Dwarf Seahorse Turnkey Kit sereneseahorses.com

[d_flo_yo]

I came across this product on fab.com and was wondering if anyone has experience with this company.: http://www.sereneseahorses.com/home

Let me know what you think, it looks good and seahorses are super cool! Would be nice to get some live corals in there but I have no idea what you can put in a seahorse tank. You can get the tank with no animals and make it whatever you want though, a bit on the $$ side unfortunately.

 

[Godfrey]

Been looking into doing something similar. Great look but I think you could do it for a lot less $$ and customize it so you could have simple corals

 

[obscurereef]

WOW! Some things you should know, because this is insane pricing. Before anything, dwarf seahorses are said to be the most difficult species of seahorse. They need a constant supply of live food (pods, newly hatched brine shrimp). They're not like other fish which only need to be fed once every 1-3 days. Also require constant parameters which means temp can't fluctuate a lot and nitrates have to be as low as possible. If you have never kept SW, this is definitely not recommended. *edit: The H. Erectus is not a dwarf seahorse, but still for more advanced aquarists.

You can't have corals that would harm the seahorses. Zoas, mushrooms, etc. Basically anything without stinging tentacles so to speak. Macroalgae is great.

For dwarf seahorses, you'll want a small tank to concentrate the food. The 8 gallon is good. Just an example of how ridiculous the pricing is (not to mention the $35+ shipping you'll be paying).

They sell the 16 gallon Nuvo tank and extras for $1450.

Regular pricing:
2 seahorses - 2 H. Erectus farm raised ($65 ea. on some websites)
4 hitching posts (faux plants, corals) ($30 max on decorations/macroalgae)
SeaChem Prime -$4
SeaChem Stability -$14
Live dry sand (how is it live if it's dry?) -$30 (or you can go bare bottom & will be easier to get all debri at bottom)
Red Sea Master Salt water testing kit -$50-60
Instant Ocean salt -$12-19 (depending on size)
16 gallon professional designer glass tank -$350
Tank Filter and 3 month filter supply-$20
Two LED day / night lights -comes with nuvo tank
Care guide- can get free info on google/books

Total: $627 max

Researching and comparing prices really saves money! Reference pricing from marinedepot.com (Innovative Marine 16 Gallon Nano Aquarium w/ 2 x 8 Watt 14000K Skkye Light Clamp LED Light)

and saltcritters for the seahorses. Give some useful info on how they keep theirs:
Dwarf Seahorses - SaltCritters

You could get a 10-20 gallon tank on sale at Petco for $10-20 and a $10-20 sponge filter (or airline tubing w/ pump...don't want too much flow). There are way cheaper all in one tanks also. Like the ecoxotic 5 gallon (though the filter is prob. too powerful). Maybe start a nano reef and later try seahorses. Good luck .

 

[d_flo_yo]

WOW! ....
There are way cheaper all in one tanks also. Like the ecoxotic 5 gallon (though the filter is prob. too powerful). Maybe start a nano reef and later try seahorses. Good luck .

This sounds like excellent advice. It sucks that they're basically trying to take advantage of people. I didn't look at the price for the complete setup. The tank itself is on Fab right now for 170, it looks nice and sometimes you gotta pay $$ for design. I'd rather drop the extra $ on an ADA setup or any of the marine equipment you mentioned. I've kept salt water but only for a short while in my marine bio class many years ago. Seahorses are definitely VERY cool but after hearing this I will try my hand at a reef setup first.

 

[obscurereef]

That's strange why they sell the tank cheaper than other online aquarium stores, yet their kits are outrageously priced. They also never said it was a Nuvo tank which is pretty strange...Yeah they definitely are awesome, but setting up a reef would be better. Larger tanks are better b/c they allow room for error so having a 10 gallon or smaller can be tricky to get the parameters correct, not overfeed, etc. If you're willing to take on a challenge then do it. Just wanted to inform you .

 

[d_flo_yo]

Thanks! I don't plan on setting up another tank any time soon. I was just curious really. Hopefully anyone who is researching their kits will read the comments you all have provided.