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Euphyllia's 8 Gallon Dwarf Seahorse Tank

Euphyllia

Euphyllia

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I just finished setting up my 8 Gallon Kritter Products acrylic tank that I won from the BAR meeting on June 6, 2009. I put in about 3" of sand, 8 pounds of live rock, a tiny bit of the illegal Caluerpa Taxifolia which will soon rapidly spread, and some Caluerpa Pasploides which should also rapidly spread. I'm using a Duetto DJ100 filter that filters 37-90GPH which seems to be working well for the tank. In a few months I'm going to add Dwarf Seahorses to the tank. Since I just set up the tank about an hour or so ago it is still cloudy but I managed to take some pics. One of the pics is of some cheato in a breeder box temporarily in my 34 gallon. I'm probably going to exchange the sponges in the filter for the 8 gallon for some cheato. Also, if your Caluerpa is growing too quick in your tank and you need a way to get rid of some of it just shoot me a PM telling the type of Caluerpa it is and I'll probably take it. I also accept pretty macro algaes! ;)

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Do blue leg hermits harm Dwarf Seahorses or Caluerpa in any way? I'm a bit worried that hermits might attack the Dwarfs and hurt/kill them and I'm also worried hermits might eat my Caluerpa.
 
Too many threads to go through and not sure how much research you've done, but here are some thoughts...

Live rock. Usually not the best thing to use in a dwarf seahorse tank (H. zosterae) due to the fact that they can harbor hitchhikers, some of which are deadly to them (especially hydroids). Same thing applies to the macroalgae. For this reason, there are specific vendors which cater to providing pest free macroalgae. You can also use fluke tabs to rid of hydroids, but there are side effects (e.g. harmful to certain inverts).

Feeding. H. zosterae processes through a lot of food and needs a high density of food in the water column. Having such a large tank means that you'll have to load the tank up with food, otherwise, they'll have to expend more energy to acquire their food. For this reason, most keepers recommend smaller tanks (2.5G or so) so that they can provide the food density necessary. You have to constantly (daily) hatch bbs for them since they feed throughout the day. Due to this, you can basically kiss any sort of vacation good bye, unless you know someone that's responsible enough to take care of them while you're away.

Short but sweet. Dwarfs live very short lives (similar to cuttles, you're looking at approx. a year or less) and once they are mature are breeding machines. You're looking at each mature male producing 8-10 babies for you every 10 days. Supposedly each little baby can consume up 3000 newly hatched bbs daily and you can see where this is headed (see previous paragraph on feeding).

Size matters. These little guys are really meant to be kept by themselves. Do NOT house them with hermit crabs since they can eat babies. If you need any sort of algae eaters, use snails instead.
 
Are there possibly any other small (2"-4"), easy to keep species of seahorse that would be a better choice for me since this is my first time keeping seahorses?
 
Unfortunately, not really. You can probably cycle through either of the species below (start with smaller ones and get rid of them once they get too large for the tank) to get some experience and then get rid of them once you have some experience under your belt.

H. breviceps fits within that size range (they're ~3-4"). The problem with keeping them is that they require a larger tank (15G+) and need cooler water (
 
I feel I'm prepared in basic knowledge on dwarfs yet I'm still doing research. I'll probably have a few more questions though. You said in another post that live rock and macro algaes aren't the best choice. Should I take the live rock out when the tank is all done cycling? I want to leave the caluerpa in because I've had the C. Taxifolia for a while and I don't think there is anything on it. I just got the C. Pasploides yesterday and it came from Phong's tank which in my opinion I shouldn't worry about so I think both the caluerpas are fine. They caluerpas can grow in the sand if I take to rocks out. What hitchhikers can harm dwarfs other than hydriods? I'll eventually use flue tabs just in case of anything I don't see.
 
I just found the best site to order TAN RAISED dwarfs from! :bigsmile: They are very inexpensive and they have overnight shipping with delivery by 3:00PM next day AND live delivery guarentee! :bigsmile: I'm thinking I'm going to order three pairs for $32 but they also offer a five pair pack for $52. I know it says that thanks should be densely populated with seahorses (one pair per gallon) but since they'll have babies should I start with three pairs of five pairs? Also, I want to make them some homemade hitching posts. What can I use that won't add toxins to the water but is able to be cut so I can make some hitching posts of different sizes for them. :)
 
The reason why you don't want to use live rock is due to the fact that they can harbor hydroids. Once hydroids make their way into your tank, they start reproducing and you end up with it in your tank. Same applies to the caulerpa as it can cling to the surface of the macroalgae.

Dwarf seahorse babies are tiny (1/4" or so when they first pop out) so just about anything and everything can get to them. The #1 danger to them are hydroids since it can wipe an entire population out. Small 'nems which can end up in your tank can also sting and consume them as well (another reason why corals shouldn't be kept with dwarves).

If you're gonna use fluke tabs, do so before you add inverts, such as those snails.
 
If I add fluke tabs can I still keep the LR in the tank or should I remove it even after treating with fluke tabs? The only things I'd add after I treat with fluke tabs are the seahorses and the snails.
 
If you're gonna treat it, might as well treat everything. That way you can continue to keep the rocks and macroalgae that you already have in there.
 
I tried to find a picture of Fluke Tablets online and all I could find were pond fluke tablets. Could somebody give me the link to the reef safe ones? Thanks! :)
 
Look for... Fenbendazole. You can read more about it here:

http://www.seahorse.com/Frequently_Asked_Questions/Seahorse_Meds/Fenbendazole_(Panacur)/

If you haven't already been to the seahorse forum, check it out.

http://forum.seahorse.org/index.php?
 
My caluerpa pasploides has been turning white and falling off. I think this is asexual reproduction, but how do I stop it? What will happen?
 
I have a huge colony of copepods in the tank already which will be a great anytime food source for the seahorses! The copepods are all over the caluerpa and I'm very happy! :crown:

BTW, here is a tank video that I made today...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4R5L8pZpcw
 
It's been about a month now so I made some more pics! I compared my tank now to the video I made when I set the tank up. Here was the video from a month ago... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4R5L8pZpcw
I couldn't upload all of the pic (takes too long) but here are two! One full tank shot and a shots of my C. Taxifolia! I've had a LOT of growth. There's more than what it looks like in the pics! :)

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