So My Fiancee Talked me into a seahorse tank

[mgoesma]

OMG tomorrow is the big day. ponies are on the way.

 

[mgoesma]

OK now i am supper nervous. I think i have done everything for preparation. they should be here in the next couple hrs.
here is a look at there home. Almost 6 months of planning and prep.

I want to thanks Dan from sea house source,
@vlangel (

she has some amazing articles)
@mdbannister, and @
Lionfish Lair
I wouldn't have been able to get this all together without you.

 

[mgoesma]

OK now i am supper nervous. I think i have done everything for preparation. they should be here in the next couple hrs.
here is a look at there home. Almost 6 months of planning and prep.

I want to thanks Dan from sea house source,
@vlangel (

she has some amazing articles)
@mdbannister, and @
Lionfish Lair
I wouldn't have been able to get this all together without you.

a couple more photos

 

[Daniel@R2R]

They look great! So excited for you!

 

[SmokeyGnar]

The setup looks awesome! I'm sure they'll love their new home

 

[mgoesma]

The new family members.

 

[mgoesma]

Does anyone have any advice on how much to feed them?
i am feeding 3 times a day 7 am, 5 pm and 8:30 pm. currently i am using 1/3 of a cube of mysis each feeding but it seams like they are not getting a lot of that maybe 2 or 3 peaces each. thoughts? Im trying not to pollute the tank but i want to make sure they have enough to eat. There are some grass shrimp in the tank they pick off every now and then.

 

[Greybeard]

Are you feeding your horses free in the tank? Google seahorse feeding station. By putting the mysis in a bowl, where they don't blow around, you can get more food into your horses and less blowing under your decor. Many years ago, I used to use a 1" clear tube mounted with a couple suction cups and a ceramic souffle cup. They've got commercial ones now, but it's basically the same thing... contain the food in one place. What they don't eat, you can easily remove.

Seahorses have basically a straight gut. They are very inefficient at obtaining nutrients from the foods they eat, so... they have to eat a lot, and often. Back in the day, I had a tank with one pair of fairly large Erectus horses, 5" or so each. They were eating 3 cubes of PE mysis every day, from my home-made feeding station.

The grass shrimp are great... keeping live 'browse' available makes for more active horses. I used to use an automatic brine shrimp hatchery with my smaller horses. It's not a very nutritious food, but kept them out and looking.

 

[mgoesma]

Are you feeding your horses free in the tank? Google seahorse feeding station. By putting the mysis in a bowl, where they don't blow around, you can get more food into your horses and less blowing under your decor. Many years ago, I used to use a 1" clear tube mounted with a couple suction cups and a ceramic souffle cup. They've got commercial ones now, but it's basically the same thing... contain the food in one place. What they don't eat, you can easily remove.

Seahorses have basically a straight gut. They are very inefficient at obtaining nutrients from the foods they eat, so... they have to eat a lot, and often. Back in the day, I had a tank with one pair of fairly large Erectus horses, 5" or so each. They were eating 3 cubes of PE mysis every day, from my home-made feeding station.

The grass shrimp are great... keeping live 'browse' available makes for more active horses. I used to use an automatic brine shrimp hatchery with my smaller horses. It's not a very nutritious food, but kept them out and looking.

Thanks,
I want to get them to a feeding station but currently they were feed at the breeders in the water column. so right now i'm just trying to get them to eat.

 

[mgoesma]

I am happy to report they are doing great. They eat 3 times a day and I can feed them out of a blister to minimize the waist. Hopping to make a feeding station this weekend to give me an option when I don't have a lot of time. Here some photos from today.

 

[Ludders]

Just FYI, Fiancé is the person, Fiancee is the word for the period of time you are engaged... the engagement.

Seahorses are so cool.
But I've always been afraid I'd kill them.

That's wrong, the words are actually gender specific.
Fiancé is referred to the man that is engaged to be married and Fiancée is referred to the woman that is engaged to be married.

 

[vlangel]

I know I am late to the party but your photos of the seahorses look great. Both ponies look wonderful.

 

[mgoesma]

I know I am late to the party but your photos of the seahorses look great. Both ponies look wonderful.

Thanks
We had a water heater exsplode yesterday. A but of a scare.

 

[Lilcherylpony]

i do nothing but seahorses, erectus and reidi, and barbouri. i have two separate setups, one for the full size horses, and another for the dwarf horses. i will try to give you any advice i can. most of what you are doing sounds good. just a couple of points:

1. purchase captive raised only!!!! that have been converted to eating frozen mysis shrimp. you cannot expect them to survive on brine shrimp, fortified or not. not gonna happen
2. contrary to popular belief, horses can withstand and need higher flows than you think. my tank has two returns from a 900 gph pump and to circulation pumps along the back wall
you will need all the filtration you can get. i do not recommend a canister filter. go with the sump. you will increase your water volume, be able to use a sock, protein skimmer, refugium, carbon and phosphate reactors, yadda yadda. horse are slow eating messy eaters, and water quality can plummet if excellent filtration and frequent water changes are not made.
3. unless you are ready willing and able to handle fry (i have two separate setups, hatching cones to produce bbs, and a whole boatload of other stuff) get same sexed animals.

let me know if you need help with anything. best of luck

btw, abby and dan underwood down at seahorsesource.com are as knowledgeable and nice as you will ever meet, and use extremely exacting techniques in raising their horses. if you are looking for h. erectus, the atlantic seahorse, they are the source to go to. tell them gary sent you. we are in constant contact.

gary

could not have said it better myself . We really should partner up.