My Sea Horse adventure:)

I have been wanting to setup a tank dedicated to sea horses and pipe fish for the last couple of years so I decided to just do it! I researched them a couple of years ago but I will need to take a refresher course:) but I am getting the tank its a Red Sea Max 130 plug and play. I plan to do the usual and have black and white CaribSea Ocean direct sand and 35 odd pounds of Tonga Branch live rock I will pick rock that doesn't have sharp edges to keep the ponies safe. I plan to have 2 pairs 2 female and 2 males. I am also going to pay more and buy captive bred sea horses that have already been raised on frozen foods so there wont be an issue with them not eating. I am getting tropical sea horses so I won't need an expensive chiller. so let the fun begin. I will update this thread with pics as things come together. I thought you all might be interested in ponies too:) wish me luck!
heres the tank. I am getting it off craigslist but its a 3 hour drive for me but the guy said he will hang onto it till I can make it down to pick it up. p.s I will paint the tank black and the Sea horses will be Hippocampus erectus I find them fascinating creatures they change color with their moods and environment.



pipefish a close relative of the sea horse.

So neat

Very cool and that seahorse is awesome!

yeah I just hope the guy I'm getting the tank from doesn't sell it out from under me he's on the Eastern Shore which is quite a hike but this tank sells for over 800 new so the deal would be worth the drive.

Loooooove the seahorse. Very unusual.

I know. I love them:)
here's where I will buy them.
http://www.seahorsesource.com/seahorses.html

Oh I've wanting to do them! But I didn't if I should even try as I heard they are the most difficult thing to care for.

thats why you buy captive bred. wild caught are very difficult to keep.

Well, give the specific info on them, lol and then I will clean out one of my tanks

good luck and keep us posted.

Oooh good luck! I can't wait to see your tank all set up and your horses and pipe fish! It will be beautiful!

here is a great link all about Sea Horses.
http://www.seahorse.org/library/articles/library/library.shtml#care

thanks guys I will post every step of the way:) and hopefully it will entice you to go for it!

Good luck with your seahorses. The only ones you see today are captive raise. CITES makes them illegal to import.

many LFS still sell wild ones.

any corals goin in the tank? or is it going to be just rock?
most likely youll get some dead sea fan or somthing for them to cling onto right?

lol yes there will be some softies and some nice things for them to hang on to:)

Go, Cindy! This sounds like it's going to be a great set-up. Have you looked into Ocean Rider seahorses? Can't wait for more posts once you get going. : )

D'Claro wrote:

Go, Cindy! This sounds like it's going to be a great set-up. Have you looked into Ocean Rider seahorses? Can't wait for more posts once you get going. : )

yes! they have some very nice packages there and nice pipefish too:)
I am super excited but I need this tank to marinate a few months before getting the ponies
better safe than sorry.

This is gonna be way awesome! i am so excited for you and cant wait to tag along for the Journey!

any updates on this project ??

I lost out on the tank and have been looking every since for another one.
used RSM tanks are hard to find. I might just buy new if I can't find one pretty soon.

Good news!!
I put a deposit down on a RMS 130d and will be picking it up saturday:)
so the Seahorse adventure begins again!! I plan to get Caribsea live black and white sand and 40 lbs of live Tonga branch and use my water change water from the 180 to seed the tank then once I have gone through the diatoms/cyano stages I will start deciding where I want to get the ponies from. meanwhile I want to add some nice macro algaes and some pony safe corals and of course a cuc and let the tank marinated a month or two before the ponies can call it home. pics to come:)

It's all stations go! Looked up Red Sea Max tanks yesterday - it's going to be an awesome set-up. I like your approach - you do tons and tons of research before setting up, and you get all your ducks in a row before purchasing livestock. I'm thinking of seahorses for myself down the road, and I'll be following your blueprint, for how to do it right.

CaribSea substrates are fantastic! I've used Tahitian Moon Black Sand, Moonlight White Marine Sand, Peace River Gravel, Sunset Gold Sand, I've got samples of Torpedo Beach (too beige-y but nice!) and I'm going to get some Rift Lake Authentic. A bit pricey but you don't need to use much and most of their products can be mixed with something else, like play sand.

Your set-up is going to be great!

One question - What is a "cuc" ?