Prospective New Keeper

[OllieNZ]

Hi All,

I've fancied keeping seahorses for a while and have recently acquired a 40gal 24"h cube just for that reason. I've been going through all the primers and have decided I'll most likely be going with 4x H. reidi.
The tank is currently cycling and will be LR based mainly with macros and a few softies.
Regarding the ponies I don't have the time/space/desire to raise fry so am I better off with a single sex group? Which is better all male or all female? I'm currently leaning towards all female so I don't have to deal with the possibility of gassy pouches.
Regarding tank mates I was surprised to see the Fu Manchu Lionfish listed as being acceptable, I'd love one of those cute little guys but am unsure if there are any tank mates that would be compatible with both the lion and the ponies?

 

[matchmakersmagic]

Welcome to the Seahorse Addiction! H. reidi are an absolutely beautiful species! I quite enjoy them.

Your plans for a 40 gallon tank with 4 seahorses plus tankmates is on the small size for that bioload. It's not that its impossible it's just that the increased maintenance and water changes that would be needed to keep 40 gallons in shape is often more than a keeper is willing to do long term. Generally speaking its 30 gallons for the 1st pair and then 15-25 gallons for each additional pair depending who you ask.

I've kept a fu before and I imagine they are placed like that because their relatively small size and slow scooting along nature that would lend them to be considered not a danger. Both are also messy eaters/digesters, it would likely be hard on water quality, especially in a small tank. However, that being said they are definitely dangerous to juvenile seahorses and if a large specimen was obtained I think they'd take a loooong tasty look at seahorses and might even have a go. I'm not against bending the rules as long as extreme care is taken. I actually think some of the smaller predators might work but I wouldn't recommend it to others. One thing for certain if you did try a fu with seahorses you probably wouldn't be able to have any other tankmates as they would most certainly be lion fish food. lol

I would opt for a all female group if you dont want fry. Females wont get pouch emphysema for the lack of a pouch where males may.

Keep us updated on your journey and we'd love to see pics as you progress.

 

[vetteguy53081]

You are one of several recent new seahorse members who have recently started up a seahorse system. Best of luck and welcome to the R2R community !!

 

[CasaReefer]

Sounds like we are at the " Starting Gate " There's The Bell ... and We are Off To The Races.... See what I did there... Don't try this at home I am a Trained Professional... Good Luck

 

[OllieNZ]

Welcome to the Seahorse Addiction! H. reidi are an absolutely beautiful species! I quite enjoy them.

Your plans for a 40 gallon tank with 4 seahorses plus tankmates is on the small size for that bioload. It's not that its impossible it's just that the increased maintenance and water changes that would be needed to keep 40 gallons in shape is often more than a keeper is willing to do long term. Generally speaking its 30 gallons for the 1st pair and then 15-25 gallons for each additional pair depending who you ask.

I've kept a fu before and I imagine they are placed like that because their relatively small size and slow scooting along nature that would lend them to be considered not a danger. Both are also messy eaters/digesters, it would likely be hard on water quality, especially in a small tank. However, that being said they are definitely dangerous to juvenile seahorses and if a large specimen was obtained I think they'd take a loooong tasty look at seahorses and might even have a go. I'm not against bending the rules as long as extreme care is taken. I actually think some of the smaller predators might work but I wouldn't recommend it to others. One thing for certain if you did try a fu with seahorses you probably wouldn't be able to have any other tankmates as they would most certainly be lion fish food. lol

I would opt for a all female group if you dont want fry. Females wont get pouch emphysema for the lack of a pouch where males may.

Keep us updated on your journey and we'd love to see pics as you progress.

Thanks for sharing your wisdom. I'm thinking I'll give the Fu a miss in favour of something more appropriate/beneficial to the tank environment.
All female group it is

You are one of several recent new seahorse members who have recently started up a seahorse system. Best of luck and welcome to the R2R community !!

Thanks
I've been about R2R for a while now. I'm currently running a 3ft 40gal ish AIO mixed reef and the seahorse tank will be the second SW tank in the house.

Sounds like we are at the " Starting Gate " There's The Bell ... and We are Off To The Races.... See what I did there... Don't try this at home I am a Trained Professional... Good Luck

Better be careful, with punning skills like that people might start mistaking you for PaulB


This is the tank as it stands. I'll be adding more macro, some zoa frags and the CUC at some point in the next week or so.

