Multi-inhabitant seahorse tank

Chef.ryan

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 26, 2014
Messages
46
Reaction score
4
Location
Kalamazoo, mi
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
People seem to think seahorses are much more difficult than other marine critters. In my experience, this is quite untrue. I currently have a 65 gallon DT with a 20g sump. I feed my ponies frozen mysis once per day ( plus any pods they can find) I do a 5 gallon wAter change every Saturday and I'm only running a pair of HOB filters in the sump plus a UV sterilizerI've had erectus, tiger tails, And dwarf seahorses all in a community together with everything from tangs, rabbits, triggers, and even a dwarf lion. I currently have a pair of yellow adult H. Erectus who are quite happy to live with a blue- stripe pipefish, A mating pair of clowns ( Orange and a caramel), a citron goby, a trio of zebra banded dart fish, a mean little neon dottyback, a golden Midas Benny, a talbots damsel, and a couple of red tail butterflies. The horses come to the surface and readily compete with the faster eaters and catch their fill. Just to be safe, I squirt an extra bit of the mysis into a wad of macro algae so they can forage for it later. Send a reply to this thred for any questions or tips, I'd've glad to share more of my experiences.
image.jpg
image.jpg

image.jpg
image.jpg
image.jpg
image.jpg
 

shayna123

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 22, 2013
Messages
121
Reaction score
20
Location
massachusetts
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Love the tank! Beautiful algaes. What is the light green, palm frond looking algae at the bottom?
 

toad2169

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 14, 2011
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Location
waretown, nj
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I have a 55 dt that has clowns, cardinals, gobies in with my seahorse....they are quicker to getting the food than the fish
 

Tahoe61

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 2, 2012
Messages
13,239
Reaction score
15,695
Location
AZ
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Yeah very nice, something completely different and very intersting.
 

SeahorseKeeper

Where's the mysis?
View Badges
Joined
May 27, 2012
Messages
12,799
Reaction score
3,958
Location
Nags Head
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Your tank is looking good and the seahorses look nice and fat. How long do seahorses tend to live for you?
 
OP
OP
C

Chef.ryan

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 26, 2014
Messages
46
Reaction score
4
Location
Kalamazoo, mi
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The other fish are surely quicker at snatching food but the horses try to compete. They will bob and weave amongst the frenzy to grab mysis but they are smart and they know to hide behind one of my macro bushes to receive their private feeding as well.
image.jpg
image.jpg
image.jpg
 
OP
OP
C

Chef.ryan

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 26, 2014
Messages
46
Reaction score
4
Location
Kalamazoo, mi
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I've had this pair for about 5 months. The longest I've ever kept any was 2 years. They were black Kudas. They probably lived s lot longer but I traded them to my LFS when I took the tank down to redo our basement. ( the longest I ever kept dwarfs is about 3 months, but I wasn't really trying.)
image.jpg
 
OP
OP
C

Chef.ryan

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 26, 2014
Messages
46
Reaction score
4
Location
Kalamazoo, mi
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I keep the tank at 78f - contrary to popular belief of cooler temps for seahorses. I also want to mention that the neon dottyback tries to get territorial, and the ponies just try to wrap their tail around him. They truly don't mind any of the other fish.
 

OctoTech

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 16, 2015
Messages
4
Reaction score
1
Location
Boothbay, ME
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Beautiful tank! What is your lighting setup for all of those beautiful macros? I am setting up a tank with macros and am still undecided on the lighting.
 

FinzAquatics

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 28, 2014
Messages
119
Reaction score
11
Location
Boston, MA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I have also had great success with breaking some of the seahorse preferred inhabitants.. I just recently upgraded my seahorses to their own 75 gallon aquarium in hopes that they will successfully breed, but prior to the upgrade I had multiple seahorse pairs housed with 2 clowns, 2 dottybacks, 2 gobies, 1 mandarin, 1 lawnmower blenny. They were housed together without any issue and no deaths.. There was no competition for food and everyone got along great..

I did however keep the tank slightly cooler than the 78 mark. I kept the tank around 73 in which the fish did not seem to mind either
 

TamiW

New Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 5, 2013
Messages
8
Reaction score
4
Location
Milwaukee, WI
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hi All! Please forgive the intrusion; someone pointed me to this thread. For some background before I get into saying what I have to say: I've been an seahorse keeper for 15 years, and do a lot of writing about seahorses and pipefish, and because of that, interact with a lot of seahorse keepers.

I do think seahorses are easier to keep than a lot of people think. That being said, I got a little nervous when reading this. I say testing the limits is always good. Without it, out hobby wouldn't be where it is today. I hate being a debbie downer, but I wouldn't expect long term survivorship in this type of setup for seahorses. I won't say impossible, but anyone considering seahorses in a mixed setup like this should go in with the knowledge there is a strong likelihood of failure, and be prepared to make changes on the fly. I've seen more people than I can count try it, and it eventually fails.

The temperature issue isn't because seahorses can't live in warmer water; indeed most of the species aquarists keep come from warmer water. Rather, it's a hack seahorse keepers use. Seahorses have really poor immune systems, and are prone to numerous bacterial infections. They are missing an important part of their immune system, and may lack an adaptive immune system entirely, which is what makes them very prone to bacterial infections. Vibro is one of the primary bacteria that causes illness seahorses and is common in the aquarium. Its normally not pathogenic, but it is opportunistic and can become pathogenic. It's growth also slows down at lower temperatures, thus the hack part - we keep the temperature cool so that the most virulent problem bacteria is kept at bay. Dan Underwood of Seahorse Source wrote about it in some detail.

