NoobtoSalt Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Ok so I was supposed to be getting two bicolor anthias for my parents tank today but instead I got 2 hawaiian seahorses. Although they are amazing fish I don't have the slightest idea of how to take care of them and what size tank I will need. I'm up for the challenge and the guy I got them shipped from said a 10 gallon tank would be fine for 2 of them. Any other suggestions on what to do with them? I won't be using a powerhead but don't really know what else is going to be needed. The water will be pulled from my 29 biocube as well as sand from that system and probably purchase a little more. Any help for these little guys would be great. Right now until I head to the store they are hanging in a 1 gallon tank. DOH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 What species are they? Most seahorses need low flow, items to hold on to, and nothing in the tank that will sting or try to eat them. I know most all species will need daily and preferably several daily feedings. Are these tank raised or wild caught? I have an old ac70 hob filter and some sand if you need it. I also have a few small dry rock pieces I just got from reef cleaners so you would not have a cycle. If you picked up a few fake corals or plants they could hold on to you would be all set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 I've got some rubble/etc if you want, I think an AC70 (or similar) sounds like the right plan and plenty of flow from what I understand. I would be shy of zoas (for the toxin) and limit it to only really peaceful inverts. I wouldn't put any other animals except an algae crew (they're such slow eaters, I hear they'll be beat out by most other fish). I would bet cyclopeeze may work well for feeding, or other teeny foods, though I've heard of some issues getting horses to eat non-live food. I'm almost jealous, I'd love to have horses but am too scared to stick my neck out...an accident like yours would maybe be a blessing in disguise! If you could find SPS that tolerate lowflow, I bet the horses would love the branches for hanging onto...but not if they'll sting the horses. Best plan is probably carefully selected dry rock pieces and fake coral/plants/etc. sounds cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted June 22, 2012 Author Share Posted June 22, 2012 Well I have some live rock that came from my parents tank I just snagged. It's only two small pieces. The tank I just bought has to go back due to the side of it being completely cracked. For the time being I have a standard 10 gallon tank that I've been using as my water changing station. I have it up and running with a HOB filter but will be upgrading that shortly since it's a cheap one. As far as feeding them I typically feed cyclopeeze to my biocube so that's not an issue, I've heard that they can also eat mysis. I don't plan on adding any other livestock to this tank so there will be no other predators to deal with either. As far as what type all I know is they are hawaiian. As soon as I got the shipment I was excited to show my mom what I got her and then I started to freak out! (laugh) I'm a little better now but was really worried on what to do with them. I won't put them into the tank until I can get the sand to calm down and I can test the water parameters, so it will probably be at least a few more hours before they hit the tank. What a day today has been already..DOH! Thanks for your suggestions and help fellas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted June 22, 2012 Author Share Posted June 22, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 pretty fun! cool to see the pics. I bet they'll like the 10g, get a PC light fixture (or led?), a little HOB filter and that cylcopeeze/mysis and I bet you're good to go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alterego Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Get a hold of that Pledosophy guy. He knows a lot about seahorses and the myths about raising them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 try SeahorseNW too, I talked to him a while back about my dreams of a horse tank...I never followed through, but he was super helpful and knowledgeable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted June 22, 2012 Author Share Posted June 22, 2012 Well the tank is sitting at zero nitrates already so they went into the tank. I used water from my other tank and just did a water change from that one anyways so it should be fine. They are in a standard 10 gallon for now. I guess I will post up a thread looking for different types of macro algae now so the tank has a better look to it. Also need to find some perfect pieces or rock for them. Right now I don't even have a lb of rock in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 I'll look through my tank and see if I've got some pieces that seem right. I've got some caulerpa prolifera that grows well for me and has nice little runners so that anchor it in the sand/rock so they could prob hang on if you want a few inches of it to start. I'd try some shaving brush, pinecone plant or mangroves, probably. sargassum sounds perfect though, if you have strong lights for it. apparently in lower flow, it tends to be more branchy and less leafy...sounds perfect for them to hold on to! you going to TPA for the meeting? I can bring the prolifera and/or rock if you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted June 22, 2012 Author Share Posted June 22, 2012 I'll look through my tank and see if