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Dear Pete,
I want to set up a seahorse tank that is about 8-10 gallons which can hold one or two seahorse pairs. I am new to sea horses and don’t yet have a tank. I was hoping that you would be able to guide me through the process of setting up a habitat for seahorses and recommend suitable tanks and other equipment as well as a suitable breed of seahorse for a beginner.
Thank you in advance for your help,
Sushanth
Dear Susan:
The best way to learn how to select and set up a suitable tank for seahorses would be to read through the Ocean Rider Seahorse Training Program, Sue. It will explain the type of aquarium, equipment, and accessories I prefer when treating an ideal habitat for seahorses.
However, the Ocean Rider seahorse training manual is based on the larger species of seahorses, such as Mustangs and Sunbursts (Hippocampus erectus), and an 8-10 gallon aquarium is too small to support such seahorses for any length of time, Susan.
On the other hand, an 8-10 gallon aquarium would work very well for dwarf seahorses (Hippocampus zosterae), which are only about the size of your thumbnail when they are fully grown. You will need to learn about dwarf seahorses. If you need to stick with a small tank of no more than 10 gallons, Sue, and the seahorse training manual does not discuss miniature seahorse species such as Hippocampus zosterae.
If you would like to learn about the larger seahorses, Susan, I can send you the entire Ocean Rider Seahorse Training Course – all 10 lessons together in one file – in PDF format as an attachment to this e-mail. You can then download the attachment, save it on your computer, and read through the 10 lessons at your leisure, taking all of the time you need to go over the information and absorb the material. As you do so, it will be your job to contact me via e-mail whenever you have any questions or concerns about the material in the lessons, and I will then do my very best to answer all of your questions and clarify everything for you.
I will also be relying on you to keep me updated on any changes or additions you make to your aquarium system so that I can keep the information in my records regarding your particular seahorse setup current and accurate at all times. That will help me to provide you with the best possible guidance and assistance as you go over the lessons.
When you are done with all 10 of the lessons, and feel you have had a chance to thoroughly absorb the information and master the lessons, send me a brief e-mail to that effect and I will be happy to put your certification through with Ocean Rider right away.
Be sure to save the PDF file with the seahorse training lessons on your computer for future reference, Susan. It includes a detailed table of contents with page numbers, so that you can quickly locate the material or section you would like to go back and review at any time.
Just remember that the lessons are for your eyes only, Susan, with the obvious exception of any immediate family members who may be helping you with the aquarium or the care of the seahorses. Please don’t share the PDF file with the complete training program or the individual lessons with any other hobbyists or individuals without first obtaining my expressed permission to do so. Thanks for your cooperation!
If, instead, you are going to be a limited to an aquarium of no more than 10 gallons, then I would suggest that you purchase Alisa Wegner’s book on the care and keeping of dwarf seahorses, which explains everything you need to know in order to keep the paint-size Hippocampus zosterae in a home aquarium. It’s titled Complete Guide to Dwarf Seahorses in the Aquarium, and we’ll get you started off on the right foot, Sue.
So send me a brief e-mail to that me know whether you want to learn about the dwarf seahorses that would be well-suited for an 8-10 gallon tank, or whether you want to learn about the much larger Mustangs and Sunbursts (Hippocampus erectus). That would mean an aquarium of at least 30 gallons in order to thrive, and we’ll proceed accordingly. You can reach me at [email protected]
Best wishes with all your fishes, Susan!
Happy Trails!
Pete Giwojna, Ocean Rider Training Program AdvisorI have a new 30 gal I’d like to set up for seahorses from the beginning. I have read several articles which told me of some of the equipment I will need, none specified the type of sand, water etc. Thanks Jim
Dear Jim:
Assuming this will be a basic seahorse setup and not a modified reef tank, plain old Instant Ocean artificial salt mix generally works just fine. The substrate you use is not really terribly important, since seahorses can be kept successfully in aquariums with a bare glass bottom, crushed coral, or dolomite, or using a substrate consisting of live sand and live rock, which is what I prefer, to list just a few of the possible substrates you can choose from, sir.
If these will be your first seahorses, James, then I think the best way for you to get started would be to read through the Ocean Rider Seahorse Training Program beforehand to assure that you will be well prepared to give your ponies the best possible care. The training course is completely free of charge and I would be happy to send you the complete training manual in PDF format as an attachment to an e-mail so that you can download it, save it on your computer, and then read through the material at your leisure from the comfort of your own home.
The training manual is quite comprehensive, consisting of several hundred pages of text and more than 250 full color illustrations, and it will teach you everything you need to know in order to keep seahorses successfully in a home aquarium. It will explain how to optimize your aquariums to create an ideal habitat for the ponies.
If you would like to examine the free manual for the training program, just send me a brief reply to that effect that includes your full name (first and last) via e-mail, and I will send you a copy in return.
You can reach me anytime at the following e-mail address:
I can assure you that reading through the seahorse training manual will be time well spent and that you are going to have an absolute blast with your new Ocean Riders when all is said and done!
Happy Trails!
Pete Giwojna, Ocean Rider Tech Support
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Ocean Rider, Inc. is an Organic Hawaiian-Based Seahorse Aqua-Farm & Aquarium that Follows Strict Good Farming Practices in Raising Seahorses and Other Aquatic Life.
