kepping only same sex horses

[tongabranch]

I am ready to start stocking my new seahorse/cardinal fish tank.

There is a local breeder that I trust and will buy them from. I will start with two H. Reidi, then add two more when it's stable in a few weeks.

She, the breeder, has lots of males but no females for sale at the moment. I like all of the benefits of having mated pairs or M/F in the tank. The mating "dance", coupling, etc. I am very leery of the issues that can arise from it though, ie; eggs being stuck, bubble disease, etc.

Am I crazy to think I could have more issues with mated pairs than if I just kept males or females only? Would not having M/F together in the tank make the horses less happy?

Also, I will be fighting to keep my tank under 80deg (Occasionally), this summer. I am already taking steps to insure it as much as possible. That's why I am going with H. reidi. Otherwise I would go with the H. erectus she has. The erectus are 3rd generation "mustangs" originally from OR. The mustangs are a cross of reidi and erectus I believe. The breeder said they can tolerate the same temp. conditions as reidi, I'm leery though.

Thanks for the help.

 

[namxas]

unless OR has changed, mustangs are pure erectus...not hybrids (i had a trio of them back awhile).

same sex tanx are fine, and for folks who don't want to deal with rearing fry (some are easier to raise than others, but none of them are EZ), that's the way to go. it's a matter of picking what "profile" you like best...the male w/his pouch or the female's P-shaped belly.

as for courting, same sex SH often flirt and court, and even try "egg transfers". have a look...both F SH, one reidi, one kuda!

 

[Elysia]

I was just given two male erectus -- the LFS was tired of their issues w/ air in their pouches. The one male constantly flirts and tries to engage the other in doing a dance -- he blanches his color and everything. The other male wants nothing to do w/ him... If you don't want to deal w/ pouch issues, then get females.

 

[namxas]

as Elysia mentioned, some male SH have pouch issues, but on the other side of the coin, certain females may have trouble reabsorbing untransferred eggs and develop an infection from that.

it's kind of a toss up IMHO, altho it's easier to do a pouch evac than cure an internal infection.

IME, both are rare.

the bottom line is SH are really interesting to keep, but they are by far the most demanding fish i have ever kept. that being said, after keeping them for so many years, it's hard to imagine not having any in our home. talk about your "catch 22"...

 

[tongabranch]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15040779#post15040779 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by namxas
as Elysia mentioned, some male SH have pouch issues, but on the other side of the coin, certain females may have trouble reabsorbing untransferred eggs and develop an infection from that.

it's kind of a toss up IMHO, altho it's easier to do a pouch evac than cure an internal infection.

IME, both are rare.

the bottom line is SH are really interesting to keep, but they are by far the most demanding fish i have ever kept. that being said, after keeping them for so many years, it's hard to imagine not having any in our home. talk about your "catch 22"...

Will females have eggs if no males are present? If they do, maybe it's worth it to have a mix, M/F. I just hate the thought of the fry getting eaten by the cardinal fish. Funny, it doesn't bother me when the Peppermint Shrimp babies get eaten....go figure.

Also, am I correct in thinking the reidi will be more tolerant of higher temps than the erectus? I'm talking 78-80 deg. occasionally. I have my RK2 set up to maintain 73-74 btw.

 

[namxas]

yes, females will develop eggs no matter what. notice how fat the reidi (the gray SH) in the pix is...she was gravid.

my reidi tank is kept below 75*F absolute max. all of my SH setups are chilled. again, the temp issue isn't necessarily the SH's issue...it's the fact that the bacterial count in a captive system goes nuts above 75*F, and SH are very prone to bacterial infections like vibrio.

this time of year, when tank temps start to spike, we see a lot of sick SH.