Seahorse - 2010/02/07 05:43Hello,my name is Daniel. I have had a saltwater bicoube 29g reef for two and a half years until everything died.(still have know idea y.it happened in 25 minutes while walking my dogs) I have had a seahorse a couple of times and have learned that they simply dont last long at all. It is not my water quality,but may have been the fact i have had frogspawns and other fish.(clowns,wrasses,gobies) SO, my mom and I are debating weither or not to invest in my tank again... (we lost about one thousand dollars worth of growth) If we do,she wants just corals, and i want fish and corals. I dont see the reason to have a tank w/o fish. But,she says she would do it if i wanted to. Now, can i keep a seahorse only tank with no harmfull corals succsessfuly? My only worries about seahorses are: 1) what kind to get 2) how to decrease or help water current to decrease 3) perhaps the most important, can i feed them without having to constantly watch and monitor their behavior? The last seahorses i had died after a few weeks but ate. But i believe my crab killed them.( my anemone crab killed a jawfish,cleaner wrasse and my 2 seahorses. not very) i dont want to always stress about buying live food, and not being able to take a couple days break at the beach.( i live in arizona) So, Please respond with as much detail and personal advice as convienent. (also,can a good copepod population keep a seahorse alive without twice a day feedings?)
Post edited by: MarineKid, at: 2010/02/09 09:59
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I'm very sorry to hear about the tank crash that wiped out all of the specimens in your 29-gallon Biocube in such a short period, sir, and I will do my best to answer all of your questions below.
The Oceanic BioCubes are nice aquarium systems with a very efficient filtration system, but like all of the nanocubes, they are designed with reef keepers in mind and have strong pumps that produce strong water flow and high turnover rates. As you know, Daniel, the from the pump often needs to be toned down a bit so it doesn't overwhelm the limited swimming ability of Hippocampus, if you will be using a Biocube as a seahorse tank.
One good way to accomplish that is by adding a spray bar return positioned above the surface of the water to provide better surface agitation and oxygenation, which will effectively diffuse the discharge from the filter, allowing you to maintain a relatively high turnover rate without generating too much turbulence or water flow for seahorses. For example, this is how Estefano recommends modifying BioCubes and nano tanks to make them more suitable for seahorses with regard to the water flow:
<Open quote> I recently bought a nanocube 24 (for a different reson other than a seahorse) but here are some of the recommended upgrades I would strongly consider if I were to house seahorses in this setup...
1) skimmer - Sapphire aquatic is comming out with a very high quality venturi skimmer that fits perfectly in on of the back compartments of the biocube. check www.nanotuners.com; then click on skimmers, you will see the biocube29 skimmer there. there are others available, however this is one of the top quality skimmers out there.
2) SPRAY BARS!!! very important, all these nanocubes have very powerful pumps that are designed to turn water over 10-15 times per hour, as you may have read from previous recommendations from Pete you will know that this is not suitable for seahorses, adding spraybars (from loc-line, 1/2 inch; available at marinedepot.com) is a very good upgrade. they also have a check-valve available which you can use to slow down the water flow.
3) UV sterilizer - CADLIGHTS has created an in chamber UV steralizer I would strongly consider adding to a setup like yours. go to www.cadlights.com and click on the UV steralizer from the list, its only $55 and a really nice upgrade for your new tank.
Go to your local fish store and buy a Mini-jet 606, These pumps have a flow controller built right into them. They are rather inexpensive and readily available in every fish store out there.
This is the link of the pump so you know what to look for...
As a long term solution you should install some spraybars, I must advice you that you will need to sand down the original nipple that comes with the biocube in order to make the spraybars fit. Its really easy and only takes 5 minutes with sanding paper.
Here are the links of the spraybars so you know what to look for...
So if you can modify your 29-gallon Biocube as suggested in #2 above, Daniel, the spray bar attachment will attenuate the output from the pump after it is adjusted to roil the surface of the aquarium, and subdue the water flow sufficiently to create more suitable conditions for your new seahorse.
Estefano's recommended upgrades may be the long term solution for controlling the circulation in the aquarium, but it may take you awhile to obtain the spray bar and check valve you will need. Here's another tip that you can use to reduce the water currents in the meantime:
Reef keepers that must accommodate both the needs of corals that prefer powerful currents and the seahorse's need for slack-water retreats will often create tall rock formations a foot or so down current from the strongest water flows to intercept and deflect or divert that strong flow of water, thereby creating eddies and slack-water zones where there is relatively little water movement downstream. Seahorses will hold in these low flow areas when they want to move away from the current, so it's a good idea to position convenient hitching posts in the lee or down-current side of such formations. Perhaps you can arrange the rockwork in your 29-gallon Biocube to accomplish the same thing and reduce the water flow down current so it's more suitable for seahorses while you are locating a suitable spray bar attachment.
If it's not practical to create a taller rock formation to intercept and diffuse the output from your filter, you can accomplish the same thing using tall artificial plants instead. For example, Sea Garden synthetic aquarium plants make good hitching posts for seahorses and their synthetic Sargassum plants would work well to "soften" the output from your filter somewhat. The Sea Garden saltwater series of "Fancy Plants" are very realistic, completely safe for saltwater, and very easy to maintain. Just rinse them under warm running water before installation and periodically thereafter for cleaning. There's a very nice selection of them available and seahorses can't seem to tell the difference between them and the real thing.
For background decorations, I especially like the SeaGarden synthetic Sargassum plants because Hippocampus erectus is often associated with Sargassum in the wild and is famous for its rafting ability on mats of these plants. So it's a natural biotype for erectus, and of course the Sargassum grows nice and tall, which is what we want for aquascaping tall tanks. I suggest ordering one or more Large, Tall, and Extra Large examples of both the Sargassum fluitans (reddish brown in color) and the Sargassum platycarpum (green in coloration). They range in size from 12 to 24 inches in height, so I think if you group the taller plants together in an attractive arrangements along the back of your tank directly in front of the output from the filter, they will help diffuse the current as they interrupt the water flow and wave in the water stream. In so doing, they should effectively conceal the filtration system and enhance the beauty of the aquarium, creating a colorful natural background with shades of green, brown, and red.. They sway in the current just like the real plants and are very easy to clean and maintain. Just rinse them well under warm water when they need cleaning.
