Appropriate seahorse corals/plants

[Theclutziestspazzofaninja]

Hello!
I'm playing with the idea of setting an empty tank I have up as a seahorse aquarium. The tank won't have a heater and will be at room temperature for the seahorses, so between 65-75 degrees the majority of the year. I'm assuming most, if not all, algaes will do fine, but I'd like to incorporate a couple corals if possible.
Any experience or advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[Reefing Madness]

Moved to current location, from Soft corals.

 

[saltylife]

I keep zoas, shrooms, acans, leathers, and gorg. Tried Digitata but they keep hitching it resulting in die off

 

[tyler1503]

I don't know about that temperature range, but in a tropical tank you can keep them with fungia, heliofungia, duncans, candy canes, most softies and those listed above. There's quite a lot of nice corals you can have with them

 

[Theclutziestspazzofaninja]

Moved to current location, from Soft corals.

Thank you! I wasn't sure which it should go in because it applied to both.

I keep zoas, shrooms, acans, leathers, and gorg. Tried Digitata but they keep hitching it resulting in die off

Wow! Your aquarium is beautiful! What temperature do you keep your seahorse aquarium at?

I don't know about that temperature range, but in a tropical tank you can keep them with fungia, heliofungia, duncans, candy canes, most softies and those listed above. There's quite a lot of nice corals you can have with them

I'm going to stick with the non-tropical water just because seahorses fair better off with the lower temps, but thank you for the coral suggestions! I'll look into those corals for the cooler tank

 

[saltylife]

Thank you! I wasn't sure which it should go in because it applied to both.


Wow! Your aquarium is beautiful! What temperature do you keep your seahorse aquarium at?


I'm going to stick with the non-tropical water just because seahorses fair better off with the lower temps, but thank you for the coral suggestions! I'll look into those corals for the cooler tank

It stays around 74. This is my wife's 60 cube. Equipment is a mag 7 feeding a UV and two returns on the tank. We use a reef octopus 150 for all the feedings we do. You want to do corals that will fair well with lower lighting. They will tend to move around more in less lighting. This tank is lit with an ever grow unit running at around 30% white and 50% blue. Choose your ponies wisely. See them eat before you purchase. Most LFS carry tank raised but some do still have wild caught which can be difficult to get to eat frozen. Also seahorses only live 1-5 years all of which we've kept lived to about 3

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

One thing to keep in mind when deciding on what types of corals that you can keep with seahorses is the cleanliness of the tank. Seahorses are messy eaters and this can cause issues with water quality. Another thing to remember is that seahorses need a coral tank which can stunt coral growth or some corals won't fair as well.

I would avoid euphylia corals, bubble corals, or other similar types of corals that throw out long sweeper tentacles. Gorgonians, branching sponges, and leather corals would be great. They even offer hitching posts. Candy canes, zoas, mushrooms, plating or encrusting montis, sun corals, acans, or wellsos would also be great corals. I would avoid branching SPS since the seahorses can irritate the corals.

 

[Theclutziestspazzofaninja]

It stays around 74. This is my wife's 60 cube. Equipment is a mag 7 feeding a UV and two returns on the tank. We use a reef octopus 150 for all the feedings we do. You want to do corals that will fair well with lower lighting. They will tend to move around more in less lighting. This tank is lit with an ever grow unit running at around 30% white and 50% blue. Choose your ponies wisely. See them eat before you purchase. Most LFS carry tank raised but some do still have wild caught which can be difficult to get to eat frozen. Also seahorses only live 1-5 years all of which we've kept lived to about 3

I'm not sure of the exact size of my aquarium, but I think mine is also at least 60 gallons. I'm definitely doing to be picky when it comes to buying my seahorses. Great! Low light is definitely what I was hoping for! Do your seahorses breed at all?

 

[saltylife]

My male is a hybrid and unlikely will breed

 

[Theclutziestspazzofaninja]

One thing to keep in mind when deciding on what types of corals that you can keep with seahorses is the cleanliness of the tank. Seahorses are messy eaters and this can cause issues with water quality. Another thing to remember is that seahorses need a coral tank which can stunt coral growth or some corals won't fair as well.

I would avoid euphylia corals, bubble corals, or other similar types of corals that throw out long sweeper tentacles. Gorgonians, branching sponges, and leather corals would be great. They even offer hitching posts. Candy canes, zoas, mushrooms, plating or encrusting montis, sun corals, acans, or wellsos would also be great corals. I would avoid branching SPS since the seahorses can irritate the corals.

I was definitely thinking I'd steer clear of sps corals. Would you recommend nps corals, or do you think that'd just make the water quality worse?

