Starting a seahorse tank

IME, most SH, meaning the larger species, will use every bit of lateral space you give them. The "tall tank" thing really comes into play for breeding them, as the water column needs to be of sufficient height for them to complete their coital "spins" and make the egg transfer. This is especially true of younger, inexperienced pairs.

Now zots are another story, because as mentioned, they're REALLY lazy little SH, and as such, don't swim much at all, even for SH. They pretty much sit there and wait for food to swim by so they can snick it up (this speaks to that "feeding density" thing).

I hope this makes a bit more sense...the custom tank shape is fine for SH, but you may not get your money's worth if you keep zots in it.

 

I'd prefer to have regular SH, but since the tall tank isn't wide enough, I'll settle for a 5g cube for zots

 

Well, your next problem is going to be where to buy the H zosterae from.
Being in Canada, it's very difficult to get them as there are no breeders at present that I'm aware of.
Sea U Marine in Markham Ontario near Toronto bring them in from seahorsecorral.com in Florida, but they are VERY expensive by the time they are landed at Toronto International, with original cost added to with cities and vet certification, Brokerage charges, shipping charges, bringing them to the $40 range per seahorse.
Maybe if you post on all the Canadian forums you might find a hobbyist that is producing some still, or, an LFS that is importing wild caught zosterae, but it will probably be a challenge finding them if you can.

 

Ouch. That doesn't sound too good.

But I realized I wouldn't have time to maintain a SH, what with having a full time job, and classes coming up soon. I'm just going to put extra effort into the reef tank.

Thanks for the replies, everyone

 

Zero,

nobody was actually TRYING to talk you out of keeping SH, but what we WERE doing was giving you a good window into their requirements.

SH aren't that tuff (esp. the larger species), but they are indeed "special needs" fishes. However, once those needs are met, they're not to hard to keep. They do require more a good deal more care than any other SW fish I've kept, however.

Anyhow, I think you'll have a full plate coming up, and SH will always be there for you to try your hand at later.

 

Agreed :thumb_up:. Imagine them like Freshwater Discus. Aren't extremely difficult fish to keep yet they do require a bit more special care and treatment than the regular fish. And like Greg said once you get them up and running they're great! It's a shame you don't have the time. Maybe next time

 

I know nobody was trying to stop me.. But they helped me realize I just don't have time