Those are some good ways to moderate the water currents in your 29-gallon Biocube, Daniel.
Also, you need to be aware that Frogspawn corals (Euphyllia sp.) are not at all compatible with seahorses, sir! As you know, Kid, these cnidarians are stinging animals that carry a potent punch -- LPS corals of the genus Euphyllia, such as your Frogspawn colonies, have large fleshy polyps that have tentacles equipped with powerful stinging cells, and their nematocysts can deliver nasty stings that are even stronger than most anemones (Delbeek, Oct. 2001). Frogspawn coral is notoriously aggressive, and will attack and destroy other nearby corals after dark with its sweeper tentacles, which can extend a good 6 inches from the base of the coral, so reef keepers must be very careful to keep plenty of space between the Frogspawn colonies and their other live corals.
In short, sir, the Frogspawn corals have no business being in a seahorse tank, and seahorses have no business being in a tank with Frogspawn corals. You must understand that seahorses naturally tend to regard corals as convenient hitching posts and instinctively want to cling to them or wrap their tails around them, and that can be a fatal mistake when Euphyllia Frogspawn corals are involved. In short, sir the frogspawn corals pose a very serious risk for the seahorses, and naïve seahorses newly introduced to your aquarium, unaware of the hazard, would be unlikely to survive their first week in the aquarium with these corals. They would very likely receive fatal stings and go into shock as a result.
Seahorses are benthic animals that orient to the substrate and use their prehensile tails to cling to convenient objects on the bottom of the aquarium. They habitually wrap their tails around convenient purchase or drape themselves across such objects, including corals. That being the case, sir, after being introduced to a strange new aquarium with which they were completely unfamiliar, the the naïve new seahorses are very likely to blunder into the Frogspawn coral after dark and get stung severely. Indeed, in a small 29-gallon aquarium with two Frogspawn colonies, each of which will be extending its sweeper tentacles a good 6 inches all around the base of the coral during the night, it would be very difficult for the unsuspecting seahorses to avoid coming in contact with the dangerous corals. The ponies would be unfamiliar with the currents and water flow in the aquarium, disoriented in the darkness, and as new arrivals, they would be unaware of the danger presented by these aggressive corals. That's a recipe for disaster, Daniel, and naïve seahorses may not even make it past the first night in your 29-gallon reef tank.
Needless to say, sir, your killer crab would also need to go if you intend to keep seahorses in your 29-gallon Biocube. Crabs and crustaceans in general are opportunistic predators that are likely to attack anything they can overpower, and in the wild, crabs are natural predators of seahorses.
They may be entirely peaceful and inoffensive when they are small, but even a small crab can cause a lot of trouble as it grows. They may double in size following a molt (i.e., ecdysis) so they grow surprisingly fast, and even a tiny crab that's completely docile at first can grow large enough to turn predatory almost literally overnight if it's a species that reaches a respectable size. One day it's a miniature crab that's cute and entertaining in its own bumbling sort of way, and the next day following a successful molt, it can become a dangerous bully that regard its tankmates with a culinary eye.
Remember there are always exceptions to every rule, and large crustaceans are never completely trustworthy. Even the most harmless and seemingly inoffensive crabs can cause trouble under certain circumstances. For example, not long ago I heard from a hobbyist that had been keeping a decorator crab in his seahorse tank. All went well at first and there were no problems of any kind for months until, for no apparent reason, the crab suddenly began to quite deliberately amputate portions of the seahorses' tails. It was not attacking the seahorses as prey or attempting to eat its mutilated victims, it was merely methodically harvesting portions of their anatomy with which to adorn itself! It was simply doing what all decorator crabs do -- snipping off and gathering bits and pieces of its immediate environment to attach to itself as a form of natural camouflage. It just goes to show, with crabs you can never be sure how things are going to work out...
So be prepared to relocate the vicious anemone crab and any other crabs you are currently keeping in your Biocube, if you want to keep seahorses safely, Daniel.
Yes, of course, you can certainly keep seahorses successfully with compatible tank mates in a dedicated seahorse setup. You simply need to modify the aquarium to create ideal conditions for the seahorses and to avoid killer corals, crabs, and anemones. You will find that hardy, captive-bred-and-raised seahorses are long-lived when provided with good nutrition, a stress-free environment, and optimal water quality, Daniel.
It has been my experience that cultured seahorses such as Mustangs and Sunbursts (Hippocampus erectus) have a life expectancy of 7-10 years in captivity, it provided with good care, but a life span of 3-4 years is more typical in the home aquarium. (I personally know of one old war horse raised by a colleague of mine that reached the ripe old age of 7 years and 3 months.) At the Ocean Rider facility, I believe some of their original broodstock are older still (10+ years old), but of course the ideal conditions there are far different from the small, closed-system aquaria and artificial saltwater we hobbyists must rely on.
Interestingly, if provided with optimal water quality, a nutritious diet, and favorable conditions, the old warhorses will often continue to breed successfully despite their age. Many times pairs produce their biggest broods between the ages of 3-5. Their frequency of breeding may go down, however, and they may produce fewer broods each season as they age.
If you are serious about keeping seahorses, Daniel, then I would encourage you to participate in the Ocean Rider training program for new seahorse keepers. You can read all about the seahorse training program in the very first post at the top of this discussion forum, but the bottom line is that it's a correspondence course conducted entirely by e-mail and it's entirely free of charge. It will tell you everything you need to know about the care and keeping of seahorses in great detail, and completing the training course should give you an excellent idea of whether are not they are well suited for your needs and interests. If you would like to give the seahorse training program a try, just send me a brief e-mail off list (PeteGiwojna@aol.com) with your full name (first and last) and I will get you started off with the first lesson right away.
