Nicki's 50 gallon starphire seahorse tank!

[Daniel Fishy]

Very very nice!! Great job! Advanced aquarist has a good read on seahorses if you haven't read it yet. Smart move turning off the bubbles that can harm them.

[paul87]

Originally Posted by obscurereef

Seahorses weren't eating and one was hiding for a time and very pale. In a last ditch effort to save them, we followed the instructions that the owner of the company gave and did a 12 minute freshwater dip then put them in a 10 gallon hospital tank. This would eliminate distractions that have been stressing them out. They still wouldn't eat until we turned off the air pump. Now they're finally eating and there's still hope they'll pull through.

Come on little seahorses, pull through! Hope they make it ok. Goodluck

[Brilliant_Barbs_21]

Originally Posted by obscurereef

Aw that sucks. Did you think they were hard to keep?

Yes they required a lot of attention with live foods daily and little flow. I found it hard to keep up with the cyano because of the lack of flow. But eventually it became part of my routine and they just became beautiful little guys. It's fun to watch them hitch on to there little gracilaria hitches. Finally once everything was under control I had to rehome them.

[obscurereef]

Originally Posted by Sillyfishies

I wish. I'm a freshwater guy. Just can't quite make the jump when there's so many freshwater fish.

No problem with that

[obscurereef]

Originally Posted by Daniel Fishy

Very very nice!! Great job! Advanced aquarist has a good read on seahorses if you haven't read it yet. Smart move turning off the bubbles that can harm them.

I've read it before thanks I meant power heads, never were there bubbles.

[obscurereef]

Originally Posted by Brilliant_Barbs_21

Yes they required a lot of attention with live foods daily and little flow. I found it hard to keep up with the cyano because of the lack of flow. But eventually it became part of my routine and they just became beautiful little guys. It's fun to watch them hitch on to there little gracilaria hitches. Finally once everything was under control I had to rehome them.

Sounds great. Cyano problem doesn't sound fun though.

[kdpuffer]

So how are the little guys doing? Hope they are acclimating well. I've always wanted sea horses and even have a tank sitting empty with them in mind. Your tank looks fantastic and colorful. (I know a guy setting up for seahorses and his is all fake, it looks sad especially in comparison to yours). Hope they get acclimated and can get into their new home healthy and strong.

[obscurereef]

Originally Posted by kdpuffer

So how are the little guys doing? Hope they are acclimating well. I've always wanted sea horses and even have a tank sitting empty with them in mind. Your tank looks fantastic and colorful. (I know a guy setting up for seahorses and his is all fake, it looks sad especially in comparison to yours). Hope they get acclimated and can get into their new home healthy and strong.

That would be cool How big is the tank? You'll want a sump and skimmer since there is so much food going in each day. That's why I upgraded to a larger tank/better filtration.


Well we're feeding 3x a day live brine and frozen mysis and doing 50% (sometimes more) water changes a day to keep ammonia down. The female is eating more than the male (kinda worried about him). But they're eating enough where it looks like they can go back in the main tank. Both are notably stressed, but at least they're making a little progress. The older the harder it is for them to adjust. Maybe it's the species too.

[kdpuffer]

I have a 90g reef with a 55g sump, I plan to just plumb it off that when the day comes. Other things are higher priority at the moment.

[obscurereef]

Originally Posted by kdpuffer

I have a 90g reef with a 55g sump, I plan to just plumb it off that when the day comes. Other things are higher priority at the moment.

Cool idea or make a large display refugium and put them in there.

[obscurereef]

Seahorses are in the main tank. Still shy and not eating much though :/ Transferred the mandarin over to this tank.

Also, some macroalgae is turning a bright orange. Is it dying? Even if it is, it looks awesome!

[kdpuffer]

Originally Posted by obscurereef

Cool idea or make a large display refugium and put them in there.

That's actually a pretty sweet idea, fancy macros like yours would look pretty nice.

On the topic of your last post, wouldn't the mandarin eat all the pods your seahorses will
Forage on?

[obscurereef]

Originally Posted by kdpuffer

That's actually a pretty sweet idea, fancy macros like yours would look pretty nice. On the topic of your last post, wouldn't the mandarin eat all the pods your seahorses will Forage on?

The seahorses eat frozen mysis so I wouldn't see it a problem. I've seen the mandarin eat a couple pieces of mysis when he can but he eats nutramar mostly or Copepods. I don't see there being a competition for food since they aren't exactly eating the same things right now.

My mom transferred the mandarin without me knowing it since it's her fish so it wasn't my decision. :/

[Niccobacci11]

Any updates

[obscurereef]

Fo sho, here's an update! Seahorses are eating well, but only when we pit food in their little "troughs" or shells. They'll wait by it when they're hungry..so cute.

The female really blends in well with this leather!

Also it seems that she's the queen and the monti is her throne

[Sillyfishies]

Originally Posted by obscurereef

Fo sho, here's an update! Seahorses are eating well, but only when we pit food in their little "troughs" or shells. They'll wait by it when they're hungry..so cute.

The female really blends in well with this leather!

Also it seems that she's the queen and the monti is her throne

That is so cute! I remember why I wante seahorses.

[manbeast]

Absolutely beautiful

[obscurereef]

Got a few new things and thought I'd make a little update. Seahorses are great, but temp is low at 68 so slowly raising it up.

[paul87]

Originally Posted by obscurereef

Got a few new things and thought I'd make a little update. Seahorses are great, but temp is low at 68 so slowly raising it up.

Your tank and seahorses are beautiful! Hope you get your temp where you need it.

[obscurereef]

Originally Posted by paul87

Your tank and seahorses are beautiful! Hope you get your temp where you need it.

Thank you trying out a new one (cobalt I think) since the finnex burned. This is actually a good heater for a seahorse tank since it's flat and thin so they cant wrap their tails around it.