 

[Gazog2]

Mushrooms, Zoas, Leathers and Gorgonians are fine. Candy canes, sun corals, acans, euphylia corals and ALL SPS should be avoided for several reasons. First because as Seahorse Keeper said horses are messy eaters and water quality tends to suffer making it very hard to keep any SPS. All the other have sticky tentacles that can grab and hold a seahorse which can stress them to the point of killing them. Some can also sting them so I would avoid them.

Seahorse.org has a wealth of information that you can look at with out being a member. Check out this page about tankmates, its pretty comprehensive.

http://www.seahorse.org/library/articles/tankmates/tankmates.shtml

And keep one thing in mind, the cooler the better, many seahorse disease and conditions are caused by parasites that cannot live in water below 75 degrees. I kept my tank at between 70 and 74 degrees at all time. Most corals that are ok to be kept with seahorses will do fine at these lower temps. also.

Here are a couple of photos of my seahorse tank.

These were raise from 1/2 long babies by me, started out with about 50 and ended up with 4.
Pay no attention to the Majano anemone sitting it the middle of this tank, the seahorses never did so I just left it alone.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

I was definitely thinking I'd steer clear of sps corals. Would you recommend nps corals, or do you think that'd just make the water quality worse?

NPS can work well with seahorses.

 

[Theclutziestspazzofaninja]

Mushrooms, Zoas, Leathers and Gorgonians are fine. Candy canes, sun corals, acans, euphylia corals and ALL SPS should be avoided for several reasons. First because as Seahorse Keeper said horses are messy eaters and water quality tends to suffer making it very hard to keep any SPS. All the other have sticky tentacles that can grab and hold a seahorse which can stress them to the point of killing them. Some can also sting them so I would avoid them.

Seahorse.org has a wealth of information that you can look at with out being a member. Check out this page about tankmates, its pretty comprehensive.

http://www.seahorse.org/library/articles/tankmates/tankmates.shtml

And keep one thing in mind, the cooler the better, many seahorse disease and conditions are caused by parasites that cannot live in water below 75 degrees. I kept my tank at between 70 and 74 degrees at all time. Most corals that are ok to be kept with seahorses will do fine at these lower temps. also.

Here are a couple of photos of my seahorse tank.

These were raise from 1/2 long babies by me, started out with about 50 and ended up with 4.
Pay no attention to the Majano anemone sitting it the middle of this tank, the seahorses never did so I just left it alone.

I'm loving your aquarium! Thank you, I've looked a little at that site, but I'll dig a little deeper!

 

[SantaMonica]

Like I said in the other post, a macro display can be a very colorful thing

 

[reefs4fun]

Green star polyp and neon clove polyps are harmless and add lots of color and dimension to a tank. Pulsating xenia, toadstool leather corals, sun coral, and mushrooms (especially ricordea) can also be colorful, seahorse safe, and provide variety in your tank. My horses particularly like feather dusters and coco worms as they hitch their tails around the tubes. Surprisingly, the feather dusters and coco worms are quick to retract if I get too close to them with my hand or a feeding pipette, but they have no problem staying open with a seahorse wrapping its tail around them! Just be careful to avoid any corals that have the potential to sting.

 

[sbmarvin]

What type of seahorses are you thinking about?
65 will be too cold for most corals. I have 4 tiger tails currently and keep my tank between 73-75 and everything is flourishing.
Now for your question asked. Seahorses aren't in the least bit picky but will rest on anything and everything because of this I decided to only put peaceful non stinging corals only. I would also incorporate the majority of the corals to be low-med flow you can have higher flow corals placed near or in direct flow of a powerhead or sump return. The seahorses themselves don't really seem to harm any corals.
Corals that I've kept long-term in seahorse tank.
Antheli, finger leather, Kenya tree, xenia, elephant ear, ricordia mushroom, mushrooms (the hairy ones the seahorses would also perch on ) candy cane corals, meat coral, porites, birds nest, corkscrew, spider sponge, tube sponge (the sps I had in direct flow from the sump return ). And I would like to get my hands on some photosynthetic gorgonians or sea fans next spring/summer. So here's some ideas feel free to ask me any questions

 

[FinzAquatics]

I would stick with macro algae and gorgonians.. They will do best if kept at proper seahorse parameters... There are many many varieties of both that will allow you some varied colors and such. I have seen macro displays that give reef tanks a run for their money!

 

[Theclutziestspazzofaninja]

I would stick with macro algae and gorgonians.. They will do best if kept at proper seahorse parameters... There are many many varieties of both that will allow you some varied colors and such. I have seen macro displays that give reef tanks a run for their money!

I was thinking I would mainly go with macros. I completely agree, I've seen some stunning algae dominated set-ups!