sea horses

[MRIGUY]

My kids are bugging my wife, who is bugging me to get sea horses. I can't put them in my current reef because they would not get food and be hassled by the clowns. I have a spare 30g with NO dual light (60 watts), and several spare but reasonable filters, powerheads etc. My questions are: Can I just set it up with a 4" LSB and live rock. Do I need more of a branching rock for holds etc. I can deal with the Mysis Shrimp for food, but do they need more. I asume that a protein skimmer is a no no due to the bubbles. Would lots-o-macro algae be a better choice for both nutrient export and anchor sites. Any and all advice would be appreciated. I want to do it but hate to jump in before I have the needed knowlege. Also, what are good tankmates for sea horses

Well you seem to have a good grasp on the concept of the problems involved with raiing Seahorses. soft current and a steady supply of food. MAcro algae would be good for nutrient reduction amd hitchin posts, Live Rock, you bet. As far as a skimmer I would say so in a sump or seperate tank with slow return volume. Jason at Premium Aquatics has tank raised Sea horses, you might email him for more info.
About the only other fish that are suitable for a sea horse tank are pipefish and that introduces a whole new set of problems
I'd concentrate on just them and hope it work out ggodd luck

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I thought I was me, but we were wrong
email: geeflipr@internetcds.com

[MRIGUY]

Thanks Doug. I have some ideas about what is needed but I make it a rule never to buy anything alive without first asking / learning. You can bet I will call Jason when I am ready.

[bill-e]

As Doug stated you will need lots of Macro Algae for both hitching posts and nutrient removal. If you go with the Mustangs (which I would recommend), they come already trained to eat frozen Mysis (the brand escapes me, but I use it too...it's from a place in canada I think)

I know a person who bought 6 mustangs for an established 30. The only other thing in there besides janitors is a sea apple. She lost one right away, but the others have been doing well since January.

The tank will get pretty poluted because of the amount of food you will need to feed so I recommend a very good skimmer in a sump. Also the macros will grow like mad because of all the nutrients.

I was going to do some horses too, and I screwed up and passed up a great deal (price mismarked) on a 30 gal Oceanic hex tank, stand, and hood for $139 ( I could shoot myself for not just buying it anyway).

Once I recover from my recent lighting expenses I am going to consider them again.

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Bill Esposito
bespo@cereal.mv.com
JAqua for the AquaController 2
http//cereal.mv.com/jaqua.html
My Reef Page
http//cereal.mv.com/reef
The box said "Use Win 95 or better", I chose better so I run OS/2!

[Kinesthesia]

I was so excited to see this thread... I have also been bugged about seahorses, but I thought of them as impossible based on what I had read. I look forward to more seahorse info and will track this thread.

They arent impossible to keep, just a lot of work, mainly in providing a near constant supply of acceptable food. They have no stomach as such just a long gut so they eat all day long. There are some tanl raised horses available that are used to eating frozen shrimp. As I stated earlier Jason at Premium Aquatics carries them and would be a place to start. I know there are severral websites by long term seahorse keepers but I dont have any bookmarked

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I thought I was me, but we were wrong
email: geeflipr@internetcds.com

[JennM]

The Mysis Shrimp food is made by Piscine Energetics in British Columbia, Canada. It's spelled "M.Y.S.I.S"

This is a great food...even picky fish like it. I bought a clown goby where I work, and after several days at home it hadn't eaten (that I had seen) and I tried some of this stuff and he ate it, and has readily accepted other prepared foods too.

I agree with the other posts, about tank-raised ponies, Ocean Rider is notable company that raises them to eat mysis.

I kept seahorses myself several years ago with some success, at the time we were feeding live baby guppies, and kept a 20 gallon breeder tank just for them!

Jenn