Fish Inhabitants with Large Seahorses

SeahorseKeeper

Where's the mysis?
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Fish that go well with large seahorses
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A lot people want to keep other fish in their seahorse tanks to complement their seahorses. The fish also help with consuming excess food that the seahorses do not eat as well as adding another dimension to the tank. It is important to take certain precautions when choosing what types of fish to add with the seahorses. Seahorses are slow eaters and swimmers. They do not fare well in tanks with aggressive fish.

1. Pose little to no threat to seahorses and most get along with seahorses. The reason I say most is there is always that chance for a rogue fish to be aggressive and not be suitable.
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  • Mandarins/Scooter Blennies
  • Gobies-clown, prawn, yellow watchman, catalina, neon, rainfordi
  • Firefish
  • Blue spot jawfish & pearly jawfish
  • Most cardinals
  • Midas , barnacle, sailfin and bicolored blennies
  • Royal gramma
2. Proceed with caution
  • Pseudochromis
  • Reef safe wrasses
  • Sleeper gobies & engineer gobies
  • Pipefish*
  • Lawnmower blenny
  • Chromis
  • Hawkfish
3. Not suitable
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  • Puffers
  • Triggers
  • Angels (ALL)
  • Lionfish/scorps
  • Clownfish
  • Damsels
  • Eels
  • Foxface & Rabbitfish
  • Groupers
  • Hogfish
  • Non reef safe wrasses
  • Tangs
  • Sharks
  • Rays
*I recommend pipefish with caution. It is best to obtain captive bred pipe fish. Wild caught pipefish can carry pathogens that can harm the seahorse.
 
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wysiwyg

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id have to say my tankbreed dwarf seahorse is my new favorite he has to reside in my softie frag tank due to the harsh inhabitants in my dt (lionfish,puffer,trigger,shark,eel,cowfish,damsels,boxfish,clownfish,calico crab,red lobster, decorator crab,)
 
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SeahorseKeeper

SeahorseKeeper

Where's the mysis?
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I would love to see some pics of your seahorse. :)
 

Oscaror

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What do you mean I can't keep a black tip with a seahorse?
 
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helldiver

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good post ty for insight what seahorse do you recommend and where to buy.I want to put cardinals,mandarin goby,scooter and FAIRY WRASSES
 

reefs4fun

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Thanks for the info. My experience has been that captive bred seahorses seem to be the healthiest specimens with the highest survival rates. If coming from a reputable breeder they are also usually trained to eat frozen mysis before they allow them to be sold. The h. erectus is one of the more common and easiest to care for. The most reputable breeders I have found are Seahorse Source, Southwatch Seahorse Farm, and Ocean Rider. The individuals at each of these farms will speak with you personally to make the best selection for your particular situation, will often send advance photos of the specimen(s) in which you express interest, and are always there to answer questions or help resolve problems with horses you have purchased from them.

I keep two pair of erectus in a 55 gallon softie reef with green star polyps, mushrooms, pulsating xenia, leather coral, gorgonia, feather dusters, and a few zoanthids. For tankmates one of the first I recommend is a pair of either skunk cleaner shrimp or fire shrimp (avoid camel shrimp at all cost as they present a danger to your horses). In my case I have a pair of fire shrimp. They normally stay within the rocks, but at night they come out to clean my horses and other fish of parasites or other debris, and the horses and fish willingly bank alongside them to accommodate the process. The cleaner shrimp will also eat leftover debris from feeding. Additionally, they produce clutches of eggs/larvae which serve as a secondary food source for my horses, whom I've observed picking them out from the rocks. My neon goby serves the same cleaning purpose and, unlike cleaner wrasse, will survive on flake food or frozen mysis if their hosts don't provide all they need. Other tank mates which have been successful for me are a pair of oscellaris clowns (who use my leather coral as a host), a mandarin goby, a watchman goby and pistol shrimp (it's great to witness their synbiotic relationship), a clown goby, a purple firefish, a royal gramma, a bengai cardinal, and a hectors goby and bicolor blenny to control unwanted algae growth.

Maintaining proper water quality and good filtration are a key element to keeping seahorses. I have found that they prefer a spraybar to the traditional water outlet from my canister filter (Eheim Ecco 80)...in fact they often wrap their tails around the spraybar then let go to play in the gentle current it creates. I also use a protein skimmer, UV sterilizer, and Eheim surface skimmer. The surface skimmer isn't really necessary, but I find it helpful in cleaning surface film that results from frozen food over time. A trick I learned from one of the seahorse breeders is to use a section of plastic chain from Home Depot to give them a safe "hitching post"...it needs to be anchored with a rock or suction cup as it floats, but they use it as their safe haven and it is easy to remove and clean periodically.

Last, I recommend that anyone interested in keeping seahorses take the free 10 chapter online seahorse keeping course available through Pete Giwojna at Ocean Rider (you can email him at [email protected] to inquire about the course). This would be best BEFORE purchasing your first horses as it covers all aspects including setting up a seahorse friendly habitat, suitable tankmates, selecting your horses, recognizing illness/diseases and their prevention and cures, breeding, etc.

