# seahorses **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 10, 2005, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seahorses/307705 "2005-06-10T06:23:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c2a13f/32.png) [@pace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pace)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seahorses/307705/1 "2005-06-10T06:23:57Z")
i’ve been thinking about getting my mom a couple of seahorses (from Petsmart?), and wondering what type of care they require… anyone know? Btw, my mom is elderly (70’s) so a filtered tank (even a small 10 gal) would be too much work for her. thanx! ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seahorses/307705/2 "2005-06-10T06:38:17Z")
If a filtered tank is too much work, then seahorses are probably not the best choice. [Everything](http://www.seahorse.org/) you ever wanted to know about seahorses and quite a few things you didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![eleemosynary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dc4da7/32.png) [@eleemosynary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleemosynary)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seahorses/307705/3 "2005-06-10T06:52:47Z")
> [@pace](#): > > i’ve been thinking about getting my mom a couple of seahorses (from Petsmart?), and wondering what type of care they require… anyone know? Btw, my mom is elderly (70’s) so a filtered tank (even a small 10 gal) would be too much work for her. > > thanx! I had seahorses at one point and they are incredible creatures but it takes a lot of work to provide them with a healthy environment. Filters are necessary, the salt water has to be tested and seahorses caught in the wild have to be fed live food which means either purchasing brine shimp on a daily basis or setting up a separate tank to breed shrimp…they eat other things but you get the idea. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seahorses/307705/4 "2005-06-10T07:00:36Z")
Seahorses are VERY sensitive to their enviroment and are not a good idea for someones first salt tank. It’s also quite hard to keep a salt tank under 35-40 gallons if you don’t know what you’re doing. Tanks are great but you might want to think about a fresh water tank. A single male beta in a 10 gallon tank with a handful of nice plants would be easy. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seahorses/307705/5 "2005-06-10T11:55:11Z")
[Another link.](http://www.mote.org/~lauren/motenews/winter97/seahorses.phtml) Seahorses are threatened species already, due to habitat destruction, their vulnerability to habitat destruction and harvesting practices, (due to their pair-bonding and males’ parenting of the young), demand to satisfy Asian folk medicine nostrums, and the demands of the aquarium trade. This link reports populations in SE Asia crashing, with the numbers of wild seahorses declining by half over the last five years. Please get her some nice, commercially-bred goldfish or other tropical fish, instead. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seahorses/307705/6 "2005-06-10T13:14:10Z")
Maybe sea_monkeys_ would be a better choice. [http://www.seamonkeyworship.com/](http://www.seamonkeyworship.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@Mycroft\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_H)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seahorses/307705/7 "2005-06-10T13:36:22Z")
According to my wife, seahorses are quite difficult even for experienced fish geeks. She has been keeping tanks for 15+ years, works at an aquarium/fish store, and we have several tanks (although she is holding off on setting up a saltwater until we settle into our newish house a bit more). She loves seahorses, but does not want the difficulty of maintaining them. To paraphrase **Seven** , betas are better for your mothers situation and you can find very pretty ones. ---
**Author:** ![pace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c2a13f/32.png) [@pace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pace)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seahorses/307705/8 "2005-06-10T19:43:27Z")
Thanks Everyone for your helpful info! 🙂 given what I know now, seahorses are not a good idea for my mom, but the Male Beta fish sounds ideal! also didn’t realize seahorses are an endangered species… awww, just with that knowledge alone, I would never want to own any… thanks again everyone! ciao! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Ash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@Mr.Ash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Ash)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seahorses/307705/9 "2005-06-10T21:12:16Z")
> [@The Scrivener](#): > > [Another link.](http://www.mote.org/~lauren/motenews/winter97/seahorses.phtml) Seahorses are threatened species already, due to habitat destruction, their vulnerability to habitat destruction and harvesting practices, (due to their pair-bonding and males’ parenting of the young), demand to satisfy Asian folk medicine nostrums, and the demands of the aquarium trade. This link reports populations in SE Asia crashing, with the numbers of wild seahorses declining by half over the last five years. > > Please get her some nice, commercially-bred goldfish or other tropical fish, instead. While the above is _absolutely_ true, it should also be noted that seahorses are one of the few aquarium species that can be successfully captive bred. Many of the retailers here in the states sell captive raised and bred animals and will specifically note this (as far as you can trust them). You can also raise your own if you are insanely good at it. That being said - go with the Beta. They’re practically immortal. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seahorses/307705/10 "2005-06-10T21:57:26Z")
> [@Mr. Ash](#): > > That being said - go with the Beta. They’re practically immortal. Alone. 🙂 (Okay, only if they are males) ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2005, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seahorses/307705/11 "2005-06-11T00:35:15Z")
> [@pace](#): > > i’ve been thinking about getting my mom a couple of seahorses (from Petsmart?), and wondering what type of care they require… anyone know? Btw, my mom is elderly (70’s) so a filtered tank (even a small 10 gal) would be too much work for her. thanx! No to seahorses even if they are entertaining to watch. They require a lot of care and know how. It’s either Goldfish or Guppies. Both are survivors of some pretty bad treatment/care. And **you** should plan to clean up the tank at least everyother week-end.