Flow for seahorse

[benpoole28]

The tank is a JBJ RL30, essentially a rimless biocude. The pumps were upgraded to 2 mj1200 over the original 2 mj600 pumps. I added a 240gph powerhead just to prevent dead zones at the bottom of the tank. Im wondering if i should put the original 600gph return pumps back in instead of the 1200's. The 1200's seem like allot, when the horses swim in front of the flow, the get blown around. Im new to horses so any advice is helpful. :up:

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

I'm not a seahorse person but have read a bit about them. IMO, I would go back to the 600's. My understanding is they won't fight the current to get to food. Hopefully a seahorse keeper will chime in.

 

[mcphock]

Low flow all the way for seahorses. They're not really reef fish, at least in our sense of the word

I have some very thorough documents from Ocean Rider out of Kona, HI. I can send them along if you'd like.

 

[benpoole28]

That would be great, thanks!

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[mcphock]

Where do you want me to send it? The dude who ran the course, Pete Giwojna, really really really liked to elaborate on points.

 

[brandonmason]

Connie and I've been keeping seahorses for quite some time. 2-3 years. We have a 60 cube that we use 2 hydors 1250 on a hydors wavemaker. Our seahorses sometimes get in the flow but they can handle more than people realize. We keep acans, blastos, softies, and gorgonians with them. I also grew digitata with them

 

[benpoole28]

I've been doing allot of reading and that's the consensus I've found as well. But I've found my horses pinned against the overflow twice now with only the 2 mj600's running. I've backed it off to only 1 600 and haven't had that problem since. I'm going to add the 240gph powerhead back in and hopefully that will be perfect for them. I have some gorgs in there with them and plan to add some zoas when I find some locally. Wish I had some of the hundreds of polyps I sold 6 months ago.

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[elithelion]

What type of seahorses do you have?

 

[benpoole28]

Hippocampus erectus. Bought them from mysaltwaterfishstore.com. 2 mated pairs for $100.

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[elithelion]

benpoole28;1061601 wrote: Hippocampus erectus. Bought them from mysaltwaterfishstore.com. 2 mated pairs for $100.

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great price, are you happy with the servies?

 

[benpoole28]

Definately. Would buy from them again. Everything I ordered exceeded my expectations. The female horses are 5" and the males are over 6". Way larger than I expected. Healthy too. Ate frozen mysis The day after I got them.

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[elithelion]

Wow, do you know what breed they are? Any plans on breeding?

 

[benpoole28]

Not sure what breed. If they spawn, I'm going to try. Probably won't have any luck. That's the type of thing you have to be set up for before it happens. My wife is excited about the possibility of baby's, so I have to give it a shot.

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[elithelion]

benpoole28;1061611 wrote: Not sure what breed. If they spawn, I'm going to try. Probably won't have any luck. That's the type of thing you have to be set up for before it happens. My wife is excited about the possibility of baby's, so I have to give it a shot.

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Indeed, apparently less that 10% survival rate during the first stages of development. I've thought about trying to breed them, but the feeding just hatched brine shrimp, 3 times a day is a killer. Keep us updated, pictures too

 

[jennm]

Hippocampus erectus IS the breed. AKA Florida Seahorse or Lined Seahorse.

They'll breed easily enough. Rearing the young is a trick though. I've done it ... years and years ago.

Assuming they are correctly identified (as H. erectus) the babies will be benthic meaning they will hitch from birth.

I attempted with very limited success, Hippocampus reidi - they are a larger specie but have much smaller young, which are pelagic and don't hitch for the first few weeks.

But I digress...

Most seahorses are more than willing to reproduce in captivity but it takes some doing to rear the young in nursery vessels. I had the best luck using 1-gallon glass fish bowls with an airline siliconed to halfway down the side seam, and a gentle bubble that created a circulating current.

Google Kriesel aquarium.

As for flow, adult seahorses can tolerate a surprising amount of current, as Brandon mentioned. I had a male reidi that used to play in the current.

They do need some 'dead spots' with holdfasts where they can hitch and rest without being blown around.

Jenn