my new project- any advice welcome.

[gasman059]

Just recently developed an itch for a horse or pipe tank.

I'm considering setting a 29 aquapod exclusively for either horses or pipes.
Besides the regular newbie instructions on how to cycle a tank and use live rock and avoid conflicting fish and species what would be some of the best advise u experience horse people would give an experienced reefer when he decides to setup a species exclusive tank.
thx in advance

 

[ann83]

If you decide to go with seahorses, keep in mind that you will probably have to modify the tank for flow and for temperature. Tropical seahorses need to be kept between 70-74 degrees, and are prone to bacterial infections above those temperatures.

Also, most fish that you are used to keeping know how to keep themselves out of trouble. Seahorses don't. And in fact have a tendency to find ways to get themselves into trouble in ways you weren't able to imagine when you seahorse-proofed the tank.

Also, syngnathid species have a tendency to cause illness in each other, so you need to pick a species and stick with it, making it a truly SPECIES-specific tank. So only pipefish, or only seahorses, and only one species (i.e. only reidi or only erectus or only kuda).

Beyond that, research research research. A good place to start is the articles in the library on seahorse.org

 

[gasman059]

thx
leaning towards pipes alone.

 

[Dodge959]

ann83,

Why one species in a tank?

Wild vs Captive Breed - is your statement the same when housing CB horses?

 

[Pea-brain]

IMO it would be fine if it were CB pipes and CB horses (preferably from the same breeder) but most pipes are WC, hence the problem.

Dan

 

[ann83]

The issue of one species per tank is the same captive bred as it is wild caught, but it has more to do with source than species. If you get all of your syngnathids from the same source, and that source raises them all in the same water, then you are golden, no problem. But, if the seahorses are from different sources, different areas of the world, etc. they have picked up different strains of bacteria. They have some degree of resistance to the strains that they have been around all their lives, but they do not have resistance to the strains that are carried by different species/sources, so when mixed, the seahorses get sick.

This all stems from the fact that seahorses are more prone to bacterial infections than other species of fish because they are 1) scaleless 2) without the protective slime coat that most scaleless fish have and 3) come in contact with surfaces (where bacteria reside) more than other fish because of their hitching behavior.

Mixing species is doable, but very risky.

 

[Dodge959]

OK, I understand that… anything you introduce can carry a risk, including Seahorse safe tank mates.

Ann83 - What species do you have?

I’m in KC for business this week, can you recommend any great LFS’s that I can visit?

 

[ann83]

Dodge, it is true, seahorse-safe tankmates also pose a risk. Although, for some reason, seahorses seem to be more sensitive to bacteria carried by other syngnathids, possibly because the bacteria has evolved to be more effective against syngnathids...

I keep reidi.

Fish World, in Blue Springs, MO (corner of 7 Hwy and 40 Hwy behind the Taco Johns), is a really great LFS if you live here, although there isn't much spectacular to see if you are just window shopping as a visitor. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a "really cool looking" LFS, or one that carries rare exotics on a reliable enough basis to be worth driving out of your way for. But, if you are actually in the market for purchasing good, healthy livestock or corals, Fish World is the place to go.