Freshwater tank to a saltwater?

Question

I plan on selling my two thailand bettas soon to someone who will breed them (Never been bred, I just dont have the space for 50+ babies from the single spawn)

I want to convert there divided 10 gallon to a saltwater tank for a pair of seahorses.
Can I do this?

Edit : Everyone saying 10 gallon is two small for seahorses... I have seen several sites stating a 10 gallon is perfectly fine for a pair of seahorses.

Answer 1

A 10 gallon would be a good size for a pair of "dwarf" seahorses, but not many other species. This link from seahorse.org will give a list of the appropriate species: http://www.seahorse.org/cgi-bin/faq/smartfaq.cgi?answer=1057342312 The difficulty here with a ten gallon is a combination of both size and shape for larger species.

Seahorses are "tall" fish by the way they hold their bodies erect, and show more vertical (up and down, rather than horizontal movement. That doesn't allow them a lot of swimming space in a low tank. Many owners use hexagonal, corner, or "tall" tanks for seahorses for this reason.

The other consideration is water volume, and this presents a couple of problems. First, seahorses require EXCELLENT water quality. For two medium-sized seahorses, the waste will build up quickly, because they have a relatively high metabolism and need to be fed about five to six 3/4 inch shrimp spaced throughout the day. More food = more wastes. A tank with a larger volume would at least dilute the wastes more. A filter and skimmer could be added to clean, but seahorses are very slow swimmers, and in a 10 gallon, that much flow would create a lot of turbulance for them.

That's not to say it couldn't be done in a 10 gallon, as long as you choose an appropriate speces of seahorse, and follow a strict cleaning and water change routine. If you've never kept saltwater before, I would suggest getting a species that doesn't require too close to the 10 gallon volume, so you have a little breathing room in terms of water quality. I would plan to use some small pieces of live rock in the tank to help with biological filtration as well, plus it will likely come with some small shrimp already on it, and if stacked in a corner or around the base of a hitching post, the shrimp will breed where the seahorses can't get to all of them.

You will need to cycle the tank before adding the seahorses, because they won't tolerate the ammonia and nitrite in the water without doing so. If you aren't familiar with cycling, please read this link: http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

You'll also need to change your substrate to something appropriate for a marine tank - I prefer aragonite mixes by CaribSea - here's some info and photos about their substrates, and you should be able to find these in pet stores that carry saltwater supplies: http://www.caribsea.com/pages/products/dry_aragonite.html The reason for the aragonite is that it help to buffer the pH, something regular aquarium gravel won't do.

You'll also want a saltwater testing kit to measure the pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. The levels you want to maintain here are pH 8.2-8.4, ammonia and nitrite = 0, and nitrate as low as possible.

You'll also need a salt mix and a hydrometer (used to measure the concentration of salt in the water, you want this between 1.024-1.026).

Although decorations aren't as much of a concern for other saltwater tanks, you'll need to find something to which the seahorses can anchor themselves. This will have to be determined by the species chosen and the length of their tails. This could be a finely branched fake coral or a plant replica, as long as the branches/leaves allow places where they can wrap their tails.

Evelyn has given you about every seahorse website known, so I won't list more. I would encourage you to research seahorses before you decide to keep them, and to try another marine species first (a clown goby, or some species of shrimp gobies can be kept in in a ten gallon) if you haven't kept a marine tank before.

Answer 2

Seahorses are very delicate and should really be kept in a tank no smaller than 30 gallons. If you have never kept a saltwater tank seahorses are not a good starter fish. They have specific needs and also grow to 12inches. nothing else should really be kept with them because they are slow eaters and any other fish will get the food first causeing them to slowly starve to death. If you do convert to saltwater than you will need to cycle the tank all over again because the bacteria is different in saltwater than in freshwater. Being that seahorses are so delicate they should really only be kept by experts. 10 gallons is a very small tank for saltwater the only thing i would ever put in a 10 gallon saltwater tank is some inverts and some corals. Do more research on keeping saltwater tanks befor inhumanely putting a seahorse in such a small tank.

Addition the reason everyone is saying a 10 gallon is to small is a good indication that it is in fact to small. You can keep a dog crated for its entire life but that doesnt mean it is right to do. You will be able to house them in a 10 gallon tank but its more of an issue of whether it is humane or not. Seahorses are also expensive and putting them right into a brand new tank that has not cycled will more likely than not kill them and you will have to cut your losses. If you dont want to hear that it is to small than why did you bother asking if it is possible to do in that size tank? I am not trying to disuade you from doing it i am just saying that it really isnt a good idea from a moral standpoint. if you are really interested in keeping such exotic beautiful fish than you should invest the money into a home that would more suit them.

Answer 3

I don't know anything about converting a freshwater to a marine tank, but i know copperhead can
As for seahorses here are some great links for you to read
http://www.breedersregistry.org/Reprints/FAMA/v19_dec96/giwojna_pt3.htm
http://www.petsforum.com/OKCAA/articles/seahorseII.pdf
http://www.smarter.com/seahorses_everything_about_history_care_nutrition_handling_and_behavior_---pd--ch-1--pi-4654614.html
http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/saltwater/Weiss_Tami_keeping_seahorses.html
http://seahorse.fisheries.ubc.ca/pos-keeping.html
http://www.squidoo.com/seahorse_keeping/
http://www.seahorses.de/seahorses.htm
http://www.syngnathids.org/
http://www.wsu.edu/~gmckinne/atrade.htm


There is a lot of info on these sites, read them very careful, seehorses are extremly sensitive


Hope that helps a bit
Good luck


EB


EDIT*
For all the people that say 10 gallon is too small, they are wrong, if you're going to keep as an example dwarf seahorses it's not even recommended to get anything bigger then a 10 gallon, a link about them is right here
http://www.syngnathid.org/articles/dwarfKeeping.html

Answer 4

well, you should start saltwater aquarium and see how you do with it for about first couple months, if you you are doing good of keeping saltwater fish alive go ahead and get your self seahorses. But seahorses are difficult too take care of, so before you buy one do a little research.

Answer 5

Well it is possible, but you need a saltwater filter, and you have to have special sea sand in stead of gravel, you may also need to set the pH, and temperature to a certain point where it is comfortable for seahorses, and you need plenty of maintenance.
Good Luck

2N!$H

Answer 6

10 gal is too small for seahorses and sea horses are a hard saltwater fish to care for, and as you have never had saltwater fish b4 i think it would be quite difficult.

Answer 7

This WILL be difficult! I don't think you will be able to do such thing...