Questions and Concerns before Diving Head First Into Seahorses

AnxiousReefEnjoyer · Aug 9, 2026

I would like to start off by saying I have read Keeping Seahorses in Aquria 1-3 and 5 that is pinned in the forum.

My hope is to keep a small herd of H. Reidi in a Macro-Algea Scaped AIO 65gal/~246L Tank with a pair of Mandarin Dragonets with the intention of the entire stock list being captive bred. Now onto my questions/concerns.

1. The slime brought up in the Keeping Seahorses in Aquria, is it like a film on the glass where you need to make sure you're scraping the glass weekly or is it more like managing salt creep but just more weekly?

2. Disolved Organics. I'm planning a feeding station, protien skimmer, media reactor, changing filter socks every few days, and obviously a CUC. While I already do weekly 20-25% WCs on my 22gal/~83L nano the amount of work that is scales drastically with a 65gal. Is weekly 20-25% WCs truly necessary with all those factors? It's not that I mind that much BUT can you blame a girl for wanting to do less?

3. Are they really that fragile? It feels like (by some accounts) if you even look at them funny they start dropping like flies... and that's a bit intimidating. I truly want to do my best by them.

4. To heat or not to heat. I do live in a climate controlled home so my home is usually set to 72-67 F/22-19.4 C. If heater I would definately use an Inkbird Controler reguardless, but I worry my home my swing in temp too much from day to night to not use some type of temp control.

As a closing thought, I started my research already knowing that seahorses are more work than the average tank. However I'm constantly searching for ways to be more efficiant so that my tanks bring much more joy than work. As I've done more and more research on seahorses I'm worried I might still be to green/inexperienced to successfully keep a herd.

So thanks in advance for answers/advice/encouragement/brutal truths.

Mr. Mojo Rising · Aug 9, 2026

I'm no expert, but I've kept my trio alive and happy for 4 years now and no losses. IME:

1. not sure what you mean by slime? there is always growth on the glass which I scrape weekly.

2. Unfortunately there is no way to test docs, so we can only be proactive. It seems like you will have great filtration but it depends on the actual bioload and how often you feed and how clean your equipment is. Personally I do 30% water changes, but I actually enjoy it so you can't go by me.

3. Most seahorses available now are several generations captive bred, so they are not that fragile. I feel that clean water, good flow, and 3-4 feedings per day keeps them strong and it keeps their immune system strong. But they are messy eaters and I haven't tried keeping fish with them which incresases the organics, so I can't comment how fragile they are with other fish. Some species are hardier than others, I keep Erectus, which is supposedly the hardiest.

4. I keep my seahorse tank at 74, they should be in 72-74. Bad bacteria's multiply faster in warmer water so we keep seahorse tanks cooler as a form of proactivity. Some fish don't do well in colder water so you'll need to check if mandarins can handle it.

Personally I do not find it much more work than my reef tanks, I'm basically hands off during the week and do my maintenance on weekends, water changes only take me about 15 minutes. The feeding is biggest headache for me, 3-4 feedings per day, every single day, is hard, and after 4 years I admit I'm pretty fed up. Luckily my job is flexible and I can work from home often enough to feed this much, but when these ponies pass I don't think I will do this again.

Hope this helps and wish you good luck.