In the meantime, I will address your three specific questions more thoroughly below:
1) what kind to get
Avoid wild-caught seahorses like the plague and stick with hardy captive-bred-and-raised seahorses from a reputable breeder such as Ocean Rider (seahorse.com). Whenever possible, avoid middlemen and order your seahorses directly from the breeder in order to assure that they reach you in top condition. Stay away from the delicate Hippocampus kelloggi seahorses at all costs! They are inexpensive, but they have proven to be very delicate, disease prone seahorses that have very little resilient when they develop health problems. The Hippocampus kelloggi seahorses require an aquarium chiller in order to thrive and are vulnerable to serious bacterial infections when maintained at typical aquarium temperatures.
If you are new to seahorse keeping, Daniel, then I can heartily recommend Mustangs (Hippocampus erectus), which are ideal for beginners. Commonly known as the Lined Seahorse or the Northern Giant or Florida Giant, Hippocampus erectus was the first seahorse to be commercially raised for the aquarium hobby. Mustangs have been captive-bred and raised for more generations than any other seahorse, and have now achieved a level of domestication that makes them better adapted to aquarium conditions and life in captivity than other seahorses. The Ocean Rider aquaculture facility in Hawaii that raises H. erectus selects them for traits such as adaptability, vigor, disease resistance, fast growth and aggressive feeding habits -- traits that increase the fitness of each line over time. After numerous generations of strengthening and improvement, the current breeds of farm-raised erectus are tough as nails. Very hardy and very impressive, yet affordable, Mustangs are great choices for a novice seahorse keeper who is still learning the ropes. They are very adaptable and have led the on-going trend toward keeping captive-bred seahorses only. Simply put, more hobbyists keep CB erectus than any of the other greater seahorses, and rightly so.
Mustangs are impressive animals. They are large, robust, deep-chested seahorses that can reach well in excess of 7 inches in length when fully grown. They tend to be cryptically colored, and often show earth tones such as beige, russet, charcoal black, gray, brown, ochre or olive over an underlying pattern of fine parallel lines that run down their necks and across their chest (Giwojna, Jun. 2002). White blazes, blotches, saddles, triangles, and diamonds are common markings for captive-bred erectus (Giwojna, Jun. 2002).
The lighter specimens that show their stripes boldly can be very striking, and they are apt to express a wide range of color phases as time passes. Like all seahorses, the coloration expressed by Lined seahorses can vary with their mood, environment, and social activities.
Seahorses are one fish that can become a true pet, and I'm convinced this is because they are more intelligent than most fishes. The highly domesticated Mustangs are real personality fish and many of them actually enjoy being handled. Unlike most other fish that back off when you approach the aquarium and flee in terror if you place your hand in the tank, seahorses soon learn to recognize their keeper and will come out to meet you. They quickly learn to take food from your fingers, and as you will discover, having your pet ponies literally eating out your hand is a very rewarding experience. When one of these shy, enchanting creatures -- whose very survival in the wild depends on concealing itself from predators at all times -- comes trustingly up to the surface to eat right out of your palm, it's a thrill you won't soon forget. The training sessions and daily feedings required for this tend to forge a close, personal relationship between the aquarist and his charges, and hand-fed seahorses often become special pets. Many times they will even include you in their daily greeting, flashing their recognition colors and parading back and forth and at the front of the tank, performing their dancelike displays for your benefit.
The first pair of captive-bred seahorses I ever owned were Mustangs, and my 'stangs quickly learned to recognize me as their feeder, whereupon they would often interact with me at dinnertime by turning on their greeting colors. My original pair are still going strong several years later, and I have watched them go through a number of color phases from month to month. One has settled on gray-green as its base coloration for the moment, and the other ranges between rust, burnt umber, and orange, but always with contrasting beige bands (Giwojna, Jun. 2002). Last season, the male adopted a rich ochre yellow as his everyday attire (still with the same beige bands, though), while the female displayed a dark purplish ensemble with definite greenish highlights. When courting, they consistently brighten to a pearly white and a creamy yellow respectively (Giwojna, Jun. 2002). They make a handsome couple, and I find my erectus to be very attractive specimens in all their guises.
I set up my pair of these spirited steeds in a brand-new 30 gallon (tall) aquarium all their own, and that tank has been my most entertaining, trouble-free exhibit ever since. With a simple setup like theirs, I prefer to target feed my seahorses. That allows me to observe them closely on a daily basis, monitor their health, keep track of exactly how much each specimen is eating, and remove any leftovers immediately.
Led by the female -- by far the bolder and most outgoing of the two -- the Mustangs were soon literally eating right out of my hands. (I know, I know -- sensible aquarists should always strive to keep their mitts out the aquarium as much as possible, but handfeeding is a thrill I find difficult to resist, and hey -- nobody ever said I was sensible!) Of course, I'm very well aware of the risks involved and extremely diligent about taking all the necessary precautions beforehand. And besides, there are major advantages to handfeeding that more than offset any minor risks.
For one thing, the seahorses seem to enjoy the experience every bit as much as I do. They head for the feeding station as soon as I approach the tank, a series of color changes betraying their excitement, and queue up at the dinner table looking their best and brightest. Of course, they both try to snap up the first morsel -- even pair-bonded ponies are not big on sharing or waiting turns -- so I no longer offer them one mysid at a time. I offer them a handful of individually thawed Mysis in my upturned palm instead. They know the drill and happily perch on my fingers while snicking up the shrimp as fast as they can.
Secondly, feeding your seahorses by hand permits the aquarist to conduct a close-up, daily inspection of every specimen in his tank, and I like to use the opportunity to give 'em a good once over. These detailed examinations make it difficult not to notice any subtle changes in my seahorse's appearance or behavior that might signal impending problems with disease or the water chemistry. That's a big advantage, since the sooner such potential problems are detected, the easier they are to cure or prevent, and I recommend other hobbyists do the same.
