How to Start a Salt Water Fish Tank for Seahorses

Seahorses are unique and beautiful and some might thing that caring for seahorses can be a difficult and overwhelming thing to do but with the right knowledge and tools, caring for these beautiful creatures can be an experience like no other. Imagine having your own tank with seahorses in it. People will love to see your tank and talk about it and it’s not as difficult as it might seem. You’ll have to do some work but the rewards are countless.

Things You'll Need

  • a fish tank
  • filtration
  • objects for them to hang on to
  • live food and frozen food
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Decide on a tank size. Seahorses are easiest care for with a smaller sized tank. You’ll want to decide on a tank no larger than 50 gallons in size. You’ll want to make sure that you start with just two seahorses. Since there are many different species, with your first two you would want two of the same species as a pair that can mate. Think small at first till you are more experienced with their care.

    • 2

      Consider their surroundings. You can add fish to your seahorse tank but you’ll want to make sure that you have docile fish and fish that cannot move fast. Any fish that is aggressive can bother your seahorses and even kill them. You want a nice, peaceful environment. You’ll also want objects that the seahorses can wrap their tails around. Plants and corals are the most natural things that you can use for your seahorses to hold on to. Live rock is another good thing to have in your tank since you can place your corals or plants there and live rock is also a great food source for your seahorses.

    • 3

      Adjust your water flow and salt levels. Seahorses need a weak water flow in their tank so you’ll want to make sure to adjust your water flow to a minimal level since your seahorses swim upright and tend to hold onto to objects. Sea horses do best in a specific salinity and gravity. You’ll want to stay between the readings of 1.020 and 1.025 for the salinity and gravity. You can measure both by purchasing a hydrometer if you do not already own one. They’re inexpensive and indispensable.

    • 4

      Find proper filtration. Seahorses can thrive in a tank with proper filtration. Different filters for marine tanks such as canister filters and wet/dry filters are usually acceptable filtration. Filtration that you would use on a marine tank is the same type you would use for your seahorse tank.

    • 5

      Know about feeding. Feeding seahorses is one of the most difficult tasks in keeping them healthy and thriving. You should keep live food available for your seahorses in the form of live brine shrimp, ghost shrimp and even feeder guppies. All of these can be purchased at a fish store and you can even harvest your own brine shrimp with a brine shrimp hatchery. These are inexpensive and can even be made at home with little cost. After giving your seahorses live food, you’ll want to offer frozen food that has been thawed. You can dangle a frozen mysid shrimp in front of your seahorses until they get used to it. It might be difficult at first but with some effort and patience they’ll enjoy their food. Once they get used to you presenting them the mysid shrimp, you can later just drop the mysid shrimp into your tank and the seahorses will find them by themselves.

    • 6

      Keep it clean and healthy. You must keep your tank clean and healthy for your seahorses. Do small water changes on a regular basis, at least once per month if not more.