I've got some pieces that seem right. I've got some caulerpa prolifera that grows well for me and has nice little runners so that anchor it in the sand/rock so they could prob hang on if you want a few inches of it to start. I'd try some shaving brush, pinecone plant or mangroves, probably. sargassum sounds perfect though, if you have strong lights for it. apparently in lower flow, it tends to be more branchy and less leafy...sounds perfect for them to hold on to! you going to TPA for the meeting? I can bring the prolifera and/or rock if you want. I have a belated father's day bbq scheduled at the same time as the meeting on Sunday. I don't typically have Sunday's off but I'm working an overnight shift. As far as lighting is concerned I'm not sure what I want to do yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 I just bought a nifty kit for my femto that may work for your lighting. I talked to rapidled and they said I could put CW diodes on the moonlight driver. So I bought the moonlight2 kit (cheaper than the driver and two diodes separate) and a 5w CW (also bought a 3w violet) and a 4"x4.25" heatsink. I bet if you put two 5w CW and the two 'moonlight' diodes on that moonlight driver, it'd be plenty for a little 10g tank...that's technically 16w, 1.6 watts/gallon...not bad for LEDs...just a thought. well, if you have someone to pick things up that you want me to bring, let me know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoralCrazy Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 If you get this way Jesse come by. I have a lot of rock that you can look through and take a few pieces. Might have some other stuff you could use to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoralCrazy Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 You have always been good to me. Time to repay the favor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted June 22, 2012 Author Share Posted June 22, 2012 You have always been good to me. Time to repay the favor Why thank you. I just might take you up on that offer this time around. I'm getting a AC70 from Matty0206 so now all that I need is some rock and it could be the best excuse to check out your setup anyways right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 They should be fed probably at least twice a day. Depending on size of the horses I would look for mysis. PE may be a little too big but the Oregon Desert Mysis is a little smaller and they should take to it. I have a large flat pack I could break off some for you. I believe Woody sells it also. I have a perfect 30g cube that is brand new I'd make you a smoking deal on if you want it. With your hang on filter and some sand and rock you'd have a perfect seahorse tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 They should be fed probably at least twice a day. Depending on size of the horses I would look for mysis. PE may be a little too big but the Oregon Desert Mysis is a little smaller and they should take to it. I have a large flat pack I could break off some for you. I believe Woody sells it also. I have a perfect 30g cube that is brand new I'd make you a smoking deal on if you want it. With your hang on filter and some sand and rock you'd have a perfect seahorse tank. I was able to get them to eat some mysis about an hour ago. Was pretty cool to watch them go after it. I'm already in the dog house for setting up another tank but overall the wife was understanding about it, but I don't think I could get away with anything bigger than a 10 gallon. As far as all the different mysis I had no idea there was such a difference between all of them. I'm just glad that these two are eating frozen. I'm guessing they were captive bred but I really don't know since they came from hawaii. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 Just found out that they are wild caught and he was feeding them live brine, and frozen cyclopeeze to ween them over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 Sounds like these are the ones that they are: Hippocampus fisheri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 They look like H. Erectus to me. Where did you get them from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 If that is a 10g tank those are tiny.... The AC70 is going to be way to much filter for a 10g tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 If that is a 10g tank those are tiny.... The AC70 is going to be way to much filter for a 10g tank. I was thinking about that as well. I think I'm going to go get a basic little 10 gallon filter for it. I'm running one on there right now but it's not the greatest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 You could pick one of these up http://www.aquariumguys.com/fluvalskimmer.html and use the ac70 as a fuge with cheato. Between the decreased flow of the surface skimmer, turning the filter all the way down, and the cheato you could calm the flow down to very low. The surface skimmer would also be safer for the seahorses I would think? You could also make or buy one of these skimmer boxes: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=246792 If you scroll a little ways down you can see pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 The more I've been reading today it sounds like a taller tank is a better fit for these fish. I'm going to check it out tomorrow and decide what I'm going to do. Thanks again for all the help and support today on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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