Take a moment to enjoy the show when feeding your seahorses. Make sure they're all eating well, and use this opportunity to look them over closely for wounds, injuries, or signs of disease. Seahorses are natural-born gluttons. Ordinarily, these galloping gourmets are ALWAYS hungry, so when a seahorse is off its feed, that's often an excellent early indicator that something's amiss in the aquarium. Early detection of a potential problem can be the key to curing it, so it's a good idea for the alert aquarist to observe his prize ponies while they put on the ol' feed bag. Make sure they all show up for mess call, are acting normally, and have a well-rounded abdomen when they're done eating. Handfeeding makes it hard to miss when one these chow hounds is off its feed, tipping off the alert aquarist to a potential problem.
Best of all, handfeeding is pure, sure-fire, 100% unadulterated fish-keeping fun! Feeding time for my seahorses is always a high point in my day. Having your pet ponies literally eating out your hand is a very rewarding experience. These daily feedings tends to forge a close, personal relationship between the aquarist and his charges, and hand-fed seahorses often become special pets.
As much as feeding time brightens up my day, I have no doubt it livens things up for my seahorses even more. They genuinely appear to enjoy interacting with me, and I believe in enriching their captive environment as much as possible. No doubt it's the food they're looking forward to, not the food giver, but our daily encounters are always eagerly awaited and they like to linger on my hand long after all the food is gone. They would allow me to lift them out of the water when I withdraw my hand if I didn't gently shoo them away first.
The only thing I don't like about handfeeding frozen Mysis to my seahorses is the obligatory fast day. The problem with fasting is that the Mustangs don't seem to realize it's good for them -- that it's absolutely in their own best interests, essential for their long-term health. Whenever I make an appearance on fast day, they insist on parading back and forth in front of the glass in their greeting colors, begging for a handout. Before my butt hits the upholstery, both of them will be dancing at the feeding station, impatiently awaiting their gourmet shrimp dinner. When it doesn't materialize, they forlornly abandon their post at the lunch counter, and come up to stare at me through the front glass. When I still don't take the hint, the female paces back and forth at the front, looking her brightest and most conspicuous, as though trying to attract my attention, while the male reverts to his drab everyday attire and dejectedly resumes his futile vigil at the feeding station. If not for their well-rounded cross-sections, one would think they were dying of hunger, making it difficult to resist their puppy-dog antics. Just sitting there ignoring them makes me feel like a first-class heel. Sheesh -- talk about your guilt trips Dang! I hate fast days.
I feel Hippocampus is intelligent enough to become bored or jaded in captivity at times, and for this reason I try to provide a little behavioral enrichment for my seahorses whenever possible. The handfeeding sessions I've already described are an example of this, and I also try to provide my seahorses with live foods regularly so they have an opportunity to experience the thrill of the hunt and the chase once in a while as they do in the wild.
In short, I'm sure you would enjoy a pair of Mustangs as much as I enjoy mine. After you've gained a little experience with the Mustangs, I suggest adding a pair of Sunbursts to your herd next. Sunbursts are very similar to Mustangs in most respects, including their hardiness, and will even interbreed with them freely; the main difference is that the Sunbursts tend to be even more brightly colored, as their name implies. They are predisposed to display sunset colors (shades of yellow, gold, peach and orange) when conditions are to their liking. But you really can't go too far wrong when selecting your first specimens as long as you stick with captive-bred-and-raised seahorses and avoid wild-caught specimens.
2) how to decrease or help water current to decrease
You'll want to modify your Biocube by installing a spray bar attachment according to the recommendations from Estefano that I have outlined at the top of this post. If necessary, you can arrange the aquarium decor (live rocks and/or artificial plants) to further deflect or diffuse the water flow from the main pump, as we have already discussed earlier in this message.
3) perhaps the most important, can i feed them without having to constantly watch and monitor their behavior?
Yes, indeed -- Mustangs and Sunbursts (Hippocampus erectus) are trained to eat frozen Mysis as their staple, everyday diet from an early age and live foods are not necessary. Nor do you need to hand feed the seahorses their frozen Mysis if that's not convenient for you. All you need to do is set up a suitable feeding station for the seahorses and deliver their frozen Mysis to the feeding station using a plastic tube, and the seahorses will take it from there. Lesson 5 in the seahorse training program I mentioned is devoted entirely to feeding seahorses with frozen Mysis and discusses several different feeding techniques in considerable detail. One or more of these feeding methods or feeding stations should be perfect for your needs and interests.
A good population of copepods and amphipods can certainly keep a pair of seahorses going strong if you want to take a couple days off to enjoy the beach now and then, Daniel. In fact, when you are providing your seahorses with a steady diet of enriched, frozen Mysis, it is recommended that you fast them one day a week. So when you're going to the beach for a weekend, simply arrange the seahorses' feeding schedule so that their fasting day falls on a weekend and they will do just fine on their own. If your aquarium has an abundant supply of copepods and amphipods, they will happily graze on this natural fodder and scrounge up enough on their own when you are away for the weekend.
However, if you are contemplating maintaining a self-sustaining ecosystem are natural food web in your 29-gallon Biocube that can sustain seahorses without the need for daily feedings, that's not a realistic goal unless you are willing to consider installing a large refugium to help support the ponies. If the refugium is well-established ahead of time with a bountiful pod population and is properly designed so that it delivers copepods, amphipods, and larval shrimp and crustaceans to the main tank (i.e., your 29-gallon Biocube) continuously, it may be possible to provide a single pair of seahorses with enough feeding opportunities to sustain them in much the same way as you would design an aquarium to create ideal conditions for a Mandarin Dragonet.
It's also possible to keep Gammarus amphipods and various species of copepods in the main tank with seahorses, providing the tank has sufficient live rock, macroalgae, and other hiding places for the pods to conceal themselves. Although the seahorses will greedily gobble up the amphipods and copepods as quickly as they find them, enough of them will usually survive in the inaccessible nooks and crannies in the aquarium to maintain a breeding population, if the aquarium is large enough and has adequate shelter.