 

[rayjay]

Not wanting to deal with pouch emphysema in male seahorses can actually work against you.
As it is a disease normally caused by water quality, it can be a warning sign if PE shows up, often before you end up with something like tail rot or other bacterial wounds on the body.
Without any warning signs you don't know when that water quality has degraded such that the nasty bacteria are expanding to plague proportions because THERE ARE NO TEST KITS available to the hobbyist to tell you when this condition is occurring. You can have ALL the standard test kits that ARE available showing great results but in fact the conditions for bacteria problems can be quite imminent.
One question pops into my mind and that is, if you have all females, will females produce eggs still with no males present? If so, does that mean egg bound females are a possible problem?
I don't have the answer as I've never had any tanks with only one or the other.

 

[OllieNZ]

Not wanting to deal with pouch emphysema in male seahorses can actually work against you.
As it is a disease normally caused by water quality, it can be a warning sign if PE shows up, often before you end up with something like tail rot or other bacterial wounds on the body.
Without any warning signs you don't know when that water quality has degraded such that the nasty bacteria are expanding to plague proportions because THERE ARE NO TEST KITS available to the hobbyist to tell you when this condition is occurring. You can have ALL the standard test kits that ARE available showing great results but in fact the conditions for bacteria problems can be quite imminent.
One question pops into my mind and that is, if you have all females, will females produce eggs still with no males present? If so, does that mean egg bound females are a possible problem?
I don't have the answer as I've never had any tanks with only one or the other.

I appreciate the need for keeping the water quality top notch, poor quality water is the root of a large number of nasties across the wider world of keeping aquatic animals.
To this end I'm running a UV as part of my water quality management.

Can fish get egg bound? It's not something I've come across in over a decade of fishkeeping but I've never kept seahorses before and everyday is a school day ;Happy

 

[rayjay]

As the "nasties" that most affect our seahorses are bacterial in form, a greatly oversized skimmer will do MUCH MORE to help in your success than UV. The UV may help somewhat with nuisance algae spores and some stages of some parasitic life forms, it won't reduce the dissolved organics that make the water "dirty" and can't be detected with your test kits.
Another point to mention is that MOST of the nasty parasites are benthic, meaning they remain on surfaces so they don't even go through the UV like the pelagic ones will.
Seahorses indeed DO get egg bound, but I don't know if they produce eggs if no males are present in the tank.
For me, even with almost 18 yrs keeping, it's still "everyday is a school day".

 

[ThePurple12]

What's that green macroalgae? Looks like caulerpa prolifera but the blades are so small

 

[OllieNZ]

What's that green macroalgae? Looks like caulerpa prolifera but the blades are so small

No idea. It came out of a display tank at my LFS as the don't stock macros for sale. I'll check with the guy that set up the display next time I see him.

 

[Paulie069]

Not wanting to deal with pouch emphysema in male seahorses can actually work against you.
As it is a disease normally caused by water quality, it can be a warning sign if PE shows up, often before you end up with something like tail rot or other bacterial wounds on the body.
Without any warning signs you don't know when that water quality has degraded such that the nasty bacteria are expanding to plague proportions because THERE ARE NO TEST KITS available to the hobbyist to tell you when this condition is occurring. You can have ALL the standard test kits that ARE available showing great results but in fact the conditions for bacteria problems can be quite imminent.
One question pops into my mind and that is, if you have all females, will females produce eggs still with no males present? If so, does that mean egg bound females are a possible problem?
I don't have the answer as I've never had any tanks with only one or the other.

I have a friend that has all female ponies in her tank(4) and says that they basically just drop their eggs on bottom of tank when no males available for hanky lanky Lol good luck and keep posting your progress and lots of pictures of your seahorses when u get them

 

[matchmakersmagic]

I would think females would be hesitant to hydrate eggs without males present but it's possible. I can tell you egg bound females are far more rare than males with pouch emphysema.

 

[Paulie069]

I would think females would be hesitant to hydrate eggs without males present but it's possible. I can tell you egg bound females are far more rare than males with pouch emphysema.

I’ve seen it with my own eyes of the females dropping eggs on bottom of tank,, maybe it’s not common but does happen/ again I’m not a professional it’s just my own experience during time I’ve been keeping seahorses

 

[rayjay]

I agree that egg bound females is MUCH less likely to occur than pouch emphysema.