Dwarf seahorse help

I know... I'm starting to get jealous. Plus I've always loved them. My aunt and uncle (sucessfully) kept seahorses like 20 years ago. I loved that tank.
 
I don't... it was so long ago. It was a cylinder tank, though. Probably 18" at the base, and about two feet high.
She's a marine biologist, I'm pretty sure she brought everything in from the ocean. I'll ask her if she has any pictures.
 
Unfortunately I live in Canada, and I cannot find a good online retailer that will ship to Canada. I don't trust fish stores for the most part. There is a woman that used to work for a small store here, but somebody bought the store for their retard daughter who made the store go belly up in a very very short time. This lady supposedly found a new job at another local store, but I hadnt been able to find her. I think I know where she's working now, but they have phone answering issues, so we'll see. I know she's had seahorses, and successfully raised the fry since I saw it with my own eyes. I'd give my right arm to find her right now lol!

Is having a sump practical on a twenty something gallon tank? How do you guys feel about sponge filters? Is a protien skimmer something you need to use with another filter aside from plants or can you just have the skimmer and the plants?

**** the place finally answered there phone and she does work there! Turns out she liked that first pony tank so much that shes since gone seahorse crazy. She's breeding H. Reidi and makes a point of stocking CB's of a variety of other breeds. This is suddenly becoming so much less frustrating :D. Pete's website has been super helpful Catherine. Been so busy there I haven't looked at the other ones yet, but I will.
 
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Zelika, all of the questions you're asking can be answered easily: it depends. There are as many different types of set-ups and systems as there are people. The reason you're getting contrary information is that there are so many ways to clean a tank, and so many ways to make it dirty. I'll tell you my ideas but there are so many other ways to answer this question.

Horses like to be in herds. They are happier and healthier when there are bunches of them together in a tank. This is contrary to regular fish. Also, horses are also pigs. They make big purple poops and they will eat all day if you let them. So, lots of piggy type animals eating meaty foods all day make for a very dirty tank. You are going to need to address the question of how to clean your tank with a variety of methods. The first one is use as many biological systems to clean as possible. Lots of rocks, sand, pods, macro... You'll also want to keep your water moving in all the nooks and crannies of your tank. Move the water gently and hopefully without strong jets or streams. I love sponge filters and use them in my shrimp tank. I'll use one in my dwarf tank soon too. My 3 gallon tank is about to get it's own sump so I think your 20 will be fine with a sump. I feel you resisting the whole sump idea. I did too because I'm plumbing impaired and moving water around made me nervous. Sumps are easier to set up than you would think and they are extremely practical for a lot of reasons. You can dose in there, do your water changes there and put stuff like your heaters and chillers that would otherwise clutter up your main tank. How often are you willing to do water changes? That will help considerably too. Also, spend a long time setting up your sand bed community. Gerald at IPSF suggests 6 months even if you do start with live sand!

Ask Pete who ships to Canada or ask on seahorse.org.

Catherine
 
Yeah, I'll admit the idea of the sump kind of scares me. I do a 20% water change with my jag every 3-4 weeks, but he's a tough bugger. seahorses I'm planning on doing it every 2 weeks, or even once a week I'll do too.

I can't find the online seahorse course. I'm at the right website and joined the seahorse club, but I can't find the right link to it.

I'll keep doing research, and I'll make sure I keep you guys updated so I can make sure I'm staying on the right track. One thing I can't seem to find though is what benethic & Pelagic fry are.
 
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You have to email Pete to and ask for the lessons. Ill try and find his email for you. Also you are going to have to do a minimum of a once a week water change with the seahorses, they are dirty fish.

Also benthic fry means they settle to bottom and hitch on stuff, the pelagic fry is fry that stays in the water column for awhile. Those are also much harder to raise
 
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