However, it's generally not possible to create a self-sustaining ecosystem in a seahorse tank in which the natural reproduction of copepods and amphipods is enough to sustain these seahorses without the aid of one or more well-stocked refugia. Our galloping gourmets will usually deplete the pod population faster than it can replenish itself. If you have a large enough aquarium with lots of live rock and a well-established, heavy population of copepods and amphipods and other microfauna -- the type of setup that would be good for Mandarin dragonets, for example -- you might be able to keep a pair of seahorses in such a tank and just provide them with occasional supplemental feedings of frozen Mysis. It's generally more practical to keep just enough copepods and amphipods in the tank to provide your seahorses with an opportunity to graze on live foods between meals and then to provide them with regular feedings of frozen Mysis as the bulk of their diet.
It's a better idea to set up the Gammarus amphipods, copepods, feeder shrimp, and other live foods species in a refugium that's connected to the seahorse tank, Daniel. That way the Gammarus and copepods and other small crustaceans can build up a very large population while they are safely protected within the refuge, and some of them will be released into the seahorse tank to provide tasty treats for the ponies.
A refugium is simply a self-contained protected area, isolated from the main tank but sharing the same water supply, which provides many of the same benefits as a sump. A refugium can help newly added fish or invertebrates easily acclimate to a new tank. It can provide a safe haven for injured fish or corals to regenerate damaged tissue without the need for a separate quarantine tank. But perhaps its main benefit for the seahorse keeper is provide a protected area where macroalgae can be grown and small live prey items (copepods, amphipods, Caprellids, etc.) that will eventually become a food source for the inhabitants of the main portion of the tank can be cultured safely, allowing their population to build up undisturbed.
For instance, Charles Delbeek likes to use glass shrimp and cleaner shrimp that are too large to be eaten in the refugium for his seahorse tank, where the regular reproduction of these hermaphroditic crustaceans will provide a continuous supply of nutritious nauplii for his ponies: "There is a method that can be used to offer an occasional supply of live food for your sea horses. By setting up a separate system housing several species of shrimp such as the common cleaner shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis), peppermint shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis), or Rhynchocinetes uritai or R. durbanensis, you can get a fairly regular supply of live shrimp larvae. These species are best to use since they can live in large groups and spawn on a regular basis. Such a system is commonly called a refugium. A refugium is a small (10-20 gallon) aquarium that contains live sand, live rock and/or macroalgae such as Caulerpa or Gracilaria. It is plumbed such that water from your main system is pumped to the refugium and then returns via an overflow to the main tank. Some of the pods and larval crustaceans will then be carried from the refugium into the sea horse tank in the water that overflows from the refuge. For this type of arrangement to work, the refugium must be slightly higher than the main tank. Shrimp are added to the refugium and within a few months they should start spawning and hatching eggs every few weeks. The larvae are then carried back to the main tank by the overflow, where they become a food source for your sea horses. Of course other life will also thrive in the refugium and it is not unusual for copepods, mysis and crab larvae to also be produced on a regular basis. The key to the refugium is to keep predators out of the system so that the smaller micro-crustacean population can thrive. You would need a fairly large and productive refugium to produce enough food to maintain even a pair of sea horses, so at best, a typical refugium can provide a nice source of supplemental live food; the basic daily diet still needs to be provided by you in the form of the frozen foods mentioned above." (Delbeek, November 2001, "Horse Forum," FAMA magazine)
Aside from the one Delbeek favors, refugia are available in a number of different designs. For example, there are easy-to-install external hang-on refugia and in-tank refugia as well as sump-style refugia that are mounted beneath the main. Here are a couple of online sites where you can look up more information on refugia, including articles explaining how to set up and install a refugium of your own:
In short, Daniel, the system you have in mind is certainly worth experimenting with to see if the abundant microfauna in a well stocked refuge or two can provide one pair of seahorses with all of the live feed they need to remain fat and happy. But it will take time for an adequate pod population to build up and careful planning to devise a way of continually delivering them to the main tank from the refugia. Just keep an eye on the seahorses to make sure they are not becoming emaciated or developing pinched in abdomens, and offer them supplemental feedings with frozen Mysis as necessary. A 29-gallon Biocube alone is not large enough to sustain sufficient copepods and amphipods despite constant predation from the seahorses without a sizable refugium (or two) to provide supplemental live foods.
Best of luck diffusing the current in your Biocube to create optimum conditions for your seahorses, Daniel! Please contact me off list and we will get you started on the seahorse training program right away, which should answer any remaining questions and concerns you have about the care and keeping of seahorses.
Respectfully, Pete Giwojna
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Re:Seahorse - 2010/02/08 05:44Thanks for the reply! just so you know,everything in my tank died so no more frogspawn and killer crab! It is simply emty and dried out. I have cleaned it and thrown away all my live rock just in case of some dwelling,deadly bacteria. Most likley, the city did a water flush and out RODI filter couldnt handle it.(it was needing a filter change) So,i did my daily top off and Bam! no more fishies.
So,I saw your post about the spray valves and i have a hard time vidualizing its exact use. i know what it does just now how to hook it up. Also,i really love the quality of the seahorses,but will be unable to buy them from you because they are to expensive. Ill try and see if my lfs(i used to voulenteer their) can get me some decend Hippocampus Erectus. Obvously tank raised. i couldnt possibly take them from the ocean. I never took anything non captive bred. Also, i read live rock want good for the seahorses because of its parasites and all,but was wondering if you think its ok to put some in the filter. And finally, i was hoping to not have to get a refugium due to the extra work. I would keep macro algae in the tank and simply trim it down once necessary.
Any other tips would be nice! Thanks!
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Okay, sir -- if you have broken down the aquarium and are starting over from scratch then the Euphyllia frogspawn coral colonies and the predatory crabs, which did not survive the tank crash, will obviously no longer be issues with regard to seahorses. No problem there...
Modifying your 29-gallon Biocube by connecting a spray bar to the output from the water pump/filter in order to moderate the water flow is a do-it-yourself project that can be accomplished in a number of different ways. Estefano's suggestions are just one way of going about it. If you understand the concept of using a spray bar to diffuse the output from the filter or water pump, that's the main thing, Daniel. In general, the longer the spray bar, the more it will decrease the force of the outflow. Likewise, the larger the diameter of the spray bar and the more exit holes it includes for the water spray, the more the output from the water pump will be softened and diffused.
