Help me out and make my wife happy...

[toothybugs]

Which species of seahorse are happy at normal reef temps? 78-79F? I seem to recall looking in to this at one point and seeing cooler temps required or else disease sets in. Was this bad info? I'm about to set up a 40B Macro tank linked to a 75 SPS dominant and would really like to put a pair or two of seahorses in if I can...

 

[rayjay]

Many species would be happy at that temperature but they should be in the ocean for it to be best for them.
Seahorse keepers usually keep the temperature in the range of 68° to 74°F because the seahorses are extremely susceptible to bacterial influences.
These nasty bacteria multiply exponentially with each rising degree above that 74°.
The lower temperature coupled with more extreme tank husbandry than a reef tan gets, help to lessen the chances of damage and death due to bacteria.
While there are tanks out there successful at higher temperatures, many many more have failed in the attempt to do so.
My Thoughts on Seahorse Keeping

ps While I don't have first hand experience, over the years I've seen that some sps corals don't fare well with the "dirty" water created by seahorses like the particulate matter expelled from the gills upon snicking up their food.
I don't remember off hand which ones seem to suffer from this.

 

[vlangel]

I had a seahorse fuge connected to my reef tank via the sump. I kept both tanks at 72-74 degrees. I had mostly LPS and softies and they did alright in that range and with the dirtier water. However in addition to what Rayjay shared I found when a seahorse tank is connected to your reef tank both need more husbandry. The seahorses water creates a slime that will promote algae on the glass of the aquarium unless wiped down weekly. Also like Ray stated the seahorses need better water quality than even your reef so you will be doing bigger and more frequent water changes. Even when I upgraded my skimmer the extra attention necessary on 2 tanks became burdensome so I downsized to just 1 seahorse tank. My tanks were similar in size to one another and your reef is almost twice the size of your prospective seahorse tank which would help offset some of the impact that the seahorses would have on the system. However having tried it i would not recommend it for both the reasons Ray gave and the reasons I stated.

 

[toothybugs]

Sounds good guys. I didn't think it would ultimately work out but it had been quite a long while since I had looked in to seahorses at all, and got to thinking about it when they've been a new presence at my LFS (that I actually trust) for the last 6 months or so, and also a bunch of the macro guys have them. Since I am working towards a really nice display 'fuge, it got me thinking anew about it.

So, good to know. No ponies

 

[Jeff4777]

Many species would be happy at that temperature but they should be in the ocean for it to be best for them.
Seahorse keepers usually keep the temperature in the range of 68° to 74°F because the seahorses are extremely susceptible to bacterial influences.
These nasty bacteria multiply exponentially with each rising degree above that 74°.
The lower temperature coupled with more extreme tank husbandry than a reef tan gets, help to lessen the chances of damage and death due to bacteria.
While there are tanks out there successful at higher temperatures, many many more have failed in the attempt to do so.
My Thoughts on Seahorse Keeping

ps While I don't have first hand experience, over the years I've seen that some sps corals don't fare well with the "dirty" water created by seahorses like the particulate matter expelled from the gills upon snicking up their food.
I don't remember off hand which ones seem to suffer from this.

This is some solid information. Not only would you run risk of bacteria at high temperatures, sharing the same water would also run a risk of disease and pathogens from livestock in your tank. Captive bred horses have never been exposed to these things with little to no immunity to it. Wild caught may have not either and I would recommend avoiding wild caught horses all together anyways.