Seahorses are upright swimming fish, so they are not suitable for aquariums with a height below 45cm, and mature seahorses are unlikely to mate in shallow waters. The density of seahorses in the aquarium should not be too high to avoid the spread of diseases. It is recommended that 100 liters of water should not exceed 4 seahorses.

Because seahorses have high requirements for water quality and are susceptible to bacterial infection, ultraviolet germicidal lamps are necessary.

Seahorses are prone to air bubble disease, especially during the mating period. The brood pouch of male seahorses often inhales air bubbles and floats to the surface, so avoid having too many and too fine air bubbles in your seahorse tank.

Hardware equipment:

The necessary equipment includes → UVC sterilization lamp and protein removal filter.

The optional equipment includes → water chiller (essential for seahorses of cold water species), ozone machine (you must carefully adjust the O3 concentration and operating time when using it, too much O3 will kill your lovely seahorse).

Aquarium decoration:

Seahorses usually hang on aquatic plants, sponges, and corals, so when building a seahorse tank, you can arrange aquatic animals and plants for seahorses to rest on. , if there is no hanging object, it is easy for the seahorse to feel urgent and nervous. The best hanging objects in the aquarium are natural marine plants, such as live rocks, botrytis, etc. Of course, you can also use soft plastic decorations instead.

Companion fish:

Crabs sometimes prey on seahorses, so avoid keeping them together. Other fairy fish or butterfly fish will compete with seahorses for food, so they are not suitable for sex with seahorses.

Fish that can be kept together with seahorses include sea dragons, gobies, etc. In particular, goudas can clean the sand off the aquarium bottom, but must be avoided if they are too large. However, it is recommended to raise pregnant male seahorses and larvae in separate isolation.

Lighting:

Seahorse mating and birth mostly occur within 1 hour of dawn. It is recommended that the lighting configuration be as follows:

3 hours of partial light → (AM6~9:00)

10 hours of full light → (AM9:00~PM7:00)

3 hours of partial light → (PM7:00~PM10:00)

8 hours of darkness → (PM10:00~AM6:00).

Water quality requirements:

Use natural seawater or artificial sea salt or a mixture of both.

Temperature tropical water species 27±2℃, cold water species 22±2℃

Salinity--------------1.020~1.025

pH----------8.0~8.4

Ammonia----------0 mg/l < /p>

Nitrite---------------0 mg/l

Nitrate--------------40 mg /l following

4. Bait:

Seahorses eat a lot but are very persistent in their food requirements, because wild seahorses only eat live bait.

Note that seahorses cannot be fed only brine shrimp. Because brine shrimp larvae are too small for large seahorses, they cannot attract the interest of large seahorses. Although mature brine shrimp are larger in size, they will actively pursue food for seahorses, but long-term feeding will cause malnutrition in seahorses.

Wild small seahorses mainly feed on plankton, while larger seahorses feed on mysids. Usually the length of the bait is limited to no longer than the snout of the seahorse tube.

Frozen bait can be black shell shrimp, red tail green shrimp, and Antarctic shrimp. It is recommended not to use a single frozen bait. A variety of baits will ensure a balanced nutrition. Occasionally feeding live bait can increase the activity of your seahorses.

Seahorses like live bait, but with patience and perseverance in the bait training process, seahorses can slowly be allowed to eat frozen bait. Although frozen bait provides the convenience of raising seahorses, a single type of bait is lacking in nutrients. It is best to have more than two types of bait that can be mixed or fed alternately, and live bait can also be fed occasionally.

Adopt small amounts and frequent feedings, at least twice a day, preferably 3 to 4 times.

The best feeding times are 9:00 AM, 12:00 noon, and 5:00 pm.

The options for frozen bait include the following:

1. Frozen mysid shrimp. (It is difficult to buy in Taiwan. I used frozen Antarctic shrimp instead of mysis shrimp. The main reason is that the shrimp shell is softer than the black shell shrimp)

2. Frozen red tail green (more available in the south), five-tailed shrimp (Sea fishing shops sell them live), freshwater black-shell shrimp (general aquariums).

3. Frozen brine shrimp adults (general aquariums).

4. Frozen copepods (usually found in marine fish farms). .

The types of live bait you can choose are:

1. Saltwater five-bearded shrimp or freshwater black-shell shrimp.

2. Freshwater fluorescent lamp or jasmine fish larvae.

3. Water fleas.

4. Brine shrimp.