With regard to the seahorses, Daniel, as long as you avoid wild-caught ponies and the terribly delicate Hippocampus kelloggi seahorses, you can't go too far wrong. Captive-red-and-raised Hippocampus erectus are excellent starter seahorses and moderately easy to raise, should they breed and reproduce in the aquarium. That gives them quite an advantage over the Brazilian seahorses (H. reidi), Tigertail seahorses (H. comes), and oceanic seahorses (H. kuda), which are much more challenging to raise and therefore not quite as hardy or as desirable...
A refugium will not be necessary as long as you're willing to provide the seahorses with frozen Mysis as their staple, everyday diet, Daniel. It's not difficult to set up a feeding station and to teach them to come and eat their meals at the same time and place every day right from a convenient feeding trough. But you will not be able to maintain a large enough population of copepods and amphipods in an aquarium the size of your 29-gallon Biocube in order to sustain a pair of seahorses without regular feedings of the frozen mysids. The seahorses will simply deplete the population of the copepods and amphipods faster than natural reproduction can replace them in a small setup like yours.
So if you want to establish a self-sustaining ecosystem with a natural food web that can support a pair of seahorses, you will need to equip your Biocube with one or more refugia, sir. But if you will be providing daily feedings of frozen Mysis, then no refugium will be needed.
The best tip I can give you under the circumstances, Daniel, is to contact me off list (PeteGiwojna@aol.com) and complete the free Ocean Rider training course for seahorse keepers. It includes almost 200 pages of tips and suggestions and advice for maintaining seahorses under ideal conditions and will tell you everything you need to know about the care and keeping of seahorses. The seahorse training program is a bonanza of invaluable information for anyone in a situation like yours. It does not matter in the least that you will not be obtaining your seahorses from Ocean Rider -- the training program is available to everyone free of charge, regardless of whether or not they are a customer of Ocean Rider.
In other words, completing the training course and earning your certification in no way obligates you to purchase Ocean Rider seahorses now or at any time in the future. You do not have to have Ocean Rider seahorses to be eligible for the training -- it is open to all hobbyists regardless of where they may have obtained their seahorses, or whether they have any seahorses at all. Lots of participants obtain their seahorses from other sources, and many of the trainees are simply doing long-term research on seahorses and have no plans to keep them in the near future; they just want to learn as much as they can on the subject for that fateful day when and if they decide to take the plunge...
So please contact me off list with a brief e-mail including your first and last name, Daniel, and we'll get started on the first lesson right away. The correspondence course and our follow-up communications will answer any remaining questions and concerns you may have a much more detail than we can discuss on a forum like this.
Happy Trails! Pete Giwojna
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MarineKid
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Re:Seahorse - 2010/02/09 09:58Thanks for the second reply! I apologize for my inconvienience. I have a couple questions,again... 1) I plan to get one pair of erectus once the tank is well established and ready,but was wondering if its safe to add one extra pair after a while. I am asking this because I may want two pairs to make it a seahorse savy tank. 2) If I only have one pair(unless you think I can do this with two) i would possible house a jawfish and or scooter blenny. Will these get along or should the tank stick to seahorse only? 3) I want to have a center and rather narrow piece of live rock, but heard live rock can contain bad things for seahorses.(i would kill any aptasia anemones) Is the risk so great that I should have no live rock at all? 4) I had live rock in the filter area of the bicoube last time and it helped with water quality. Would you reccomend I do this or should I add somthing else? 5) Do you know of any sea sponge(branched) that is colorfull and easy to care for? Sea fans require a lot of food and am wondering if you reccomend them.
Alas,I am interested in retaking your seahorse course so please get me started right away!
Ps: I am going to configure two exit points for the water flow. What i will do is try to get them to push the water out onto the surface and to then fall into the water
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Answering your questions on the forum is no inconvenience at all, sir -- that's what I'm here for! But many of the questions and concerns you have are covered in the seahorse training program lessons in exhaustive detail, so you do yourself a disservice if you restrict yourself to the rather limited responses that are possible on the forum itself. I'll do my best to answer your remaining questions one-by-one below:
1) I plan to get one pair of erectus once the tank is well established and ready,but was wondering if its safe to add one extra pair after a while. I am asking this because I may want two pairs to make it a seahorse savy tank.
Yes, sir, if you are able to make the necessary modifications and set up your 29-gallon Biocube as a dedicated seahorse tank, it should be able to safely support two pairs of large seahorses such as Mustangs or Sunbursts (Hippocampus erectus). The recommended stocking density for Hippocampus erectus is one pair per 10 gallons, with a minimum tank size of 20 gallons (30 gallons or more recommended). So a well-filtered 29-gallon Biocube should be able to sustain two pairs of H. erectus seahorses (or for adult individuals) and still have a little margin for error...
2) If I only have one pair(unless you think I can do this with two) i would possible house a jawfish and or scooter blenny. Will these get along or should the tank stick to seahorse only?
Both jawfish and scooter blennies are generally quite compatible with seahorses. However, you should not consider keeping a scooter blenny in an aquarium as small as your 29-gallon Biocube, sir. The scooters are actually not gobies at all but rather dragonets, and they have virtually identical feeding requirements to the beautiful Mandarinfish (Synchiropus splendidus). This means that they are pod eaters that subsist largely on live copepods and amphipods within the aquarium. Unfortunately, this in turn dictates that they do best in large (> 100 gallons), well-established reef systems loaded with live rock and live sand. A scooter blenny would be doomed to a slow death from starvation in a 29-gallon Biocube with a very limited amount of live rock...
However, you are free to consider adding a jawfish to go along with a pair of Hippocampus erectus seahorses providing you can find a species of jawfish that will do well in a small 29-gallon aquarium.
3) I want to have a center and rather narrow piece of live rock, but heard live rock can contain bad things for seahorses.(i would kill any aptasia anemones) Is the risk so great that I should have no live rock at all?
