Tank Setup & Supplies Needed
This is the detailed view. For a Summary of supplies and water parameters required please view the Summary Page here.
Item List:
1) Tank & Florescent Lighting
2) Foam Filter
3) 2 Air Pumps
4) Small Gentle Power Head
5) Heater & Thermometer
6) Coral Gravel
7) Cell-Pore Rocks or Cured Live Rocks
8) Salt Mix & Hydrometer
9) Siphon
10) Two 5-Gallon Buckets
11) Brine Shrimp Hatchery & Brine Shrimp Net
12) Brine Shrimp Eggs
13) Kent Marine Micro-Vert Additive
14) Macro Algae Culture
15) LIVE AMPHIPODS (Grammarus) Culture
16) Salt Water Master Test Kit
Details:
I really want to stress the importance of preparing a proper home for your Dwarf Seahorses before you actually get them. It is a horrible thing to order Dwarf Seahorses and put them in a bowl or some other ill prepared habitat and expect them to live and be healthy. It is also a bad idea to put a lot of other fish or crabs into the Dwarf habitat. Seahorses do best in a species tank setup just for them. I only have snails and Amphipods (Grammarus) in my Dwarf Seahorse tanks. If you truly love these little animals then you will educate yourself first before taking the next step and then prepare your aquarium well. Only after you are sure that the Aquarium is stable through testing of the Ammonia, Nitrates, Nitrites, Salinity, and PH will you proceed to order or collect your Dwarf Seahorses. Please don't be irresponsible and selfish when you start your new Dwarf Seahorse hobby! They are counting on you.
**NOTE - There are many different opinions about the proper Dwarf Seahorse tank setup with various different tank sizes and other equipment but this is the way that I have personally found success.
1) Tank & Florescent Lighting
I chose a 20 gallon show style acrylic aquarium from Clear Life as my main Dwarf Tank. I went with the 20 gallon size because I was trying to replicate the Dwarf Seahorses natural ecosystem as closely as possible. Larger tanks are have more stable water quality, temperature, and salinity which translates into happier Seahorses. The reason for the "Show" type 20 Gallon is because it is a bit more shallow than a regular 20 gallon aquarium and this allows the Macro Algae culture to grow very well because it is closer to the florescent light bulbs.
Here is my Spectacular 20 gallon main seahorse tank! It is full of macro algae and teaming with Amphipods (Grammarus) of all sizes. If you look closely you can see a white dwarf seahorse on the right-hand side. I love this tank! It is the fulfillment of a childhood dream!
2) Foam Filter
This simple type of filter was originally suggested to me by Carol Keen on the Ultimate Seahorse Yahoo Newsgroup. It allows simple water circulation, doesn't suck up babies or brine shrimp, and provides a great biological filter in the sponge part. Just attach one of the air pumps and you are in business.
3) 2 Air Pumps
Two simple air pumps are needed. One is used for the Foam filter in the main tank and the other is used in the brine shrimp hatchery. It is best if the air pump for the brine shrimp hatchery has a flow control knob so that you can adjust how much the water churns the brine shrimp eggs around. You can also use a gang valve to adjust the pump air flow. It should be just enough to keep the eggs circulating and suspended in the water but not so much that the eggs are damaged.
Here is my brine shrimp hatchery air pump with 4 connector gang valve. The air pump is fairly strong and the gang valve allows me to adjust the flow of air going into the brine shrimp hatcheries for a perfect flow. If the water is too turbulent then the brine eggs are shredded. If the water circulation is to light then the eggs sink and go bad before they hatch.
4) Small Gentle Power Head
I add this to my main tank to give it added water circulation. The Power Sweep 214 works really well for me because it rotates and causes a small amount of gentle "wave" action in the tank. It is also adjustable and should always be set to a very gentle setting so that the Seahorses are not damaged or sucked into the Power Head.
I also add a sponge filter on the intake of the Power head to prevent babies from being sucked in.
5) Heater & Thermometer
These are pretty common items for aquariums. Just choose the proper heater wattage for the size aquarium that you have and try to get one that is easy to adjust for the proper temperature. Some of the heaters are very difficult to adjust with a rubber type knob but just use common sense on this one. As far as the thermometer I prefer one that is actually inside of the aquarium instead of one that is on the outside. The ideal temperature that I have found for my dwarfs is 76 to 78 degrees.
6) Coral Gravel
Coral Gravel helps keep the water PH stable. Just choose the proper amount to fill the bottom of your aquarium for about an inch or an inch and a half.
7) Cell-Pore Rocks or Cured Live Rocks
If you can still find "Cell-Pore" rocks you should use them. They work great for helping to stabilize your aquarium and create a very strong biological filter. Cured "Live Rocks" add beauty to the tank and can also provide great support for a biological filter. A strong biological filter will help keep your aquarium very stable and once cycled it will ensure your Seahorses health. Choose the proper amount of "Cell-Pore" or "Live Rocks" for your aquarium size. The power head filter will help keep the water flow moving through your "Cell-Pore" and "Live Rocks" to keep the bacteria cultures alive.
8) Salt Mix & Hydrometer
I prefer Instant Ocean salt mix. A 15 pound bag should last a long time. For the Hydrometer there are several types but I prefer the glass bobbing type. It is cheaper and works well. I found that the type you fill with water can give inaccurate readings after several uses. A specific gravity reading of 1.019 is the optimum for dwarfs in my opinion. In case you aren't familiar with "specific gravity" that is the scientific term used for measuring the salinity of the water.
