Seahorse Care

Seahorses seem like mythological creatures dwelling in the waters around the world. These creatures have a head of a horse that helps give rise to its unusual name. They can change their colors like a chameleon. Like an armadillo, they have an armored body and a prehensile tail like a monkey. If these interesting facts are not enough, then you will surely be surprised with this fact. The male and not the female, give birth to live young. It has a beauty to admire and add some interest to your aquarium. It is important to understand how to take care of a seahorse, before you bring home a few. The following guide contains some basic information that will be useful a beginner.

Classification

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Sub-Phylum	Vertebrata
Class	Osteichthyes
Order	Perciformes
Family	Syngnathidae
Genus	Hippocampus
Common Species	Spotted seahorse (Hippocampus kuda) Tiger tail seahorse (Hippocampus comes) Dwarf seahorse(Hippocampus zosterae)

How to Take Care

There are many marine aquarists as well as enthusiasts who love to have seahorses as pets. Seashores require specific care as well a few special requirements that one needs to take care of. Thus, it is not as easy as it seems, if you are not fully dedicated to these pets.

Aquarium Tank Setup
You cannot bring home seahorses to live in a normal reef aquarium. They have specific needs that suits their survival. The fish tank height should be 3 times the height of the adult seahorse in your tank. The flow of the tank should be set at moderate; anything higher than moderate will blow away the inhabitants. The temperature of the tank should be lower than a reef aquarium. These species from tropical waters need about 71 to 78º F water temperature. Subtropical species require 68 to 74º F water temperature and species from the temperate region need about 64 to 71º F. A beginner should start out with tropical species as it is easier to maintain the stable temperature of a tropical tank.

Seahorses are a bit messy pets, thus make sure you have a good filtration system. Make sure the intakes of the filters are well protected as these can be pulled in by the filter powerheads. You should also make sure there are plenty of 'hitching posts' or artificial hold fasts placed in the tank. They need something to cling on when resting and if they do not find sufficient resting places they undergo stress. You can place rocks, plants, real and faux corals, etc. as their hitching posts. The substrate you choose should not have sharp edges. These sharp edges can cause cuts and wounds on their delicate body. Coral or sand substrate works fine for this creature.

Feeding Requirements
Seahorses like all pets have specific feeding requirements. In wild, they are considered to be ambush predators. They will hide and wait for their prey to swim by. They have their camouflage to keep them hidden from the prey. They feed on crustaceans, shrimp and shrimp-like mysis. When you bring them home, you need to feed them frozen mysis. There are frozen foods available in the market that need to be fed twice a day daily. You can even substitute live food once a week. Other food options include small krill, brine shrimp, live ghost shrimp. Make sure you do not feed brine shrimp more than once a week. Brine shrimp may come cheap, but it will cause your pet to starve. You need to feed them more than just brine shrimp, if you want them to survive.

Tank Mate Compatibility
They are not very strong swimmers and cannot compete for food. They also have little to offer as defense against aggressive fish. Therefore, you can house a seahorse with other seahorses to be on the safe side. If you are interested in having a few other species in your tank, you can get home a few clean-up mates. These include Astrea snail, Feather Dusters, Turbo snail, Nerite snail, Nassarius snail, Trochus snail, Cerith snail, etc. You can even add blue legged hermit crab, peppermint shrimp or grass shrimp as a tank mate.

You should go through all the available information as well as speak to experts, before bringing home seahorses as pets. Hope the above information on caring for seahorses helps you take care of your fascinating pet.