Most hobbyists feel that the advantages of live rock by far outweigh the disadvantages, which are primarily the fact that unwanted hitchhikers (Aiptasia rock anemones, hydroids, mantis shrimp, bristleworms, predatory crabs, etc.) may come along with the live rock. Personally, my favorite setup for our amazing aquatic equines is a Seahorse-Only-with-Live-Rock (SHOWLR) system, but that may not be the best choice for everyone. This is what I normally advise home hobbyists with regard to live rock, Daniel:
Live Rock.
The one indispensable part of a SHOWLR system is the foundation of live rock. The live rock is the living, breathing, heart and soul of the system, which provides the bulk of the biological filtration as well as some denitrification ability and shelter and habitat for countless critters and microfauna. The porous interior of the rock supports large populations of the beneficial oxygen-loving Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter bacteria that breakdown deadly ammonia and nitrite into less toxic substances (primarily nitrate). Deeper inside the live rock, where oxygen levels are nil, anaerobic denitrifying bacteria take hold and complete the nitrogen cycle, breaking down nitrate into harmless nitrogen. This helps keep the nitrate levels in the seahorse tank low. As a result, live rock is superior to most other forms of biofiltration, which lack this final anaerobic step and cannot carry out denitrification. This makes live rock doubly good at maintaining optimum water quality.
Equally important, the rockwork provides cover for the seahorses. By this, I mean the rock allows the seahorses to hide and conceal themselves completely whenever they feel the need. Seahorses are shy, secretive creatures that rely on camouflage as their primary means of protection, and if they feel too exposed and vulnerable, it can be stressful for them.
How much live rock is needed for a seahorse tank? Well, that depends on one's personal preferences and the filtration system in the aquarium. For example, many reef systems rely on live rock and live sand as the only means of biological filtration, along with power heads to provide good water circulation and a protein skimmer for supplemental filtration. In a system like that, where the live rock serves as the primary biofilter, as much as 1-2 pounds of live rock per gallon is needed to do the job. That amount of live rock will provide adequate levels of both nitrification and denitrification for the tank, and that is the maximum amount of live rock anyone would ever consider installing in their seahorse tank.
However, if you will have an additional means of biological filtration on the aquarium, then you won't be nearly that much live rock and you can get by with a small fraction of that amount very nicely. Most seahorse keepers prefer to use an external filter with biological filtration ability along with just enough live rock to provide their tank with stability due to the additional biofiltration and shelter it provides, and for decorative purposes. That way they get many of the benefits the live rock provides but the tank remains less cluttered with more swimming space for the seahorses.
In a case like that, the live rock complements the biofilter due to it's ability to provide denitrification (i.e., the conversion of nitrate to nitrogen gas, which leaves the aquarium) and complete the nitrogen cycle. This helps to keep the nitrates low and the supplemental biological filtration the live rock provides gives the aquarium greater stability and a bigger margin for error.
So in an aquarium that has an external filter which provides efficient biological filtration (e.g., a wet/dry trickle filter, bio wheel, or canister filter or hang-non-the-back filter with bioballs or other biological filtration media), there is no minimum amount of live rock that must be used. Such an aquarium has adequate biofiltration ability without the need for live rock. It can therefore include many interesting formations of live rock for shelter and decorative purposes, just a little live rock to provide additional stability and to help keep the nitrates under control, or even no live rock at all. Whatever amount the aquarist prefers is just fine when the live rock is not providing the biological filtration. In such cases, 1 pound of live rock per 10 gallons will generally suffice...
But the stability and denitrification ability provided by the live rock, and the diversity of life it supports, are always an asset for any aquarium, so nowadays most seahorse tanks include at least some live rock. The abundant copepods and amphipods and other meiofauna that come to populate the live rock provide tasty treats for the seahorses between meals, which our galloping gourmets always appreciate.
To take advantage of the benefits provided by live rock, you can simply select the precured live rock you find most attractive at your LFS and add enough of it to create interesting rock formations that are aesthetically pleasing to your eye. Use enough rock to create some interesting caves, arches, ledges and overhangs, but make sure that the rockwork is very well secured and anchored solidly in place so that there is no instability or danger that the rock formations could collapse.
Despite its beauty, natural appearance and the many benefits it provides, some hobbyists avoid live rock like the plague for fear that they may introduce harmful pests to their aquarium along with the live rock. This is a valid concern since potentially harmful hitchhikers like mantis shrimp, fireworms, aggressive crabs, hydroids and Aiptasia rock anemones are very often unseen and unwanted tenants of live rock. They insinuate themselves throughout the live rock in nooks and crannies, and multitudes of these squatters may have taken up housekeeping in a good-sized piece of rock unbeknownst to the unsuspecting aquarist. They conceal themselves within the labyrinth of rock and often escape even the closest scrutiny undetected.
But with a little care this is one time when aquarists can have their cake and eat it too. There are a number of ways to take advantage of all the benefits live rock provides without risking unleashing an epidemic of tenacious rock anemones or turning Jack-the-Ripper loose in your tank reincarnated in the form of a thumb-splitting Stomatopod.
By and large, bristleworms are beneficial scavengers and sand sifters unless their numbers get out of hand, so a good option for many seahorse keepers is to keep the Aiptasia and bristleworm population in check using some means of biological control. Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata wurdemanni) love to dine on Aiptasia rock anemones and several of these attractive shrimp will do a fine job of eradicating them from the aquarium. Certain nudibranchs (Berghia sp.) also feed on Aiptasia. Likewise, small Arrow Crabs (Stenorhynchus sp.) will keep the bristleworm population at a manageable number. Any mantis shrimp or aggressive crabs that happen to slip by are generally fairly easy to trap and remove, and commercially made traps are available for that very purpose.
Treating the live rock with a hypersaline dip is another excellent technique for ridding it of unwanted pests. This method doesn't kill the critters outright but merely drives them out of the rockwork so you can selectively cull through them. Another advantage of this method is that leaves all the desirable life on the rocks intact and unharmed.
