Dwarf Seahorses

[charity]

I am wanting to set up a 20 gallon tank with 2 pair of DWARF seahorses. I have researched the bigger seahorses before but have recently decided on the dwarfs for my little girls room. I know the basics of setting and keeping the seahorses but any tips would be appreciated and info. There may be something I have not ran across during my research I also have a book on seahorse care I will refer to so I am saying that because I know someone will jump to the conclusion that I am not doing research, I do not take saltwater inhabitants lightly I respect them and know they need special care. Again any advice and info would be nice. Thanks.

 

[DaveK]

My only thought is that dwarf seahorses have very demanding feeding requirements, which means daily feedings of live food. Are you sure your up to doing this on a continues basis? You have a fairly large tank for seahorses. You might do better getting a larger species which can be trained to eat other foods.

 

[charity]

Yes I have been thinking about the live brine and am still not sure about that. I know I dont want to raise them that has been done before and it was not my fave. I was thinking about getting them from the fish store..... but I dont know. I know the tank is a bit bigger than required, it is longer not taller. I had looked into the kuda and thought about that species before but decided the timing was not right to have them and of course I would have needed a taller tank. I am still researching what would be best for them. I would like to have them but would not if its not in the best interest for the species. I also realize they like to have more company but I would like to trial them before I bought more than four I hate it when a species dies its not fair to them just because we want our own personal ocean in the house.

 

[charity]

I read that they would accept frozen brine but only for a little while and then would not eat it anymore, Im sure this would stress the little guys. Has anyone had any luck with feeding techniques. I aslo read they would eat copepods and amphipods. Like I said I'm in the process of trying to figure out what is best for them and would love to have them all the same I am searching.....

 

[SantaMonica]

I'll have to look into dwarfs some more, maybe they are easier to feed than the 6" h erectus I was feeding with a feeding stick.

 

[Tami]

You should only be stick feeding H. erectus if you had wild caught seahorses. Most seahorses in stores (though not all, there have been a glut of wild H. erectus popping up all over) eat frozen mysis shrimp because they're tank raised. They are much easier that dwarves. However, I'd look for true captive bred seahorses over tank raised, which have their own problems.

I don't want to post a link here being a newbie to the site, but I've written about how to pick the right seahorse. The short version is; don't get your seahorses from the fish store, they sell them too young and rarely in good shape. Seahorses from a breeder, though more expensive (shipping) tend to be much healthier. Fish store "kudas" can be any number of species and are probably sickly and underfed.

You're really going to want a minimum of a 30 gallon for any species besides dwarf seahorses. Don't let fish stores tell you otherwise - they frequently sell the tiny babies saying nanos are okay, and unfortunately it just can't support the growing seahorses, so they die. You can start them in a small aquarium (it sometimes helps for concentrating food) like a 10 or 15 gallon. But they grow fast, so you pretty much have to start the other tank as soon as the first is done cycling.

I don't mind the extra work of hatching brine shrimp because I do it anyway. But unless you're like me and have it brewing for other critters, you'll probably get tired of hatching brine shrimp sooner or later.