Help w/ pygmy seahorse?

Question

Hi! I really want to get a seahorse. I've been researching for days and here’s what I found (just wanted to OK it with you guys (&ask a lot of questions lol)

Alreat, so I'm planning on getting a pygmy seahorse aka dwarf seahorse aka hippocampus zosterae. I have a question already: Does anyone know where to get it? I would like to have it captive breed.

For the tank set up I have another question: On many websites it says 10 gallons are too BIG?! They say that I would have to feed them a lot, as they only eat live food such as brine shrimp, which are tiny. It also says that I would need 10 dwarf seahorses! They say for a beginner a 2-5 gallon is best! What do you guys think?

Here’s the tank set up:
5/10 gallon tank,
black sand (bought at pet store)
sponge filter<---any recommendations btw?
Some plants (live&fake)
driftwood
heater

If I got the 10 gallon I geuss I would have 10? If i got the 5 gallon 2? idk! I also might get some hermit crabs (small ones)

So here are all my questions in a nutshell:
1. What size tank?
2. How many seahorses?
3. Where to get captive breed pygmy seahorses
4. Any other tips? (Heating, salinity, gravity, testing kits, etc...)
5. What filter is best?
6. How much do you think they would cost?
7. Should I get live rock/sand?




Thanks so much!

Don't yell at me guys, but this would be my first marine aquarium. Would it be possible for me to do that if I payed lots of attention to it?

srry, i did forget to add saltwater&test kits (don't worry I already have them)

oh yeahh, no driftwood either

Answer 1

First, you need to forget driftwood. This makes the pH of the water low, and marine organisms need to have it between 8.2-8.4. Consider getting some macroalgae for them to use for a hitching post (even plastic ones for fish tanks work). Also, the substrate should be carbonate material, so if you want black sand, find one made for cichlids so it can help with the pH.

Sponge filters are all basically the same - a plastic tube with openings with a sponge around it to prevent larger objects from getting pulled into the holes. If you look online for DIT sponge filter, you can find sites that tell you how to make these yourself. The differences come in the air pump used to run them. Don't get the cheapest you can find - this is what you're relying on to keep your seahorses alive. Smaller pumps generally aren't adjustable, so I would get a decent pump, then use a plastic valve in the airline to adjust the flow. Also, get a check valve, which prevents the water from flowing back into the air pump if the electric goes out (which it will do if the pump is lower than the tank - it will act as a siphon).

I don't see you mention all you'll need to create a saltwater environment on your list - you'll need marine salt mix, a hydrometer, a separate container for mixing the water, and you should have a test kit, so you're able to test the tank for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. You want the levels of the first two to be zero, and the nitrate to be as low as possible (preferably under 10ppm).

Small tanks are preferred since the zosterae are small themselves, and in a large tank, they may not see food immediately. If food goes unnoticed and decays in the tank, this will foul your water, and seahorses are pretty particular about their water quality! Plus, in a smaller tank, it makes it easier for you to see and watch them. They are social fish, so you should have a few . The more you have, the more likely you see them form breeding pairs, but this can happen with fewer as well. You might decide to start with fewer, maybe 4. You can always add to this later if your first group does well.

As far as where to buy them, try these links:
http://www.oceanrider.com/
http://www.liveaquaria.com/ - not currently listed among the seahorses available, but they only carry captive bred

salinity should be 1.024-1.026, good submersible heater at 5 watts per gallon of tank volume (if you need to raise the temperature more than 10oF above room temperature, get the next larger size)

I like API satwater master test kit - it's what I use for my own saltwater tanks (3).

For filters, you want SLOW water movement - seahorses aren't strong swimmers, and you don't want them blasted arounf the tank. I would suggest looking for one that has a foam insert, since the added surface area will allow more area for bacteria to grow (this keeps your ammonia and nitrites low), and where the flow can be adjusted. I like the Aquaclear models for this, but I don't know if they have something for the small size of tank you'll need. You could just use the sponge filter, or an undergravel filter (which gives good biological filtration, but are harder to clean).

Live rock is fine to use (you get some small shrimp and copepods which your horses will eat as treats. The rock also makes the tank look more natural, and also contains the beneficial bacteria. Sine the live rock has the starter bacteria, it's not necessary to get live sand as well. You can get dry substrate of the same type for about 1/2 of the price, and the bacteria from the live rock will reproduce and colonize your sand.

ADDITION: It is possible for beginning marine aquarists to keep seahorses, maybe because some are "extra careful" since they're keeping a saltwater tank for the first time and have heard about how difficult it is to keep saltwater. (My own thoughts are that the difficulty is usually because the people didn't prepare and do research first into what's involved! ) You might want to start with a small cleaner fish (like a clown goby) first, just to get the hang of mixing the salt and doing water testing and the changes if you don't have a lot of experience from freshwater. It doesn't hurt to have the tank cycled before you add the seahorses (if you're not familiar with cycling, see this: http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm )

Answer 2

Ditto to copper...just to add some advice.
I have been keeping seahorses for a bit of time now and i would stay away from the dwarfs for a few reasons. They really are one of the hardest species to keep alive because they are tough to even get them to eat. In captivity some still wont take live food. If you never kept a marine tank and plan to jump into seahorses than i would look into the captive bred hippocampus erectus before attempting to keep the zostreraes. All seahorses shopuld be fed 2-3 times a day and water quality needs to be pristine! With all the excess food that will go to waste it makes it tough to keep the water quality up in such a small tank that the dwarfs will like. This is why i would reccomend the erectus horses before attempting the dwarfs. They are much hardier than the dwarfs and they live much longer. The dwarfs only live around one year if i am not mistaken.
Not trying to steer you away from the dwarfs because you may have a great deal of luck with them but, i think you will have a better chance of sucess with the erectus horses and they will also be much easier to find. I have now sucessfully bred erectus, kudas, and now working on the reidis. I have not been able to keep the zosteraes with much success. So from my own expierence i think you may want to explore other options as far as syngnathids go whether it be pipefish or full sized seahorses.Feel free to email me and id be happy to answer any questions you may have as far as setting up a successful seahorse tank. Good luck with your venture into seahorses and keep us posted on how it goes!

Answer 3

Everything that Copperhead just posted sounds spot on, but if it were me I'd skip on buying live rock simply because there is no telling what might be lurking in pieces ordered online or bought from dealers' tanks and some hitchhikers could be a potentially threat to dwarf seahorses and their fry. If you like the look of live rock, buy some base rock and let it mature in your tank. It will become "live" in no time and without the threat of nasties like mantis shrimp.

This is a project I've considered setting up in the past. I love seahorses and seadragons. I hope to set up a tank myself someday. Good luck to you. :)


Oh, and here's another website to browse through. They specialize in dwarf seahorses, apparently. It's one of the sites I was looking through a few months ago.

http://www.seahorsefarms.com

Answer 4

Yikes! Seahorses are not that common of aquatic pets (though more suiting as a pet than that baby moral eel I saw!), but I have heard of them being pets...
Since they are not so common, I think it would be better to ask a profressional or some place that sells them.
And hermit crabs with the seahorses? The types of hermit crabs I'm used to need mostly dry land, not an tank with mostly water!
But I'm not familiar with aquatics...
Hope it did help alittle... somehow!