Best wishes and, although I am newer to the forum, let me know if you have any questions I can help out with!
 

FishRForMe

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Yes, thanks for the information. I'm going through the course now and my tank has it's first fish inhabitants today. I'm still trying to decide what kind I want. The question I have is this: if you keep pair, which I would love to do, what do you do with all the babies. I keep reading how often and how many babies they have and what you have to do to keep them alive... How do you guys do it? I'm afraid the work might be a real issue. Does anyone keep all males or all females? I'd hate to miss out on the courtship and reproduction parts, but I'm not sure if I can keep up with the babes!
 
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SeahorseKeeper

SeahorseKeeper

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Yes, thanks for the information. I'm going through the course now and my tank has it's first fish inhabitants today. I'm still trying to decide what kind I want. The question I have is this: if you keep pair, which I would love to do, what do you do with all the babies. I keep reading how often and how many babies they have and what you have to do to keep them alive... How do you guys do it? I'm afraid the work might be a real issue. Does anyone keep all males or all females? I'd hate to miss out on the courtship and reproduction parts, but I'm not sure if I can keep up with the babes!
@vlangel has successfully raised some babies. It is a lot of work. I plan on raising them once I get my tank settled in and add some more seahorses.
 

prsnlty

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I may have a problem... my seahorses will arrive a day after the fish! I tried to delay shipment for a day or 2 but they already shipped this morning before I saw the notice in my email. Will 1 day make a difference? I have a royal gramma, tailspot blenny and McCloskers fairy wrasse (very peaceful and not as fast of an eater as other wrasses) coming.
 

vlangel

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I had a royal gramma in with my seahorse until just a month ago. They had been together for over a year. Unfortunately I saw the royal gramma snap at Eve, my big seahorse. I took the royal gramma out immediately.
I have heard that a tailspot blenny can be risky because they scrape algae and have been known to scrape algae right off of a seahorse.
Fish can be risky. If you see behavior in any fish that threatens the seahorses, that fish must be removed immediately.
 

prsnlty

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I had a royal gramma in with my seahorse until just a month ago. They had been together for over a year. Unfortunately I saw the royal gramma snap at Eve, my big seahorse. I took the royal gramma out immediately.
I have heard that a tailspot blenny can be risky because they scrape algae and have been known to scrape algae right off of a seahorse.
Fish can be risky. If you see behavior in any fish that threatens the seahorses, that fish must be removed immediately.
I'll be watching them. I ordered the smallest ones so hopefully they will be ok if they grow up together. If not I have a home for them.

So algae grows on the seahorses? Should I also get a cleaner shrimp?
 

vlangel

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I'll be watching them. I ordered the smallest ones so hopefully they will be ok if they grow up together. If not I have a home for them.

So algae grows on the seahorses? Should I also get a cleaner shrimp?
That is good that you have a plan B for any fish that are not compatible.
Yep algae does grow on seahorses. Actually they don't mind and are able to scratch on coral or something when they want to remove some. The only cleaner shrimp that I can suggest without reservation are peppermint shrimp. They rarely clean a seahorse which is a plus. Other species of cleaner shrimp are so over-zealous about cleaning that the ponies are spooked over the whole thing. The one downfall about peppermint shrimp is that if they are small the seahorses view them as dinner rather than tankmates!
 

prsnlty

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That is good that you have a plan B for any fish that are not compatible.
Yep algae does grow on seahorses. Actually they don't mind and are able to scratch on coral or something when they want to remove some. The only cleaner shrimp that I can suggest without reservation are peppermint shrimp. They rarely clean a seahorse which is a plus. Other species of cleaner shrimp are so over-zealous about cleaning that the ponies are spooked over the whole thing. The one downfall about peppermint shrimp is that if they are small the seahorses view them as dinner rather than tankmates!
Thank you :D

Got my temp down to 73 and Sg to 1.024 which is where I'll most likely keep it. My house is 73 year 'round. I'll have some coral in the tank as well so I think 1.024 should be good for all.
0 po4
0 no3
425 CA
1280 MG
Alk 8.3
I think I need a very small amount of No3 but that will come with fish.

LOL yeah I currently have 3 DTS a frag tank and QT.
 

Daniel@R2R

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Bumping this as it's great info!
 

gary henkel

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the problem with fish in the seahorse tank is not necessarily one of agression. the faster moving much better swimming fish can outcompete the horses for food. horses take an eternity to eat. i turn off all the pumps in my tank, place their food in the old trydacna shell that serves as their feeding fish, and go upstairs and take my shower and get ready to go out. when i'm done, i turn the pumps back on (actually, i don't, i let alexa do it!!). they are very slow, deliberate feeders who knock more mysis out of the shell than they consume, which is a good thing because they then have to go hunt for it. but be careful about too many fish, particularly fast swimmers, in with the horses. in my tank, i have bangaii cardinals and pj cardinals, dartfish, mandarins, scooter blennies, and watchman gobys. all of these are very mellow and don't mess with the horses.
 

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