9) Siphon
This is used for water changes in the tank.
10) Two 5-Gallon Buckets
I use two 5 gallon buckets to maintain my aquarium. One is used with the siphon to take out the older "bad" water and one is used to for mixing fresh salt water. The "bad" water can then be stored and used in the brine shrimp hatcheries which will save on the amount of salt mix you use.
11) Brine Shrimp Hatchery & Brine Shrimp Net
Here are my hatcheries created from 2 liter bottles. The base stands I ordered from brine shrimp direct also. They are the best! Very easy to operate. You simply cut the bottoms off of the 2 liter bottles and screw them into the base.
Then I fill the bottle about half full of warm water * add 1 Tablespoon of sea salt mix and 1 1/2 Teaspoons of brine shrimp eggs. Within 12 to 24 hours the shrimp have hatched. You can tell because the eggs are a darker brown color and when they hatch the shrimp are more reddish in color.
*(NOTE: warm water seems to make the brine shrimp hatch faster)
I simply unplug the airline from the gang valve and let the bottle sit for a few minutes until the egg shells float to the top and the brine shrimp float to the bottom. Be sure to keep the airline above the hatchery while this is happening and secure it so that the water doesn't start siphoning out! I use a paper document clip nailed to my wall to hold the airline tube while I wait.
Then you siphon out a good amount of the shrimp into a brine shrimp net by placing the airline tube below the level of the hatchery. Gravity will do the rest. Then I wash the shrimp with fresh water in the net and feed them to my seahorses. One bottle of shrimp lasts a day or two and I usually siphon half out in the morning and then half in the evening to keep a constant supply for the hungry horses.
12) Brine Shrimp Eggs
This is my large 8 ounce package of San Francisco Bay Brine shrimp that I ordered from Brineshrimpdirect. These are the best eggs I have found. They have a very high hatch rate and one packet this size will last for months. The freshly hatched brine shrimp will feed both the adults and the babies. With the nutritional additive it is the perfect standard meal. My LIVE AMPHIPODS (Grammarus) cultures will fill the nutritional void and keep the seahorses diet very balanced.
13) Kent Marine Micro-Vert Additive
Here is the bottle of Kent Micro-Vert that I add to the brine shrimp after they have been hatched out for a day. There is no need to add it right when they hatch because they are still feeding off of their egg sacs. After the first day, they use up their egg sac and graduate to the filter feeding stage so they just suck up the nutrients! I found it to be cleaner and easier than the Selcon additive that some people suggest.
This is Selco that some people recommend to add to the brine shrimp but I found it to spoil the brine shrimp water to easily. It also forms a slimy film on the inside of the plastic bottles.
14) Macro Algae Culture
Macro algae is an essential element for creating my Dwarf Seahorse "ecosystem" setup. I use Caulerpa Prolifera in my tanks because it resembles the Turtle grass in the Dwarf Seahorses natural habitat. It is also very easy to keep and grows like crazy. You can see it in many of the pictures on my website. Another great thing about Caulerpa Prolifera is that when you order the LIVE AMPHIPODS (Grammarus) cultures from Florida Aqua Farms they come in bags with Caulerpa Prolifera. So the Amphipods (Grammarus) also love it and find it a great home.
15) LIVE AMPHIPODS (Grammarus) Culture
LIVE AMPHIPODS (Grammarus) is one of the "secret" weapons that I feel make my tank work so well. You can order LIVE AMPHIPODS (Grammarus) cultures from Florida Aqua Farms follow the Starter Cultures & Amphipods link. Please tell them that I sent you! The Grammarus live well in the Caulerpa Prolifera Algae and love to eat the extra brine shrimp that the seahorse leave behind. The adult Amphipods (Grammarus) are too big for the Dwarf Seahorse to eat so they keep a constant supply of baby Amphipods (Grammarus) coming. The Dwarfs love to suck up the baby Amphipods (Grammarus) and this rounds out their diet and keeps them more healthy than brine shrimp alone.
16) Salt Water Master Test Kit
A testing kit is absolutely necessary for maintaining your aquarium! Some people try to go on the cheap and not get a test kit but it is a big mistake. Test should be done frequently in the beginning and then after the tank is established you can do them more infrequently. It should have tests for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, and Ph. The water quality should be kept in the following ranges:
PH - 8.0 to 8.3
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - less than 40 PPM
Ammonia - 0
Specific Gravity 1.019 is preferred but can go higher up to 1.024.
Second back-up 6 gallon eclipse aquarium.
This is my secondary Eclipse 6 gallon tank that I have setup. It works pretty well but I wouldn't recommend it as your only setup because isn't as stable as the 20 gallon tank. I think it would be much more difficult to maintain the seahorses in this size aquarium for any length of time without constant attention. I didn't place any filter medium in the filter - only the bio-wheel. This does a great job of circulating the water but doesn't filter out any brine shrimp. I filled the tank with aged cell-pore rocks and macro algae from my 20 gallon tank that was set up for a year. This way I think there is a very strong biological filtration system going strong. I planned for it to be set aside for pregnant males and babies but only have a mated pair and a small pipefish in it now.