The male seahorse pictured here is definitely underweight. The keel is hollowed out, suggesting malnutrition. If you want to keep this setup; I'd suggest figuring ways to target feed. He should also be much larger if you've had him for 5 months. I'd say he's just surviving, not thriving.

Clownfish will almost always savage seahorses eventually. But it generally doesn't happen until you've got a mature, fat female clown that is getting broody. You're aren't there yet; but I've seen people post about it time and time again. People seem to forget that clownfish have pretty vicious teeth and can do some significant damage. But it's hard to see that with younger clowns that haven't gotten territorial.

Which brings us to tankmate selection - yes, seahorses can definitely live with other fish. BUT, any fish that has the potential to damage a seahorse can cause a fatality. Even minor damage can lead to infection because of their weak immune system. Most algae eater will graze the algae that naturally grows on seahorses, causing damage to their skin. On that note, FinzAquatics, I would definitely stay away from a lawnmower blenny. They are notorious for ripping the dorsal fin off seahorses.

On the upside, of all the seahorse species, H. erectus does seem to be the hardiest and the most likely to handle a non-specific seahorse tank. But this is also a fish that can live a decade or more. A lot of people report short term success when experimenting like this, but once you look at it over the span of years and not months, it doesn't work. I've never seen long term success in this kind of aquarium. Not that you can't be the first, but I would be surprised to see it. This is a fish that can live 10 years; I know some people who have reported 12 and 13 year old seahorses.

Make of this what you may; I just wanted to comment here so anyone considering this setup understand that this kind of arrangement generally doesn't work long term. You can setup a kick *** seahorse tank with other fish inhabitants, but it has to be done right. To sum it up, what I'm trying to say that the lack of immediate failure really shouldn't be equated to success.
 

vlangel

Seahorse whisperer
View Badges
Joined
Feb 5, 2014
Messages
5,487
Reaction score
5,371
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hi All! Please forgive the intrusion; someone pointed me to this thread. For some background before I get into saying what I have to say: I've been an seahorse keeper for 15 years, and do a lot of writing about seahorses and pipefish, and because of that, interact with a lot of seahorse keepers.

I do think seahorses are easier to keep than a lot of people think. That being said, I got a little nervous when reading this. I say testing the limits is always good. Without it, out hobby wouldn't be where it is today. I hate being a debbie downer, but I wouldn't expect long term survivorship in this type of setup for seahorses. I won't say impossible, but anyone considering seahorses in a mixed setup like this should go in with the knowledge there is a strong likelihood of failure, and be prepared to make changes on the fly. I've seen more people than I can count try it, and it eventually fails.

The temperature issue isn't because seahorses can't live in warmer water; indeed most of the species aquarists keep come from warmer water. Rather, it's a hack seahorse keepers use. Seahorses have really poor immune systems, and are prone to numerous bacterial infections. They are missing an important part of their immune system, and may lack an adaptive immune system entirely, which is what makes them very prone to bacterial infections. Vibro is one of the primary bacteria that causes illness seahorses and is common in the aquarium. Its normally not pathogenic, but it is opportunistic and can become pathogenic. It's growth also slows down at lower temperatures, thus the hack part - we keep the temperature cool so that the most virulent problem bacteria is kept at bay. Dan Underwood of Seahorse Source wrote about it in some detail.

The male seahorse pictured here is definitely underweight. The keel is hollowed out, suggesting malnutrition. If you want to keep this setup; I'd suggest figuring ways to target feed. He should also be much larger if you've had him for 5 months. I'd say he's just surviving, not thriving.

Clownfish will almost always savage seahorses eventually. But it generally doesn't happen until you've got a mature, fat female clown that is getting broody. You're aren't there yet; but I've seen people post about it time and time again. People seem to forget that clownfish have pretty vicious teeth and can do some significant damage. But it's hard to see that with younger clowns that haven't gotten territorial.

Which brings us to tankmate selection - yes, seahorses can definitely live with other fish. BUT, any fish that has the potential to damage a seahorse can cause a fatality. Even minor damage can lead to infection because of their weak immune system. Most algae eater will graze the algae that naturally grows on seahorses, causing damage to their skin. On that note, FinzAquatics, I would definitely stay away from a lawnmower blenny. They are notorious for ripping the dorsal fin off seahorses.

On the upside, of all the seahorse species, H. erectus does seem to be the hardiest and the most likely to handle a non-specific seahorse tank. But this is also a fish that can live a decade or more. A lot of people report short term success when experimenting like this, but once you look at it over the span of years and not months, it doesn't work. I've never seen long term success in this kind of aquarium. Not that you can't be the first, but I would be surprised to see it. This is a fish that can live 10 years; I know some people who have reported 12 and 13 year old seahorses.

Make of this what you may; I just wanted to comment here so anyone considering this setup understand that this kind of arrangement generally doesn't work long term. You can setup a kick *** seahorse tank with other fish inhabitants, but it has to be done right. To sum it up, what I'm trying to say that the lack of immediate failure really shouldn't be equated to success.

+1 totally agree!
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 64 36.8%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 59 33.9%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 14.4%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 26 14.9%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
Back
Top