You can’t help but feel a sense of wonder when you gaze into a seahorse tank. They really are quite majestic, but elegant creatures and even those who have no desire to ever own an aquarium can sit and stare for hours at these beautiful animals.

In the years that I have been keeping seahorses, I honestly couldn’t count on one hand the amount of people who question me when I tell them that I keep and breed seahorses “Seahorses? Are they really real then?”. So many people think that they are a mythological animal. Well yes, they are real and whatsmore they are starting to become more and more popular in the UK. So, the next question that people ask is “Are they easy to keep”. In my honest opinion, a cautionary yes. If you have kept a marine tank before, and know about the maintenance requirements then you are off to a good start. If you can keep to a weekly care routine then there isn’t any reason that you shouldn’t consider them.

There are some fundamental differences between seahorse tanks and reef tanks, and these are mainly temperature, tankmates and stocking densities.

Whilst tropical species of seahorses can tolerate temperatures between 70 – 80 degrees, it is always preferable to keep them in the lows 70′s. This will help to avoid any bacterial issues (one of the most common complaints with keeping seahorses), and temperatures need to be kept steady without huge fluctuation.

Seahorses are peaceful, slow moving animals and so need to be kept with similar fish. Very careful consideration needs to be taken when choosing tankmates. You need fish that won’t outcompete for food or cause stress by erratic swimming behaviour. Any corals should not have any stinging capabilities. If you’re unsure, stick to softies.

The most important factor to me now is stocking densities. Seahorses are incredibly messy animals. If you have ever observed a seahorse eat, they almost look like dragons blowing smoke out of their gills. For every shrimp that is eaten huge amounts of tiny shrimp particals are blown out of their gills and this waste adds significantly to the bioload of the tank and its this that is now gradually moving people away from the currently recommend tank sizes and stocking densities. Minimum tank size is around 30 gallons for a pair of one of the medium sized seahorses. This is fine, as long as you don’t add many other fish to the equation. Perhaps 1 or 2 small gobies or blennies would be your limit.  Go over board with clean up crew (CuC) as they will help with the detritus in your tank.

My key piece of advice when thinking about seahorses is to do your research before hand. Join a seahorse specific forum and talk through your plans with current seahorse owners before taking the plunge. Think carefully about whether you want a male/female pair or single sex group. Seahorses are prolific breeders so chances are that one pair could be delivering between 80 – 600 babies every couple of weeks (depending on species). Raising fry is a whole different kettle of fish (‘scuse the pun) and something I will talk about in another article.

Look out for my next article – How to select a seahorse for your aquarium