To use this technique, simply place your newly arrived live rock in an inert container filled with saltwater at a specific gravity of at least 1.045 to 1.050 for several minutes before you introduce it to the aquarium. The saltier the water, the shorter the length of time you need to soak the live rock and the more effective it will be in driving out unwanted hitchhikers. Invertebrates cannot tolerate rapid changes in salinity, so all the mobile inverts in the rock will immediately abandon there hidey-holes and bale out of the rock like rats deserting a sinking ship. After several minutes in this extra-salty bath, the evacuation will be complete, and you can remove the now pest-free live rock and sort your catch. Cull the invertebrates left behind in dipping container, discarding the pests you don't want while retrieving any of the refugees you might like to add to your system. Several minutes in the hypersalinity is usually enough to drive out all the active invertebrates such as mantis shrimp (Stomatopods), crabs, and assorted worms of every description, yet this brief period of immersion will not harm encrusting organisms or sessile life.
The best way to obtain live rock is from an aquarium store in your area that caters to reef keepers. They will have pre-cured live rock available and you can handpick interesting rock formations that are heavily encrusted with pinkish-purple coralline algae for your aquarium. That will also save you the cost of having the live rock shipped to you, which can be considerable because of the weight of the rocks, and you won't have to buy the live rock sight unseen.
Seahorse keepers who want brightly colored seahorses will often choose to confine the live rock to their aquarium sump or refugium, rather than the main tank, particularly if they are unable to obtain colorful live rock with lots of coralline algae. The reason for this is that an aquarium with lots of ordinary brownish live rock can sometimes have an adverse effect on the appearance of ponies with vivid coloration. As we all know, our seagoing stallions will often change coloration in order to better blend in with their background, and that means that they may adopt earth tones in an aquarium that is dominated by drab live rock. Although that's not a concern with dark colored seahorses, it would be a shame to purchase a bright yellow or orange or red seahorse only to have it assume a brown or beige or sandy or grayish background coloration that matches the live rock. Placing the live rock in the sump or refugium instead of the display tank eliminates this possibility, yet still allows the aquarium to benefit from the greater stability, enhanced biological filtration, and denitrification ability (which helps keep nitrates nice and low) provided by the live rock.
And, of course, situating the live rock in a refugium or sump connected to the main tank also eliminates the possibility of unwanted pests entering the aquarium has hitchhikers on the live rock. So that's a convenient way to obtain all of the benefits live rock provides without the risk that bristleworms, Aiptasia rock anemones, mantis shrimp or rock crabs or pistol shrimp will gain entry into your seahorse tank along with the live rock. Many seahorse keepers who are worried about such undesirable pests therefore confine their live rock to a sump or refugium, or start out with dried rock that is completely free of such hitchhikers instead.
Pest-Free Dry Rock
Another good option, which is the safest and easiest procedure for most home hobbyists (especially those new to the hobby), is to start out with "dead" foundation rock instead of live rock. This dead or dry foundation rock is considerably cheaper than colorful live rock and is, of course, entirely free of undesirable pests and unwanted hitchhikers. But it will quickly enough become alive once it's placed in the aquarium as it's overgrown by algae and inhabited by copepods, amphipods and myriad microfauna. And over time the porous dead/foundation rock will become inhabited by a thriving population of nitrifying bacteria, giving it biofiltration ability. Eventually the oxygen-deprived interior of the "dead" rock will be populated by aerobic denitrifying bacteria, which convert nitrate to nitrogen gas, thereby helping to keep the nitrate levels in the aquarium under control.
By this point, the foundation rock will be very much alive and can provide all the benefits of live rock with none of the risks. The inert foundation rock looks completely natural when surrounded by living, growing macroalgae, especially when it becomes encrusted by microalgae or coralline algae, as the case may be.
The drawback to this approach is that it takes considerably longer for a new marine aquarium to cycle from scratch using dry rock than it does with live rock, and you must "seed" the tank with beneficial nitrifying bacteria from another clean source in order to start the cycling process. But the advantage of using dead foundation rock is the cheaper cost and, above all, the fact that it completely eliminates unwanted hitchhikers such as Aiptasia rock anemones, bristleworms, mantis shrimp, hydroids, and rock crabs. If they are patient, many home hobbyists feel the advantages outweigh the drawbacks.
One good source for such dry foundation rock is Macro Rocks, which offers dead, dried ocean rock in a number of interesting formations and a wide variety of types (Florida, Fiji, Tonga, etc.). They offer many beautiful, unique and intricate formations of dried ocean rock that would be an asset to any seahorse setup. Best of all, you can even purchase the Macro Rocks precycled and carrying a full complement of beneficial nitrifying bacteria, which allows you to cycle a new aquarium using the Macro Rocks as fast as an aquarium with live rock.
Macro Rocks are available online at the following website:
4) I had live rock in the filter area of the bicoube last time and it helped with water quality. Would you reccomend I do this or should I add somthing else?
Sure -- that's a fine idea. If you want to confine live rock to the filter compartment of the Biocube in lieu of bioballs or other biological filtration media, that will accomplish the same purpose as keeping the live rock in a sump or refugium.
5) Do you know of any sea sponge(branched) that is colorfull and easy to care for? Sea fans require a lot of food and am wondering if you reccomend them.
No, sir, live sponges and sea fans can be challenging to keep alive in small, closed-system aquaria. But there are a number of truly outstanding artificial sponges, sea fans, and gorgonians that are available now a days which will serve you just as well as the real thing. They are extremely realistic in shape, color, and texture, and the seahorses can't seem to tell them apart from the genuine article. A number of the artificial gorgonians are real seahorse magnets and can serve as the preferred perches for your ponies. As an added bonus, the artificial bowl sponges make wonderful natural feeding stations that look right at home in a marine aquarium. Let me know if you would like me to recommend some of the artificial sponges and gorgonians that would work well in a tank like yours...
Okay, Daniel -- that's great if you would like to complete the seahorse training program and I would be happy to get you started on the first lesson right away! However, it is a correspondence course that is conducted entirely by e-mail so I will need you to contact me off list (PeteGiwojna@aol.com) with a brief message in order to open up the lines of communication. As soon as I get your message off list, I will send you a quick reply and start you on the lessons.
Best wishes with all your fishes, Daniel!
Happy Trails! Pete Giwojna
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