Seahorse tank build

Hey everyone! I've decided on a 20 gallon long seahorse tank, and I'm wondering what variety of inexpensive seahorse I should use and what sort of things I could put in a tank with it, I.e. Corals that won't kill it or die under my crappy 2x 24 watt T5's. Also, if there are any good inverts/fish that I could house comfortably.


Thanks!


-M

 

Dwarf seahorses, hopefully? A 20g L is only 12" tall. Full size seahorses get 6" tall. They are also vertical swimmers.

Sponges, zoanthids, and palythoa would be fine in a seahorse tank. Pipefish and mandarin gobies make good tank mates.

 

Looks like Seano has the right idea. Having a 20L, your tank would only be suitable for dwarfs at best.

 

Unfortunately, a 20g tank is too large for dwarfs unless you are going to keep a heck of a lot of them, (they need live food only) and too small for keeping normal sized seahorses.
The recommended size for normal seahorses is a minimum 29/30g for a pair of seahorses, and an additional 15g for each additional pair after the first pair.
Keeping seahorses is difficult enough at that stocking density let alone doing it in a smaller space.
You could put a pair in a 20H with a sump holding another 10g. i.e. 15g sump, but why not just go with a 30g tank?
Please check out the links at the bottom of the page linked in my signature.
Those links will provide you what you should know to get into the hobby.
Buying cheap to get into seahorses is not the way to go as those seahorses will be normally net pen raised or tank raised (large cement tanks) using ocean water insufficiently treated to remove the pathogens. They are mostly bred to be sold to the Asian medicine trade and some get siphoned off for the hobby trade.
True captive bred seahorses cost more to produce so are more expensive to buy.
Check out Seahorse Source, Peka's Ponies, and Seahorse Corral

 

Actually H. Zostrae don't do well in larger systems because it is so hard to keep the food concentrated in a small area. Also they are a very demanding fish to keep. They must be fed enriched live baby brine shrimp 2 times a day. I had a dozen in a 20 gallon and 4 starved to death because they simply couldn't get enough to eat. I moved the survivors to a 1.5 gallon desktop.
I wouldn't recommend dwarfs as your first seahorse.
Check out seahorse.org and fusedjaw.com, there's tons of excellent advise on both those sites from experienced breeders and keepers. Also our very own Incognito and RayJay both know their stuff with these animals.