Seahorse in a yasha nano tank?

#1
So I have this yasha nano tank running with a couple of mushrooms and zoas and two clown gobies. Nothing exciting right now been more focused on my larger system. So I'm kicking around the idea of putting two seahorse a in the tank. The tank however is only 12in tall. I've read that seahorses only need really deep tanks for mating, something I'm not looking to do. Any thoughts? I'd love some input
 

zombie

Dolphin
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#2
I really doubt that will work very well. Seahorses are pretty sensitive to parameter changes from what I have read and its really hard to keep parameters stable in a nano. Not to mention that seahorses need to continually eat live food to be sustained ling term and you will not be able to maintain an adequate supply in a nano.
 
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#3
zombie;339842 said:
I really doubt that will work very well. Seahorses are pretty sensitive to parameter changes from what I have read and its really hard to keep parameters stable in a nano. Not to mention that seahorses need to continually eat live food to be sustained ling term and you will not be able to maintain an adequate supply in a nano.
That's kinda a stretch to say that you wouldn't be able to keep adequate pod population in a nano. Plenty of people culture their own pods. Furthermore many seahorses, mine included eat frozen as well, thus decreasing the impact on live food population. It's really not that hard to keep parameters stable in a nano so long as you practice good husbandry skills, I had kept a 10g going for a good while and my husbandry skills were far from good haha. Will agree that seahorses are very sensitive to swings, especially salinity. The only advice aside from go for it I have for you Brian, is invest in an ATO for your tank. Will be the first step in keeping things under control. You can easily build one with a side float switch, coke bottle, battery air pump and some ridged air line. We love our ponies man. They are ingesting creatures. Oh and ours are housed with a clownfish, 0 issues
 
#5
I honestly couldn't say man. I have mine housed in a hex so they have a tall tank. But to be honest with you I'm of a sound mind of so what you want in the reefing world not what other people say you can or can't do
 
#6
charleshardy5;339851 said:
I honestly couldn't say man. I have mine housed in a hex so they have a tall tank. But to be honest with you I'm of a sound mind of so what you want in the reefing world not what other people say you can or can't do
Say what?
 

LeviK

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#8
Manchestercity;339848 said:
Charles you think a 12" tall tank is okay since I'm not trying to breed them?
It's not ideal but I think you pay close enough attention to your tanks that you would notice them not eating or being stressed.

I like that Aqua Mart has ones eating frozen food and will feed while you are there so you can see them eat. Worst thing that can happen is you sell them to someone locally that has a taller tank or you buy a new tank :)
 

sethsolomon

Hammerhead Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#10
Sure you can have seahorses in a tank like that. The problem I see is the clown gobies. Every clown goby I have seen is a super aggressive eater. The main problem small seahorse tanks have is nutrient export. Since you have to constantly feed frozen food the nitrates can build up fast. If you can target feed the seahorses every day that would be optimal.


Also, they need daily attention. That means you need to have a trained tank sitter to visit your seahorse tank daily if you ever plan on going on vacation.


And lastly, if you are looking towards Dwarf Seahorses because they are cheap, don't get them. They are much more work than say erectus seahorses as you have to culture live baby brine to feed them twice a day. Tank raised H. Erectus are the best starter seahorses.
 

LeviK

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#11
sethsolomon;339979 said:
Sure you can have seahorses in a tank like that. The problem I see is the clown gobies. Every clown goby I have seen is a super aggressive eater. The main problem small seahorse tanks have is nutrient export. Since you have to constantly feed frozen food the nitrates can build up fast. If you can target feed the seahorses every day that would be optimal.


Also, they need daily attention. That means you need to have a trained tank sitter to visit your seahorse tank daily if you ever plan on going on vacation.


And lastly, if you are looking towards Dwarf Seahorses because they are cheap, don't get them. They are much more work than say erectus seahorses as you have to culture live baby brine to feed them twice a day. Tank raised H. Erectus are the best starter seahorses.
+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1
 
#12
I wouldn't go with dwarfs as that's way too much work. And I'm really good about topping off water daily or every other day. Nitrates haven't been a problem in the yasha mainly because the skimmer does awesome work. My biggest concern is maintaining ph levels in a nano. Any thoughts on that?
 

LeviK

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#13
Manchestercity;340018 said:
I wouldn't go with dwarfs as that's way too much work. And I'm really good about topping off water daily or every other day. Nitrates haven't been a problem in the yasha mainly because the skimmer does awesome work. My biggest concern is maintaining ph levels in a nano. Any thoughts on that?
You could have an air pump on a timer that draws fresh oxygen from outside and turns on at night to increase ph when lights are off.
 

zombie

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#14
Manchestercity;340018 said:
My biggest concern is maintaining ph levels in a nano. Any thoughts on that?
pH fluctuations are due to two things: changes in CO2 levels throughout the day and the alkalinity. If you increase alkalinity, overall pH will be higher but changes will be less drastic. Shoot for a dkH around 10 to minimize changes without risk of pH getting too high. Changes in CO2 can be minimized by providing a large amount of aeration. This is very easy to do in large reef tanks because there is a large amount of water flow, low surface tension and air stones and skimmers can be placed in sumps where microbubbles can be captured. In a nano seahorse tank, you cant have high flow or microbubbles. Your only real option there is to bring more air flow through your skimmer venturi.
 

LeviK

SCMAS Board Members
S.C.M.A.S BOD
#15
zombie;340034 said:
pH fluctuations are due to two things: changes in CO2 levels throughout the day and the alkalinity. If you increase alkalinity, overall pH will be higher but changes will be less drastic. Shoot for a dkH around 10 to minimize changes without risk of pH getting too high. Changes in CO2 can be minimized by providing a large amount of aeration. This is very easy to do in large reef tanks because there is a large amount of water flow, low surface tension and air stones and skimmers can be placed in sumps where microbubbles can be captured. In a nano seahorse tank, you cant have high flow or microbubbles. Your only real option there is to bring more air flow through your skimmer venturi.
Maybe connect a tube outside the window to draw fresh air into the venturi?
 
#16
Well the basically has a sump behind the back wall with baffles so don't see a problem with bubbles getting in the display portion. Would it be unwise to run the airstone 24/7?
 

zombie

Dolphin
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#19
Manchestercity;340037 said:
Would it be unwise to run the airstone 24/7?
The more aeration the better. Especially since there will be little flow in the DT
 
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