Hey I just got a new leopard gecko and was showing my mum and she said why couldn't I have all my leos in the empty fishtank we have and I explained why not. She mentioned that she'd love to have seahorses like our cousins do in London and I was just wondering quickly whether they are relatively easy to keep? We have a fishtank at the moment with a variety in but I was considering having them in our empty tank. It's their anniversary end of March so I was thinking of buying them a few seahorses. Just wondering how expensive they are in the UK, how rare they are and if they're easy to keep. thank you I am currently reading up on them but killing two birds with one stone

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quite difficult really. Expensive to setup and buy, and then they need constant feeding.

Generally keeping seahorses requires a very dedicated person, who has the time to feed throughout the day and can provide the very best water quality and general care.

probably best to avoid them if you are new to marines, and even then it requires a LOT of knowledge just to keep them alive let alone provide them with a good life. I looked in to it and i consider myself pretty knowledeable about fish, but I just don't have the time needed to look after them let alone and the attention span. We get people into work all the time asking about seahorses and I always try to persuade them against it. Highly specialised fish so try looking at something a bit simpler, either tropicals or less difficult marines

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1.1 leos, 1.1 fat tails, 0.2 Beardies, 1 Whites, 2.0 Cresties, 4.1 Cats, Fish: 4.4 P. Dovii, 5.5.6 Peacock Bass (5 sp), 1.1 C 'Cobra', 1.1 festae, 1.1 green terror, 1.1 nics, 1.1 C. Marmorata, 1.1 C. Johani, 1.1 C. 'Strigata', 1.1 C. 'red tapojas'; 1.1 P. Friedrichsthalli, 1.1 Mots, 1.1 managuense, 1.1 H. Bocourti, 1.1 H. Pearsi, 1.1 H. Carpinte, 1.1 H. Cynoguttatum, 1.1 V. Argentea, 1.1 V. Zonatus, 1.1 N. Salvini, 2.2 Grammodes, 3.4 Hoplarchus Pssiticus, 2.2 Trimacs, 3.4 haitiensis, 1.1 tetracanthus, 3.2 Red tiger mots, 14 Uaru (2 sp) 1.1 Umbies, 2 Arapaima, 3 Red tail catfish, 1.1 P. Leopoldii, 1.1 P. Motoro, 3 Silver Arowana, Var. polypterus, var. Channa sp, 6 Pacu, M. wyckii, 3 siamese tigers, 2 jelly catfish, 1 Golden dorado

thank you Mike been most helpful. With that in mind then I think it would be best to think of something else my mum wants to have seahorses, I want to have cheetahs lol some things just cannot be lol. Thank you again

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Nothing in the marine hobby is to hard aslong as you plan it first. Pick what seahorses you would like and go from their. A simple FOWLR would be good for some of the bigger more common species. Its not as expensive as everyone says but its not cheap either.
With some careful planning and researching should be fine.

I dont believe in starter fish or starter reptiles. If you get something that you 'should' get to start and its not what you want you are less likely to want it later on.

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Obama is a hypocrite, he wants a health plan but is a smoker?? this man is going to be your leader ... shows what america has become

Yeah, very dificult and exepensive, one of my future plans (hah...no. Will never have the money or knowledge )


There are a few freshwater/brackish pipefish that you can keep - cousins of the sea horses. Much easier and cheaper.

Edit: Just thought... i researched some seahorses that were TINY, i cant remember though. they were said to be easy to keep. nd i mean tiny, 2" i think. all cool. maybe start with these is your mum really wants some?

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dwarf seahorses?

I dont agree with seahorses being very difficult or even that expensive, 40 quid aint bad for a good sized CB one.

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Obama is a hypocrite, he wants a health plan but is a smoker?? this man is going to be your leader ... shows what america has become

Looks like my lfs overprices them then. £90 each.

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In general marines aren't that difficult, but seahorses are very specialised and aren't easy to care for.

I also agree that you should get something you like, but reps are a bit different to marine fish, It's alot harder to maintain the water quality of a marine setup than the temps humidity ect in a viv

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My Reps2.6.3 Leos1.1.0 Bearded Dragons0.2.0 AFT's

I have kept a marine tank at home (no seahorses) and when i worked in a pet shop i was sort of head of fish and rodents. Its 'easy' to keep water stable if you start with a higher volume.
When i was at the pet shop i ordered in genuine CB seahorses and it was a breeze, i made sure all were feeding on frozen food before selling etc.

A well cycled tank, and some decent healthy CB seahorses, and lots of reading and i think it could be easily done. It would be better to have some knowledge of fishkeeping before but not essential. I think 'back in the day' when people had smaller tanks and worse filteration they would be give then 'difficult' stamp,and it seems to have stuck.

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Obama is a hypocrite, he wants a health plan but is a smoker?? this man is going to be your leader ... shows what america has become

sorry I can't agree one that. Even if you get decent animals and a good setup, it still can't be classed as easy. Things like platys and mollies are easy. Seahorses are not. It's all relative, keeping a yemen chameleon is not hard, but compared to a leopard gecko it is more difficult.

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1.1 leos, 1.1 fat tails, 0.2 Beardies, 1 Whites, 2.0 Cresties, 4.1 Cats, Fish: 4.4 P. Dovii, 5.5.6 Peacock Bass (5 sp), 1.1 C 'Cobra', 1.1 festae, 1.1 green terror, 1.1 nics, 1.1 C. Marmorata, 1.1 C. Johani, 1.1 C. 'Strigata', 1.1 C. 'red tapojas'; 1.1 P. Friedrichsthalli, 1.1 Mots, 1.1 managuense, 1.1 H. Bocourti, 1.1 H. Pearsi, 1.1 H. Carpinte, 1.1 H. Cynoguttatum, 1.1 V. Argentea, 1.1 V. Zonatus, 1.1 N. Salvini, 2.2 Grammodes, 3.4 Hoplarchus Pssiticus, 2.2 Trimacs, 3.4 haitiensis, 1.1 tetracanthus, 3.2 Red tiger mots, 14 Uaru (2 sp) 1.1 Umbies, 2 Arapaima, 3 Red tail catfish, 1.1 P. Leopoldii, 1.1 P. Motoro, 3 Silver Arowana, Var. polypterus, var. Channa sp, 6 Pacu, M. wyckii, 3 siamese tigers, 2 jelly catfish, 1 Golden dorado