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Seahorses

Asked to identify a marine creature that embodies the exotic, many of us would immediately say “seahorses!” And indeed, seahorses are really weird animals--otherworldly, even. They barely even resemble fish in many respects.

It isn’t just their odd appearance that makes seahorses so recognizable and fascinating; their slow, deliberate, graceful movement and habit of clinging to solid objects with their prehensile tails only adds to their huge mystique.

These traits, and their small adult size, has all but guaranteed a seat of honor in the aquarium hobby. Aquarium fish enthusiasts don’t just want seahorses: They dream of them. Really, the only thing that prevents their widespread use as ornamental fish is their need of a species tank.

Unlike so many other popular marine aquarium fishes (which typically hail from coral reef habitats), seahorses are restricted to calm, sheltered, relatively still waters. Thus, these weak swimmers are not appropriate for the typically (and necessarily) fast-moving waters in a conventional reef tank. Moreover, their slow swimming pretty much ensures that tankmates will be bloated with food before the seahorse gets more than a few bites down.

This leads to another common impediment for the average, casual aquarist: They are quite finicky about what they eat. Being more or less obligate zooplanktivores, they require a near-constant supply of live foods, with microcrustaceans such as copepods and amphipods being the preferred prey. This tends to necessitate the regular addition of supplemental feedstock (live pods).

In this section, you will learn how to set up and maintain the ideal seahorse aquarium as well as how to best provide the kinds--and amounts--of foods that keep them happy and healthy.

4 Posts

How Captive-Bred Seahorses are Improving Coastal Waters

Seahorses are one of the most unique animals we can house in captivity. While seahorses are delicate, they were one of the first to be
Read More about How Captive-Bred Seahorses are Improving Coastal Waters

Keeping a Coldwater Marine Aquarium

Marine aquarists have always had access to temperate species. In fact, in the days before improved packaging/shipping procedures
Read More about Keeping a Coldwater Marine Aquarium

Three Great Hacks for AlgaeBarn Simple Brine

For about a century, brine shrimp (Artemia spp.) have been among the most important of all aquarium foods. Not only are they extremely
Read More about Three Great Hacks for AlgaeBarn Simple Brine

A seahorse close up!

Do You Really Want Seahorses?

No doubt about it, sea horses are really weird and cool. For sure, they make great aquarium subjects. Seahorses are fairly simple to
Read More about Do You Really Want Seahorses?

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