A worthwhile adventure, or a way to lose money?

[Reefdude5]

I was wondering what everyone's experiences about seahorses have been. Have I asked this before? Has anyone been able to keep them successfully for very long or been able to raise young? Do they need a dedicated tank, and what is meant by that? Or can they go in a macroalgae refugium without predators. I would think the refugium idea would be a good one. It would give them plenty of shade, slow flow, lots of hitchposts, and the parameters would stay stable. I found a site that has farm raised seahorses trained to eat frozen food once a day! Any thoughts?

[Mrs Smith]

Ocean Rider is a reputable company, and they have good information.

I don't keep them myself, but know several reefers who do here locally. Now that there are captive-bred species on the market that will take prepared foods, the success rates are increasing dramatically among hobbysts.

By far the best resource out there are the folks at www.seahorse.org. There are hours and hours of reading awaiting you, Austin!

Good luck!
Danielle

[Reefdude5]

Nahhh! To much work!

[Reefdude5]

Will the fuge thing work?

[Reefdude5]

I gave this thread too depressing of a title, I meant "whos had success, and how?"

[ruhspolostar]

I wonder if anyone has kept them in their main display tank with other non-agressive reef safe fish, I know its not reccommended but I've seen two kept in a 20 gallon with other soft corals, shrimp and a banggai cardinal, their so mysterrious, hard not to be attrated to them

[JennM]

17 years ago, I bought a marine tank from a hobbyist who was giving up the hobby. Had all kinds of fish in it. First thing I went out and bought was a seahorse.... what? It wouldn't eat flakes?? No problem - go out and buy a 20-g setup for feeder guppies... spend $200 to keep the $20 fish alive! We were actually surprisingly successful -- but I'd slap me for doing something that stupid now.

I've kept seahorses. Had a wild caught pair of H. reidi for about 18 months. For about 6 of those months, we had babies every 14 days. Only got reidi fry to about 2-3 months - it's very hard to rear them, they are pelagic at birth and hard to feed. Breeding parents were no problem, I trained the male to eat frozen food right away, the female took 3 months to accept frozen food, cost me a small fortune in live ghost shrimp.

I do not recommend wild-caught horses unless you are educated and prepared to deal with the feeding and health issues associated with them. Many times, horses are improperly handled, and often they are a bycatch from fishing vessels, and they have a rough ride and are sick or malnourished before they get to the LFS. For those reasons, you're probably better off with captive raised specimens.

The site you linked, Ocean Rider, IS a reputable company. However I do not recommend them. I had a rather negative experience with them, and while I'm sure it is not typical, I prefer to let people know that there are other options available. For example, ORA (Oceans, Reefs and Aquariums) also sell captive raised seahorses, and many LFS already deal with them for captive raised clownfishes, dottybacks and corals. The advantage here is that your LFS can get them in, you can choose the specimens you want, see them eat, and all the other advantages that come from seeing them before you buy. Cost will probably be lower too, because you won't have to incur FedEx charges.

As to tank setup -- lots of controversy there... I've seen people keep them in a refugium successfully -- however you must know that they will eat the pods that the "refugium" is supposed to shelter. You will turn your refugium to a "seahorse habitat". If you're OK with that, then go for it. However that habitat should be at least 3 times the height of the fully-grown adult horse, if you want them to breed. They've been known to breed in tight quarters, the mating instinct is very strong in seahorses, but to do it "right" a tall tank is the way to go. I like AGA 20XT, and at home I have a 37 Oceanic for my horses. Lots of holdfasts, Cauperpa, sponges, if you like you can use artificial plants etc., and a bit of live rock. Not too much flow, but you'd be surprised at how much flow they DO like. I had a horse that used to play in the current from the powerhead and it was fun to watch.

I love seahorses - my absolute favourite fishes. However, if you're going to take them on, you really need to do a lot of research and cater their environment to them. Another good resource is www.syngnathid.org . Books are out there by Tracy Warland (can't think of the title...) Rudy Kuiter, and there are some older books ... Seahorses: Conservation and Care by Neil Garrick-Maidment - dated perhaps but has some good information, I communicate with Neil on a seahorse discussion group I belong to. Also, Peter Giwojna's Seahorses, Step by Step -- it's out of print but I found a copy on eBay for next to nothing - again it's dated but a good addition to the seahorse library. And Barron's publishing has a good little book on seahorse basics, I believe it's written by Frank Indiviglio.

HTH

Jenn

[Reefdude5]

Thanks Jenn!! Awsome advice! Would 20" be an acceptable height for most seahorses? And about buying pairs, is it necessary to by pairs if I want them to breed, or will to juvinilles become a pair, such as the case with most clownfish? How many would be comfy in a 50 gal? Maybe 8?

[Reefdude5]

What about keeping pipefish with them?

[Doug1]

I know one person that has kept pipefishes with them , the requirements are similar but not as hardy

[Reefdude5]

Really? Pipefish aren't as hardy as seahorses?

[Homer]

What timing for this thread. I have a 37G tall all set up and cycling for my first seahorses. Last March I emailed JennM and got the scoop from her. Since then, I got some books, and visited several sites and emailed several people on message boards to get lots of info.

The two key points I got so far are:

1. Get captive breed.

2. Make sure they are eating frozen food before buying.

The most hardy are the erectus and the kuda from what I have read. They also get pretty large compared to the others.

Feel free to ask me any questions but I think the expert here is JennM.

Homer

[JennM]

Not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I have had some experience...

I've kept pipes with my horses - Gulf pipes. Even had them breed, but they will eat their young. Seahorses do not.

20" is a suitable height for their tank

They are social creatures, and fare best with members of their own kind. I've got endless hours of (boring) video of morning and evening greeting behavior and courtship and mating behavior -- I've got "seahorse porn"!

If you prefer not to have them breed, get all females. They may still greet each other, and in some cases, may even court each other . Males are prone to pouch infections/bloat (gynocological issues! ) so they can be kept together, but tend to be "higher maintenance" because of these reasons.

I've found that healthy males with females to woo, keep their pouches flushed and clean, because of all the courting behavior they do. Burping gas bubbles out of males' pouches is easy once you know how, but unless you intend to breed them, it's easier to keep females.

HTH

Jenn