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  • #31
    Originally posted by Mrs. Mermaid View Post
    There is one person on here named Mikeboy he has raised Sea Horses before and had an awesome set up for them you might check with him before you do anything... These guys are very hard to raise and if this is your first time to setup a salt water tank I would suggest that you wait. I have been wanting to raise Sea Horses too but with all the special care and needs I just don't feel that I am up to the task.
    But if you chose to do so the best of luck to you.
    +1

    We just set up our first SW tank a little over a month ago, let it run its cycle, etc. The tank is for my son & who originally wanted the standard "Nemo" setup but after visiting LFS changed his mind to seahorses, a mandarin goby & a starfish. After a lot of research I learned that he isn't getting a seahorse nor a mandarin goby for quite a while. They need an established SW tank & that is something that we don't have. Alternatively he ended up with a few damsels & a tomato clown to start. Not what he wanted, but he didn't want dead seahorses either.

    I'd rather wait a year or more than kill the little things because of my ignorance, impatience or lack of education on the stock. I learned that most seahorses starve to death so in our case, we are waiting until the tank is ready for them. Most of the people here on HFB are very knowlegable, experienced & helpful. They've come through for me many times & vise versa. My advice would be to listen to their advice, do some more homework, talk to people who have had success & failures with seahorses & wait until your tank is established enough to support them.
    180g - 2 Red Oscars, 1 Tiger Oscar, 1 JD, Convicts, convicts & more convicts
    75g - 1 Silver Aro, 1 Mean Koi Angel
    50g - Various platy & mollies
    10g - 1 Green Spotted Puffer

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    • #32
      With all the people I know, and don't know (through internet research), I have never known any of them to keep a seahorse for longer than a year. Typically, they are belly-up in 6 months time. I personally feel that they shouldn't be allowed to be collected and sold. Even people that I know that have purchased the ORA variety of seahorses have suffered the same fate.

      They are a novelty. Really awesome to see them eat, and swim around, and look all "cutesie" in your new tank... but they will die. Mark my word.

      My wife and heck... my whole family LOVES ponies! We just know better (as much as it hurts).

      Food for thought. Well... hopefully...

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      • #33
        Took the suggestions and Got rid of the sea clone skimmer and bought a reef octopus BH-50int nano skimmer hopefully it will work

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        • #34
          Built refugium last night tonight i will build the overflow tube and return system

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          • #35
            Sounds good. Reef octopus is way better skimmer than the sea clone. Don't forget to post pictures

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            • #36
              Originally posted by semper View Post
              Ive setup many successful reefs using cannisters. I'm almost positive not many have tried but rather read something about it online. Just saying.
              You can setup successful reefs using canisters. Nobody said you can't. It's just that they can become nitrate sinks, something you'd want to avoid with more delicate livestock.
              Last edited by mistahoo; 12-12-2012, 01:12 PM.

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              • #37
                Don't forget to post pictures
                Yes Please... Post lots of pictures....
                Nothing Kills Evil Like a Sharp Stick...

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                • #38
                  I use to keep seahorses. I had some for about 2 years before an accident with them. They are very hardy and tolerate alot when cative bred. They are very forgiving with salinity and temp. especially H. erectus. CAPTIVE bred from a good source is the key and feeding. They don't have fat reserves like other fish so will starve easily. They should be fed enriched frozen mysis 2-3 times a day. A bare bottlom tank makes cleaning the mess and upkeep easier. Seahorse Source run by Dan and Abby in Florida is the best source I've found. Seahorse.org is great place to do research. When not fed well, that's the only time I've ever had a problem. Now keeping dwarf seahorse is a little more of a problem. Key is CAPTIVE BRED, Frequent Feedings (they will learn to target feed out of a glass dish quickly, They will not tolerate fasting for more than 1-2 days- then they get sick), and get a good Protien Skimmer. Avoid corals or anemones, they will kill your seahorses. H. barbouri seems to do ok with coral and warmer temps. but the best "beginer's" seahorse is H. erectus (southern- hardier and fry are benthic and large and easier to rear). Most sea horses like temperate (cooler waters, low 70's to mid-high 60's). There are only a few species available to hobbiest here in the US. If you have specific questions about set up or species you can PM me. I've kept H. reidi, H. erectus (southern), H. zosterae (dwarves), H. kuda, H. comes (note most of what's out there is captive raised), and H. kuda (note most of what's out there is net/pen raised for the Chinese herbal medicine industry). I had to give it up, as feeding is time consuming, and you can't take vacations unless you know someone willing to feed your seahorses if you are gone more than 2 days.
                  Emerald Green Rainbowfish
                  Yellow Rabbit Snails

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                  • #39
                    A good canister with 5x-8x turnover is good for a group of 2-4 medium seahorses (H. erectus). They don't like alot of current. They will need a good biologic filter. A good skimmer will aerate the water just fine. You will not need a heater in houston. For H. erectus pecific gravity can vary to even brackish, but I kept them 1.020-1.023 (lower end), If you have other things such as tube worms and zoas you can go higher , they are very forgiving 1.026-1.028. They are social creatures and should be housed as a pair or more. They color up best with a blue background. Avoid linear flow in the tank, they are not strong swimmers. I would bounce the out flow of the canister off the glass, and the skimmer if it's in the tank. Seahorses eat alot and poop alot. My adult pair of H. erectus (7 inch male 6 inch female) could eat 2-3 cubes of mysis shrimp a day (spread over2-3 feedings, with siphoning anything not eaten within 15min., that's why bare bottom and target feeding dish work better). Hope this helps
                    Emerald Green Rainbowfish
                    Yellow Rabbit Snails

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                    • #40
                      Thank you that is very insightful i really appreciate it im still working on overflow for the tank. Im missing somthing with it. It is made identical to the one i made previously for another tank that works great but i cant get ithis one to restart siphon after power outage. So i will be on that agin tonight

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                      • #41
                        Ok im having trouble chooseing how to set up the return in to the tank since i have read that they require low current i have been considering maybe a vertical submerged spray bar what are y'all's thoughts

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                        • #42
                          Install a ball valve on the return pump and dial it back. Easiest solution.

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                          • #43
                            Yeah i have that but i guess what i mean is what type of nozzle or just straight pipe

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                            • #44
                              Re: seahorses

                              The bigger the nozzle the more dispersed the flow will be.

                              Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.

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                              • #45
                                Here are the pics of what I have done so far on the build let me know what yall think


                                2012-12-15_08-12-24_429.jpgoverall



                                2012-12-15_08-09-53_909.jpgreef octopus skimmer and filter sock


                                2012-12-15_08-10-31_403.jpgrefugium section with sand and temp heat have pick pick up new heater


                                2012-12-15_08-11-54_143.jpgback side of diy overflow



                                2012-12-15_08-11-28_26.jpgtank side of diy overflow


                                2012-12-15_08-09-38_823.jpgover all of refugium

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