Could this be possible?

[CuttleKid]

Im thinking of buying a 56 gallon custom made tank from my lfs and want to turn it into a syngnathid tank. I would like to put either H. barbouri or H. fuscus. Im leaning more toward fuscus because they are smaller and was hoping to keep more than one pair in their. Is this possible?

I also want to put various species of pipefish in their including some ghost pipefish. I know what everyones going to say about them but i have done all the reading i could possibly do and am willing to purchase live food for them constantly. So please post ONLY constructive criticism!

I am going to quarantine every knew animal and have a UV sterilizer so i have very few medical problems.

In addition to this i want it to bw a non photo synthetic tank with dendros and gorgonians.


Could this be possible?

 

[ReefNutPA]

Anything is possible. Advisable, no. Possible, yes.

Tom

 

[namxas]

what Tom sez...

if you have indeed done your homework, you know that in the US, there are no CB pipes available. assuming you're going to get CB SH, mixing WC and CB Syngnathids almost always ends in death for the CB specimens.

i know of nobody who has cracked the ghost pipe recipe yet, not that it's always going to be impossible, but that's one species you'll definitely need to keep on its own. even live food hasn't been the complete part of the equation.

any WC specimens (pipe or SH) will need to be treated prophylactically for parasites as well as trained to frozen whenever possible.

also, if you try this, you'll need to stock up on your meds ahead of time, as you'll more likely than not have troubles. UV sterilizers are only effective on waterborne pathogens, and are not a magic bullet. if it was, we'd all be running them. i have two sitting in my cabinet unused ATM.

this may not sound like it, but IMHO going into a project with both eyes open based on others' experiences is indeed constructive criticism.

 

[CuttleKid]

Then instead of the pipes and ghost pipes, could i put a school of peaceful ventralis anthias with them along with helfrich's firefish? I had a pair of reidi for over a year in a tank with banggais so i think the firefish would be ok. Am i right?

Would the non photo synthetic corals be safe for seahorses? Im pretty sure they dont sting. Am i right?

How many pairs of fuscus could be managed in a 56 gallon


Lastly, would the ventralis school be ok with the horses?


Thanks

 

[Elysia]

I know of at least one (knowledgable and responsible) person who was able to keep a harem of anthias with his seahorses -- but the seahorses were a larger species than the fuscus, and I don't recall the species of anthias. In general, I would not recommend it. I think anthias are delicate fish, and whether or not I am right about that, they certainly can be fast fish, which would likely disrupt your seahorses when feeding.

Non-photosynthetic corals aren't the easiest corals to maintain, especially the gorgonians. The vast majority waste away. You would be much better off with photosynthetic gorgonians and softies. Sun corals can be kept in the light and many people keep them with seahorses; from my reading, each coral polyp must be fed meaty food.

The firefish are likely to be suitable tankmates, as long as they can take the lower temperatures of the seahorse tank and the tank is going to be fitted with some sort of cover (as there are many reports of firefish jumping from tanks.)

I have a 56 gallon collumn, which I orginally purchased for fuscus. Depending on the number of other fish in the tank, you could keep quite a few fuscus in a 56 gallon, perhaps as many as a dozen adults if they were the only fish.