Question 1 – Do I need to QT my seahorses?
I can’t stress how important it is to QT (quarantine) your new seahorses, or any new fish. There are many main reasons behind this with the obvious one being that if the seahorses are sick, you do not want to expose them to other inhabitants of your DT (display tank) as you run the risk of transferring the illness to them. QT gives you a chance to make sure that they are eating properly as once they are in a tank with lots of live rock, the chances are that they may spend hours hunting and you won’t know whether they are eating or not. QT also gives you time to get to know your seahorses. They can have very different personalities from one another and some rather quirky behaviour so it’s a good idea to try and understand what the normal behaviours are before putting them in the DT.
Question 2 – What kind of tank should I use as a QT tank?
For QT, I would go for a 10 – 20 gallon and cheap as possible. Don’t spend silly amounts on a QT tank as there really isn’t any need for it. Your seahorses may only be in there for a few weeks. You should have basic filtration, a heater (with guard), some plastic decorations but not too many and an open ended airline. Ideally, filter media should be cycled so that you don’t have to do daily water changes. However, if that isn’t possible, keep an eye on your water quality and do small daily water changes. Remove any waste and uneaten food frequently. Any equipment (including decor) should be sterilized in between uses.
Question 3 – What do I do with them when they arrive?
Your seahorses may be stressed when they reach their new home. Please dim any lights before opening the package. The bag that they are in should be floated in the QT tank to enable the water within the bag to reach the same temperature of the tank. After 30 minutes the seahorses can be removed and placed directly in the clean water. Please do not turn the tank lights on. Allow the seahorses enough time to settle. You should feed them on day 1 but do not panic if they do not eat straight away.
Question 4 – What should I feed them?
Your seahorses have been fed a mixture of mysis, adult brine and on the very odd occassion, krill. We use lots of different brands – Monkfield Nutrition, Ruto, BCUK, PE. Their food gets soaked in Dans Feed whilst defrosting and then rinsed with FW.
Question 5 – How often should I feed my seahorses?
You should feed your seahorses 2 – 3 times a day
Question 6 – What is a feeding station?
A feeding station is something that is used to feed the seahorses out of - often people will use and upturned shell or a tuperware dish. Seahorses are slow but messy eaters so if you have other fish in your tank its very useful to use a feeding station so that you seahorses can feed separately from other inhabitants and not have to compete for food.
One last thing for me to add – enjoy every minute of your new friends! I hope they bring you much happiness.
