Sea horses?

[Kitteness]

Okay so i was watching some seahorse forums on RC and they very opinionated so now I am confused. I have a 3g tank that I wanted to put 2 little dwarfs in but they make it sound like anything smaller than 20g is not good for them. So I was just wondering what your guys opinions are on the little fella's or if ya have any good articles to recommend for reading. Also I read no live rock for the dwarfs and I was wondering why?

 

[Wink]

Somebody at RC must have gotten confused. The recommendation of at least a 20 gallon tank is for the larger species of seahorse, not dwarfs. The recommendation of no live rock applies to dwarfs only and the reason for it is hydroids (and other possible predatory hitch hikers). Hydroids appear to exist in almost any tank with live rock, but only in tiny numbers and they are rarely noticed. When you begin feeding such a tank with live baby brine shrimp (which are always needed for dwarfs) the hydroid population explodes. The hydroid sting can kill a dwarf or seahorse fry of any species. I personally use live rock with my dwarfs but only when it has been properly treated with Panacur to kill hydroids and bristleworms. Panacur also has a downside, it kills fans, most corals, some snails, stars, etc. and the effect can last for over a year. Hydroids can also come into a tank with any addition of snails, hermits, or macro's. I personally don't add anything to my dwarf tank that hasn't been treated. Some people trust keyhole limpits to control the hydroids. Oh, and hydroids can survive high salinity, low salinity, and fresh water baths. I hate the little monsters!
RC's seahorse forum is usually good but in all honesty, I prefer http://www.seahorse.org and http://www.syngnathid.org The important thing is to do alot of reading before you get the dwarfs. Also, you might want to consider more than 2 dwarfs.. they like small groups and a 3 gallon tank can hold at least 6.

 

[Elmo18]

I have to add that Vicky (Wink) is your best bet for seahorses.

Best,
Ilham