some corals can sting seahorses, the coral banded shrimp tend to be very aggressive so those would not be good with the seahorse. The seahorse have to be fed at least 3 times a day I guess you can get away with two but I would suggest 3 times a day. You can't feed them all at once has to be small portions the tank has to be super clean. Even the clownfish might be too aggressive for the seahorses. The only other fish I have is a mandarin dragonet. You want a lot of hitching posts plus a steady supply of copepods. The water has to be around 73-75 degrees and the salt water has to stay consistent never .01 away. Like many other people said before they are very prone to diseases that is something to watch out for. They don't like a lot of flow very little at that. They are a difficult species I would not buy one from petco although we did because we felt sorry for it and right now it has been about three months and he still does not want to eat mysis shrimp like the other horses. Also you need atleast one pair because they are a very social animal. Lastly, they like to swim vertically not horizontally so you should keep that in mind as well. If you do it and make a commitment that this is a huge commitment and that it is also very rewarding. If you are looking for something hardy though I would stay away from seahorses they tend to stay in one spot and don't move that much or at least as much as regular fish. It is very cool to hand feed them though and just watch them eat ^^. Good luck to you and I hope this helps

 

The caring for seahorses takes lots of time and commitment. First, before purchasing any seahorse whether it be tank raised (advised) or wild caught (not advised at all), you should do your own research in the seahorse forums of well know sites such as seahorse dot org or seahorse dot com. I use seahorse dot org because they were the first of the seahorse ranches to be established in the US, and have won awards for their research and survival rates over the years since opening to the public. Their long time tank raised seahorses have become somewhat immune to some of the pathogenic diseases that a seahorse would normally NOT be immune to. Not only that, but they offer a free certification to persons just interested in them or to persons that plan to buy them. NO test, just very easy to understand literature by one of their most known persons for the site. Not to mention they sell some of the most beautifully bred specimens on the market. I live in Tennessee and shipping from Hawaii in mid summer temperatures went perfectly fine. No signs of stress at all, and one pair were pregnant. I am not advertising for them, just giving a general idea of how to obtain information and an easy place to find the seahorse you may want.
They are very very easily stressed, so I wouldn't advise having any fish in the tank with them (except for the mandarin dragonet). They scare easily, eat slow, are shy and like to hide at times, are poor swimmers, and come breeding times; they don't need distracted (they are nosy) or interrupted.
Another thing is to have all of the medication on hand for the tank bred seahorses diseases that they can catch. There are many out there to choose from, and there are many that you will need to have on hand before you purchase the first seahorse. Reason being, if it gets sick with say Vibrio, by the time you order the medication for it, it would come to it's demise before it came in the mail/FEDEX. I have saw Vibrio kill them over night or within hours by the time it can be detected.
Corals to be kept in a seahorse tank is an "iffy" subject as more and more are being tried and are having success. Just stay away from the stinging types of corals. Some corals can't be mixed with other corals and put off toxins. Some retract when touched. Just research it, and when in doubt; ASK FIRST.
Inverts is another touchy subject when talking about seahorses. The snails of course are a must in a seahorse tank; although there are the few snails that shouldn't be put in with seahorses, and you can find the exact ones in your research in the sites I mentioned above. NO ANEMONES. Seahorses are nosy fishes and will wrap their tails right around one for hitching and get stung leaving a wound for you to have to medicate, or if the anemone is big enough, it will catch and consume the seahorse as it's meal. Shrimp is ok with some. The non-aggressive types such as the peppermint shrimp, skunk cleaners, and fire red shrimp; although some of the shrimp that you can put in the tank with seahorses are not matches to put in mixed together, if small enough, they can become the next meal for the seahorse itself. Then you are out the money for an expensive decorative shrimp becoming a meal for your pony.
The main thing to remember is like with any other saltwater/freshwater fish, is to take all the preventative measures possible to have success. Tank size, filtration, cycling it, and the way you stock it. Water quality, PH, alkalinity, ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites are the number one factors in stress and disease. With seahorses, unless a tropical species of them, temperature is a major issue in disease prevention. Subtropical species are not like other fishes that can withstand high temperature levels. Then the other big issues are food quality, making sure they are all eating a well balanced diet offering them a mixture of foods to keep them happy.
One other thing that I would recommend in purchasing a seahorse would be to purchase one on the medium size scale level. Meaning with the tail uncurled, for it to be around the 2.5 inch to 3.5 inch range. This allow it to have some age on it to where you know it is past that juvenile stage that is so hard to get them past. A very small seahorse is very unlikely to make it after transport to a lfs, then into your home. It just stresses them too much. There will be some exceptions to the rule, but very few.
It is a very rewarding hobby for you at home, but at times, when one seahorse gets sick, or you have a vacation planned, and just so happen that the pair get pregnant/has fry, it can knock you out of certain plans, or feel like a full time job instead of a hobby. So think it through very carefully, do your research, and ASK questions before you bring such a delicate but beautiful fish home.

Good luck and I hope this post helps out with answering your questions on seahorses. Best wishes!!!

 

Have you considered dwarf sea horses? H.Zosterae. They are amazing, less susceptible to disease, and as long as you can rear brine shrimp, you can breed these cute little guys.

I'm not going to outline their care for you here, google it, there's tons of good info.

As far as the "captive bred" store bought seahorses...I would shy away from them. There's a fair chance your LFS employees don't even know what species it is, not because of them being bad employees, but because the lists they order livestock from may simply say "captive bred seahorse" with no more info than that.

Seahorses have a larger cult following with just as much info and time devoted to them as the realm of SPS corals.

Find out what species you may be purchasing and google it, I'm sure there will be a care sheet in the first 8 matches.

I would also try and utilize craigslist and your local reef/fish clubs and post adds/talk to people and see if anyone is currently breeding seahorses in your area, chances are, someone is. If you can locate that person you can get more help and healthier seahorses than any amount of time on a forum can give you.

Good luck!! And remember H.Zosterae is amazing and easy to keep and breed, treat it like a species specific reef tank and you will do just fine.(you can also keep dwarf pipefish safely and happily with dwarf seahorses, they eat the same food and come from the same waters)

 

Dwarf seahorse feeding - YouTube
All stages of the dwarf seahorses life eat freshly hatched brine shrimp, and no special care is needed for breeding(in a species specific tank) they will pair off on their own and won't eat each others babies.

Dwarf seahorse Birth - YouTube

Look at their size relative to that airline hose...So Cute!!!(I'm 270 Lbs of gun toting nevadan...my manhood isn't challenged)