Seahorse Tank Specs

[kmayhew01]

Hello my fish loving friends,

I want to start a small tank for dwarf seahorses. I just want something simple, a 5 or ten gallon tank for a small colony. I was wondering how much lighting I need to grow marine macro algae like Caulpara and others. Would a standard output flourascent work for most macro-algaes.

I am also considering some other marine plants like sea lettuce and sea cacti and wondered what thier light requirments would be. Thanks in advance.

 

[vsnsofadrgn]

checkout seahorse.org

 

[BillyZ]

I'll second the suggestion to seahorse.org. Seahorses are very delicate creatures and require special care.

Aside from their special needs, a 5-10 gallon tank may be difficult to keep stable chemicaly. Keep that in mind. You might want to consider a 20 as a minimum just so you can keep the water parameters stable.

 

[vsnsofadrgn]

its actually suggested to keep dwarfs in that small of tank. although, dwarfs are not good beginner seahorses, but it can be done if willing to keep up with the feeding of bbs a few times a day and the watching of the water perameters. seahorse.org has a section just for dwarfs and alot of friendly ppl to help.

 

[Blue H2O]

I recently converted a 5g generic version of the Eclipse system into a refugium for my 20g fowlr. The fuge has about 2lbs LR piled in one corner and a baseball size chunk of Chaetomorpha, on a 1.5" sand bed. The light is only an 8 watt flourescent, so i am waiting to see if the chaeto will grow in the light.

I plan on adding a herd (6-10) Dwarf Horses to the fuge in a few months, once the macroalgae and pods are thriving.

You should consider setting up a larger tank and turning a 5g into a fuge. Even a 10g tank linked to the 5g would offer more stability and some options for other critters. The Dwarf SHs should be kept in a small tank like you suggest, but there is no reason not to increase the volume of your system.

 

[macman7010]

)))

 

[Konrade]

Dwarfs probably shouldn't be kept in a ten, because you would have to have a huge colony i'm talkin in the 50's here. You need alot of them because, they don't go after their food, they get it as it is passing by, and they usually only eat live brine shrimp that you have to culture everyday. They can also be killed by things on the lr because they are so small and fragile. Most reccomend that you not keep lr with them. SMALLER is better with them.