Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

Well, I don't have it yet. But I'm thinking about setting up a 20h or 30l tank for seahorses. Has anyone here done a seahorse tank? Can you set one up with PC or vho lighting or do they require something else? I was thinking of doing a seahorse and unique invert (crustaceans) tank combo. Will that work? I was thinking about using my excalibur HOB skimmer. Would I also need a bio wheel type filter?? Any other nuggets of knowledge to be shared?
TIA:)

I had 2 in a 26 bowfront. They need lots of things to hitch to. Regular lighting is fine I believe. Andrew on the board has a seahorse tank and can give you some good info on them. Just be sure to buy tank raised and I wouldnt have any fish that are aggressive feeders that will out compete them for food.

In any case, you will want a taller tank. Preferably, it should be at least 3x higher than your 'tallest' (actually, longest, from head to tail) seahorse. You also want some circulation, though not incredibly strong circulation, as well as good surface agitation to prevent any sort of supersaturation. It is a good idea to purchase or make a heater shield, too. When setting up the tank, be sure to include plenty of 'hitching posts' so that they can wrap their tails around them (macroalgae is good for this, but keep it under control for pH swings). Salinity should be around 1.024-1.026 and temps should be slightly lower to prevent overabundance of bacteria, like 75-76 degrees. The pc or vho will work just fine. what kind of crustaceans are you talking about? small shrimp, small hermits, snails, etc are fine.

See, the temp thing is what's got me. I've seen that it should be kept lower to keep bacteria in check, but I'm not getting why there would be more bacteria than in a reef or fowlr tank. Is it a bacteria that will attack them or just one that'll break down waste and deplete the O2?

Amphiprion wrote:In any case, you will want a taller tank. Preferably, it should be at least 3x higher than your 'tallest' (actually, longest, from head to tail) seahorse. You also want some circulation, though not incredibly strong circulation, as well as good surface agitation to prevent any sort of supersaturation. It is a good idea to purchase or make a heater shield, too. When setting up the tank, be sure to include plenty of 'hitching posts' so that they can wrap their tails around them (macroalgae is good for this, but keep it under control for pH swings). Salinity should be around 1.024-1.026 and temps should be slightly lower to prevent overabundance of bacteria, like 75-76 degrees. The pc or vho will work just fine. what kind of crustaceans are you talking about? small shrimp, small hermits, snails, etc are fine.

In general, the warmer any tank is, the more bacteria it is more likely to have, whether they are beneficial, benign, or pathogenic. It is the latter that most people worry about. Sometimes, the seahorse can get a cut or scrape that gets infected (which is less likely in cooler water, due to the lesser amount of bacterial proliferation) and will need to be treated. Also, seahorse metabolism is slower in cooler water. That brings me to another important tip--always have all the medicine you may ever need (hopefully you will never need them). My recommendations are Formalin, neomycin sulfate, gel based neomycin sulfate (bio bandage and neosporin), TechD or betadine, Furanase, and acetazolamide (can get from a veterinarian). Those should be the main ones to have on hand. Other than specific diseases, seahorses are relatively resistant to usual fish diseases.

Amp-
Ok, thanks for clearing up the bacteria topic for me:) In your experience, do they get scratches often? I have this vision in my head now that I'm going to be spending more time treating the little guys and gals for infections instead of enjoying them.
How about compatibility? Can you mix different species together?
What type of things do you use for hitching posts? I was thinking I'd have a little bit of LR, trying to get some smaller tonga branches, maybe try to find some skeletons from various sea fans. And also try to get some macro algae. Does this sound ok? Any other suggestions??
What do you use for filtration? And, last question for a little while;p, do you have any pics of your setup??
Thanks

They may get scratches(not often), but they should not have a problem so long as conditions are good. You can mix them, but it is usually best to keep a single species, as each one has its own temperament. Some are much slower, less capable hunters, while others are much more adept. Also, it limits potential diseases (this is mainly precaution). Oh, and be sure you get your horses from the SAME source (I recommend Ocean Rider seahorses). Mixing from different sources can be a big problem. Don't be too scared about diseases. Just give a thorough examination when you feed them, keep water quality at reef tank levels, and don't worry about it. The daily (or twice daily) examinations will alert you to a problem ahead of time. Also, don't be afraid of the sudden odd colorations or certain white patches, because they are natural most of the time. ONce you get to know your particular pair, group, etc, you will easily notice any abnormalities. Just be sure to catch problems as soon as possible and you won't have problems. The hitching posts sound fine to me.

I actually need to change my signature. I don't have my seahorses anymore. They finally died after about 6 years, but were an absolute joy in the meantime--so, no, I can't get any new pictures for you. Here is a link to some I posted a while back:
http://www.mbrk.com/viewtopic.php?t=2440 .
I I think you will enjoy them thoroughly. Just be sure to do as much research as possible and remember that prevention is the best remedy.