Anyone keeping fish with larger seahorse breeds?

[Lukey]

First post here I know, but have experience behind me keeping horses.

Basically i'm just wondering if and what other fish people are stocking with their seahorses (ie bangaii cardinals, firefish, gobies, mandarins, etc, not pipefish). I have done my research and personally decided not to put anything other than seahorses and pipefish into the tank, however that doesn't mean it can't be done.

I realise the possible issues of food competition and stress, but like I said i've made my decision. I am just keen to hear on peoples actual experience with them, any feeding problems, etc.

Will be interesting to see if anyone does and what else they stock

 

[howardchaz]

Back when I didn't know any better...I had a 4" Longhorn cowfish in a 55 gallon with 2 seahorses - they coexisted for over 2 years with no problems...until I sold the tank with livestock- new owner told me they lived another 6 yrs. I no way condone doing such a thing....but its true

 

[ChadTheSpike]

I keep a sand sifting goby with my seahorses, as long as I distract the seahorses while I feed the goby, there are no issues (the seahorses snick at the goby if fed at the same time and place, I expected any potential aggression to come from the goby... boy was I surprised :eek2

 

[Lukey]

I keep a sand sifting goby with my seahorses, as long as I distract the seahorses while I feed the goby, there are no issues (the seahorses snick at the goby if fed at the same time and place, I expected any potential aggression to come from the goby... boy was I surprised :eek2

Interesting! How much sand do you have, would be nice to have a sand sifter to keep the substrate a little cleaner, but i've heard many stories about them not living too long due to cyano intake etc?

And yeah, whilst they can be slow eaters sometimes, once they lock onto a piece of food they want get out of their way :lolspin:.

And a cowfish, WOW! Guess it's just one of those things, -sometimes- things just work even though everything says otherwise (note i'm also not condoning pairing up seahorses with certain fish "just to try").

Keep em coming guys!

 

[ChadTheSpike]

I only have about 1/2" or so of sand, the goby sifts all day long (probably all of it every day or more), but eats anything that I put in the tank that comes out the end of the turkey baster, he grabs a hold of it and 'sucks' on it when there is food in it. So he eats twice on most days with my seahorses, he also eats cyclopeze when I put it in for the corals. He has a well rounded tummy and is growing quickly, I have no concerns that he is not getting enough to eat.

And yeah, whilst they can be slow eaters sometimes, once they lock onto a piece of food they want get out of their way :lolspin:.

Haha, no joke there!! I was shocked the first time I saw it... The goby joined the SHs on the feeding station and took a mysis that my 'spastic' female was after, she chased him down to the bottom of the tank and snicked at his head... it was the most deliberate thing, absolutely crazy. Since then, I distract the SHs with food and then give the goby some before the SHs realize what I am doing... it works well, zero problems since I started doing this.

 

[ann83]

I keep/kept with success: a clown goby, rainfordi goby, sunburst anthias, and a scooter blenny. None of them have ever been any problem whatsoever with my H. reidi. The only thing that I've ever kept with my H. reidi that I have had problems with, were large peppermint shrimp.

That being said, due to the disease risks, I would consider keeping pipefish with seahorses a much bigger risk than keeping small, peaceful fish with them.

 

[twiggyb]

Would an orange spot filefish be fine you think?

 

[namxas]

we have a pair of SH with a trio of red-saddled anthias, no troubles.

we also have a temporary setup that would give most "SH peeps" fits...

there are a couple of small scorpionfish sharing our barbouri's tank for now. to be honest, you can't really get more peaceful than a scorp (we do plan on moving them soon tho).

 

[ann83]

It is my opinion that while a single orange spot filefish probably would not do any harm to seahorses, that it still should not be kept as a tankmate for a couple of reasons. I think it is important that this fish still be viewed as one that requires special dedicated care in it's own aquarium, at least at the outset until it can be trained to prepared foods (which, it is my understanding, can be very time consuming). And, from the stories that I've heard of those few keeping them successfully, I'm not 100% sure that the seahorses would not be a problem for the filefish, during feeding or otherwise. This is at least a case where someone would need to keep both species successfully individually first, and learn their behaviors and habits, before trying to keep them together.

