I am not actually working on this tank as of yet, as i am still doing research, but hopefully will be able to start it in a couple of months. I am still a novice when it comes to the technical aspects of reefing. We have a 75 gallon but hubby (skrillnet) usually does the maintenance on all of it. I want to set up my own tank on a smaller scale, and was wondering if seahorses can be kept in a nano cube? Any advice on the tank requirements for seahorses would be greatly appreciated. Can those requirements be met in a nano cube? Thanks in advance! Belle
Hi Belle, to Razorback Reef Reefing Forum I love seahorses - but don't know a lot about them, I do think they have some special needs. On Reef Sanctuary they have a forum just dedicated to them, might read up some here. Pam the forum leader & know a lot about the ponies http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/seahorses-pipefish/ This is another great site http://seahorse.com/
oh... I think they can be kept in a nano tank... http://www.seahorse.org/ read this thread.... http://www.seahorse.org/cgi-bin/faq/smartfaq.cgi
I was planning on having my fluval edge be a seahorse tank at first, and still kind of wish I went with the little guys. I'm baby sitting a customers seahorse her daughter brought back from Florida right now as well : ) The main thing with the nano is the water flow, they don't like much water flow (living in lagoons and tide pools) so find a way to slow down the flow a lot.
And then there is the Seahorse diet. Hatching brine shrimp on a regular basis, hoping they'll eventually start eating frozen foods......certainly not an easy feet. Seems much more difficult than keeping 0 nitrate. But you and Calvin seem very capable and enthused, I'm sure you could successfully keep them. May want to talk to a few people who have kept them first. I know there was someone at NSA that raised them for a while. I want to say it was Shannon. When we first intered the hobby we were really wanting a seahorse tank, but after speaking with her and another person we decided we should start with simplar species. I hate buying animals only to have them die. Such a waste of life for pure vanity and ego. Have you considered trying to keep a mandarin goby(dragonet) first? Once your refugium is established....meaning you have a thriving population of pods you could try your hand at one of them. Or hatch some brine shrimp eggs to see the process. It's going to be quite a hassle......but it would certainly be an amazing mini ecosystem.Â
Having had seahorses a few times over the years I can say it is much easier now. I sold my last seahorse tank to Jim and Marti (who worked at NSA) and they kept them for quite a while. It was a 30 gal and had 4 in it. With dwarf seahorses, the easiest to keep, you can use a nano tank. Check out www.seahorse.org for some great info. Follow their advice and you should be able to keep and breed them if you are willing to put in the time.
While they are reef safe you don't want to put them in a mixed reef tank since they will be competing for food. Put them in their own tank, dwarfs can live in any size tank as long as you can meet their requirements and a very small tank is well suited but remember temperature and warer perameters fluctuates in a small tank and that would be my main concern. I think a 12 gallon nano would be ideal if it was led due to the heat issue. Also remember you have to be prepared to raise live food for these guys.
When I bought my Fluval Spec the first thing I thought was' this would be perfect for a seahorse tank. It's 2g which would be a challenge, but the pump is only 40gph and the stock led light might even be fine for a few softies. I have wondered if crustaceans are bad to mix wit them, maybe Norman or wlyon can answer that. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
I would see no problems with some snails and/or small hermits. Larger shrimps and the like sometimes pick on them (if you're talking dwarf seahorses). They do very well with pipefish if they have plenty of live food and don't have much competition. They are pretty hardy and breed easily, have fun and keep us posted on your progress.
