Betafish305ca

Anyone know a good set up for a deep and narrow 4.5ish gallon fish tank?

aquarist48

Hello BetaFish. Hang on. I'm sure you'll get some responses here shortly.
I've seen some members keep snails, shrimps, cory cats and other smaller fish in the smaller tanks.
Once you have it all set up and stocked I hope you can share some photos with us!
Have fun!
Ken

Lucy

This is in the SW section of the forum. More ? lol

Bettafish305ca, you also have a thread in the FW section about this tank.
Deep and narrow glass tank
Are you looking for suggestions for both SW or FW before you decide what your set up is going to be?

lorabell

I do!!!!...perfect for dwarf seahorses!!!!!!..like 10 pair

Lucy

I saw them at the aquarium in Chattanooga this summer.
Man, they're cute and teeny tiny!

aquarist48

Doh! My mistake!
Ken

sirdarksol

Maybe two or three pairs.

This also would be a very advanced setup. Seahorses can be kind of touchy when it comes to water quality, which is more difficult to maintain in a small tank. Further, these little guys need to be fed small, live food several times a day.

My thought for a small tank would be a live-rock only tank. With a small tank, it would be easier to afford a couple of pieces of high-quality, neat-shaped live rock. After a few months, if the live rock hasn't provided enough critters to keep you interested, you could add a single fish or an invert or two.

lorabell

lol... dwarfs can only be in a small tank(because of feeding necessities)...no live rock because of cooties that will attack them...and in a 4.5 gal ...u can do about 10 pair...not try to contradict or anythng ...but I have been doing tons of research on them...theyre mainstay are decapsulated brine

sirdarksol

I've not found any website that has suggested 10 pairs for a tank under 5 gallons.
Wikipedia suggests no more than two or three pairs in a five gallon.
Another website suggests what amounts to a pair a gallon, but the purpose given for this is to make feeding easier and cheaper, rather than for the good of the horses.
Yet another suggests a five gallon tank for "a few" dwarf seahorses, while, if you want to keep ten pairs, a ten gallon tank is good.
At least one keeper has a twenty gallon tank devoted to a small herd of them and also uses live rock (against general advice, but it's been successful).

pepetj

In a deep pico tank... I believe an interesting reef is possible. Inverts such as small species of Feather Worms and a few frags of peaceful soft corals. I don't think of any fish that could thrive in such a small environment.

Pepetj
Santo Domingo

lorabell

Apologizies...Sir....I posted wrong info...for 5 gal the minimum suggested is 5 pair(10 ponies)..a few over is not a problem....my info is from seahorses.org and the guide to Dwarf Seahorses by AW Abbott...

sirdarksol

Makes more sense. Thanks for posting resources, too. 1 pair per gallon seems to be about the upper end most reliable folks suggested.

lorabell

OMG!!!! sorry for the mispelling...lol....but u got it...lol...I also believe the reason for the small environment for feeding purposes mainly is because THEY will not feed agressivly...rather sit there and wait for it to pass them by...in a smaller tank the brine have less place to go...so the ponnies can get to them...lol...

MizRamzi

A pico reef!!!

Betafish305ca

hello everyone.... thank you so much for your help and ideas, they are greatly apprieated.... thanks again

i think i'm going to stick to freshwater tanks for now, due to the more skills need for proper salt water tanks... if you have any further suggestions, i do have a similar thread in the freshwater beginners form

moderators, you may close/ lock this thread now
(i hope i don't sound bossy)