 

[namxas]

we've toyed with the idea of keeping our OSFF in the big SH setup, but Renee spent so much time and effort getting the fish weaned, i'm not so sure they will ever be in anything but a species setup...at least for awhile.

 

[twiggyb]

I've found one that has been eating fish roe quite hardily. It was pretty skinny when they first got it, now it looks pretty healthy.

 

[Lukey]

Namxas are the Anthias you're talking about "Pseudanthias flavoguttatus"?

If so how do they go during feed times? These have my genuinely intrigued, as I thought all the anthias group would instantly be out of consideration.

I have a ~600L tank with my horses in it and a group of schooling fish would be damn nice!

Ann you had troubles with peppermint shrimp? Mine never bother my Kuda's in the slightest. As for pipefish, I dunno if its the same over there but most of ours "Down Under" come from Seahorse Sanctuary, captive bread. Significantly reduces the chances of infection etc.

edit: Ann keen to hear more on the Sunburst Anthias as well, has opened a world of possibilities to me...

 

[ann83]

S. latus are not schooling fish, so it won't satisfy that desire for you. They are pretty timid, even after getting used to you, very timid when first introduced. They aren't in the same genus as most anthias, and are thought to be closely related to hawkfish, and I would describe their behavior as very different from any of the other more common anthias species. The one I have is beautiful, and I love having it.

The larger peppermint shrimp that I've had have been pains in the *** at feeding. To the point of stressing the seahorses away from the feeding dish. Not worth it. I've done just fine with smaller peppermints, but small peppermints become large peppermints eventually.

I wondered if you were in Oz. If you're getting your seahorses and your pipes both from SS, then ignore everything I said about disease risks. If you're getting them from separate sources though, I would still consider it a risk, even if both are captive bred.

 

[Lukey]

Yeah I make sure all my stock is from SS, only way to ensure a good lineage and excellent husbandry practices for the hobby as a whole. Less chances of disease, and animals which have been treated well and looked after well. I am a very big fan of what they're doing for the industry, especially the seahorse side of things.

Yeah I did some research on S. latus, beautiful fish though. I've only heard them in passing before never actually looked them up or anything. I am very much pondering them, I would have plenty of food in the tank for it to have a go at, and it doesn't sound as though it'd pester my seahorses.

Would love a set of schooling fish though, that would be excellent. But the sunburst is such a nice addition, so bright and just awesome looking. May keep my eyes peeled for one, hopefully won't cost a mint... Reckon it'd be ok in a 2ft quarantine tank though? I'd have to quarantine it for 4 weeks or so, don't want any parasites getting into my tank where I can help it...

 

[namxas]

Namxas are the Anthias you're talking about "Pseudanthias flavoguttatus"?

yeppers, that would be the fish. they're really pretty, but as i've mentioned, are pretty much determined to pick each other off, it seems.

they pay no attention to the SH, in fact they have always seemed to be scared sh*tless of them. whenever a SH gets close, they run the other way.

we don't feed the SH from a station, so all of the fish eat from the water column, and they all get their fill. we typically feed a mix of mysis and BS+.

FWIW, we've never had any problems with peppermint shrimp of any size. some peeps' SH eat them, and others (particularly those who use a feeding station) have trouble with them stealing the SH food.

 

[Lukey]

Ah cool I may well look into finding some, are there any other similar anthias you could recommend incase those are difficult to source in Aus?

I also feed into the water column, I just let the powerheads blow it round and it gets the seahorses a little more interested as well, chasing after the food. Otherwise it encourages their "heads down all day" behaviour I found, feeding with the powerhead completely off. They seem to enjoy the chase and the competition between each other to get the most food possible.

I'm really reconsidering my position now, as i've always had a soft spot for Anthias, such a nice schooling fish and just very vibrant colours.... Thanks for the info thus far everyone...