I'm Going to Start a Dude Ranch!

JBowden

JBowden

Reefin' Housewife
Location
Durand, MI
No, seriously! :D :D :D

I'm switching over my 55 gallon to a 180 gallon this weekend... and would like to convert my 55 into a Sea Horse Tank.

I've been doing research and I'm going to sign up for the Sea Horse training on SeaHorse.com

Needless to say, I can't wait to have some ponies!
 
I've been reading all the posts in this section over the last week or so, and have learned a lot.

One of the LFS's around here actually sells tank bred ponies, so we'll see. I'm kind of weary about buying living creatures that delicate off the internet... so I'm not quite sure yet where I want to purchase them from.

I plan on building a small sump to go under the tank and adding either a protein skimmer or an algae scrubber to it. I was also thinking of farming my own feed shrimp to feed them and the fish that will be in my 180... kill two birds with one stone, ya know.

I still have a ton of research to do...as with anything new.

But it'd be nice to not be the only one in my group of friends to say they don't have horses. Except mine will be in saltwater ;)
 
I was thinking the same thing :D

I already have all the stuff to make an algae scrubber, and the cost effectiveness versus the skimmer is awesome, too.

I plan on keeping a journal or something of the sort along the way to keep track of what works and what doesn't.
 
Wohoo! Seahorses are awesome! And you have done the best thing possible by taking Pete's lessons!

Those lessons will cover pretty much everything you need to know!

However, i would strongly encourage you to buy your seahorses from a trusted site online. They will be much more interested in helping you if any problems arise, and then can guarantee that your horses are parasite free which can be a major problem. Also while the seahorses may look delicate they really are super tough so long as the conditions are good, and the people online have been shipping seahorses for year with no issues. Dont be afraid to order them online!

Also you really shouldnt rely on only feeding them live food, it should only be a treat. This is because if something happened to your live food stock, and each one will require around 6 shirmps per day, and they refuse to eat frozen you could be in trouble. Plus i dont know if you could culture enough live food in your sump to satisfy them, because you are going to want a herd of around 8 in that sized tank meaning you have to supply around 45 shrimps per day. I dont know of any type of shrimp that breeds that prolifically. Also enriched brine shrimp are not suitable meals for seahorses, only as an occasional treat. Also there is some species of seahorses, Reidi for excample, if they have too much access to live food like pods they may refuse to eat frozen. Just something to keep in mind.

I cant wait to see your build! Remember lots of hitching posts, they would LOVE a planted tank (im thinking of turning mine into one)
 
little_fish said:
Wohoo! Seahorses are awesome! And you have done the best thing possible by taking Pete's lessons!

Those lessons will cover pretty much everything you need to know!

However, i would strongly encourage you to buy your seahorses from a trusted site online. They will be much more interested in helping you if any problems arise, and then can guarantee that your horses are parasite free which can be a major problem. Also while the seahorses may look delicate they really are super tough so long as the conditions are good, and the people online have been shipping seahorses for year with no issues. Dont be afraid to order them online!

Also you really shouldnt rely on only feeding them live food, it should only be a treat. This is because if something happened to your live food stock, and each one will require around 6 shirmps per day, and they refuse to eat frozen you could be in trouble. Plus i dont know if you could culture enough live food in your sump to satisfy them, because you are going to want a herd of around 8 in that sized tank meaning you have to supply around 45 shrimps per day. I dont know of any type of shrimp that breeds that prolifically. Also enriched brine shrimp are not suitable meals for seahorses, only as an occasional treat. Also there is some species of seahorses, Reidi for excample, if they have too much access to live food like pods they may refuse to eat frozen. Just something to keep in mind.

I cant wait to see your build! Remember lots of hitching posts, they would LOVE a planted tank (im thinking of turning mine into one)
Click to expand...

Thank you! I never thought of getting them addicted to live food! I'll surely stick to frozen then. Thanks for opening my eyes to that!

And I probably should order them from the net... just because the one LFS that has them isn't the best to go to... I mean their stock is good, but they have that intention to sell you whatever because you have a dollar.
 
Wohoo!

Make sure you save them! I refer back to mine every now and then. Also, Pete is the nicest guy in whole seahorse world. Ask any question you want and he will make sure to answer. I had a some terrible pouch stuff with my male, and even though it had been a few months since i took his lessons he replied with in 24 hours and was SUPER helpful.
 
JBowden said:
I just have a OCD when it comes to highlighting and sticky-noting. I can't exactly do that on a screen! LOL

I can't wait to get started!
Click to expand...

You actually can highlight and sticky note on a computer. Just use Adobe Acrobat. You can highlight and sticky until your hearts content. And when you combine everything into one PDF document, you would be able to simply type in a word that you were looking for and it would take you there immediately, rather than thumbing through pages.

If you have Adobe Acrobat, just open a PDf document, click tools, click comment and markup, and go to town!

Just sayin.:D
 
This is the vendor I have been considering: Reidi

She is about an hour driving distance from me and I met her recently at Midwest Frag Fest. Her ponies looked healthy and were all eating frozen food. Can one of the sea horse experts chime in and offer any advice on this vendor? Anyone purchased from her? Does her website contain accurate information?
 

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