I am looking into buying a seahorse.

Dear Kimmi:

No worries, mate! We can get you up to speed on the care and keeping of seahorses, but you’ll need to do your homework first. The best approach to a project like this is always to do your research ahead of time and learn as much as you can about aquarium keeping and the aquarium requirements of seahorses before you take the plunge.

A good place for you to start would be to read the book "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist: A Commonsense Handbook for Successful Saltwater Hobbyists" by Bob Fenner. That is an outstanding book for a beginner that will give you an excellent grasp of the things you need to know to maintain a marine aquarium.

After you’ve had a chance to digest The Conscientious Marine Aquarist and have a better understanding of the basic principles involved in keeping a saltwater aquarium, you should next study a good guide book devoted for seahorses. I would say the most useful of these for your needs is "How to Care for your Seahorses in the Marine Aquarium — A Stable Environment For your Seahorse Stable" by Tracy Warland. It is devoted primarily to Australian seahorse species, and should help give you a good idea of what species you may want to keep, Kimmi. There are several beautiful tropical Australian seahorses you can consider, including Hippocampus procerus, H. barbouri, H. kuda, and H. angustus or H. subelongatus.

Please get back to us after you have had a chance to carefully read through Bob Fenner’s and Tracie Warland’s books, and let us know which seahorse species you are most interested in keeping and whether or not you would like to breed them or simply want to admire them in your home aquarium. I would then be happy to provide you with detailed information on the care and breeding of those particular seahorses, and I will be able to help you set up an aquarium optimized to meet their needs.

In the meantime, you can browse through the posts on this forum and search the archives to increase your general knowledge of seahorses, Kimmi. There is a rectangular window in the upper right-hand corner (just above the page numbers) on the forum with the words "search forum" in it. Just type the word or phrase you are looking for into that window and press "Enter" on your keyboard, and the results of your search will pop up in just a few moments. For example, if you type in "newbie" or "new to seahorses" or "tank set-up advice," you’ll find some useful discussions explaining how to create an optimum environment for seahorses in your aquarium. Or you can search for what ever other subject you would like to learn more about.

Best of luck with your preliminary research into seahorses and aquarium keeping, Kimmi!

Happy Trails!
Pete Giwojna