Need advice from you Pros on a possible Pony tank

[ann83]

Well, if you collect wild caught pipefish and wild caught seahorses from the same water... like collecting both from the same area of the gulf of mexico or both from the same area of chesapeake bay, then yes, mixing is less risky because they have probably been exposed to the same disease strains. However, then you have your own issues with having wild caught seahorses (parasite treatments, dips, de-wormings, eating only live foods, etc.). But, if the seahorses and pipefish are collected from different areas, then the same mixing problems apply because they likely haven't been exposed to the same strains of bacteria.

Proper wild caught quarantining and treatment procedures, low temperatures, UV sterilizers, gradual introduction, and other precautions can also be used to lessen the risk of mixing pipefish and seahorses. And, for those members in Australia, captive bred pipefish are available, so if both the seahorses and the pipefish are purchased from the same source, there is also a lessened risk.

 

[Brock Fluharty]

Dracomarine said 1 pair/10 gallons????? Surely he didn't mean H. erectus. That would be way overboard. 12 pairs in a 120 is too many horses. I think maybe 6-8 horses would look good. People always want to cram seahorses into tanks. Quality over quantity people.

 

[Brock Fluharty]

I agree on the diseases. I lost a pregnant male to a tail infection (vibrio) and afterwards, I did a pouch flush, to see if any babies were alive. There were 14 little guys, all dead. All because the temp spiked up to 76*F for 2 days.

 

[WILDTHING]

Saldarya, something to consider is what are you going to do with all the babies all those pairs of SH's are going to produce. If your comfortable with disposing of them then don't give it another thought. But if you'r not then be prepared for HOARDS of babies. A single pair can have (depending on species) a hundred or MORE babies every few weeks for a good part of the yr.

You might consider getting mostly females and just one or two males or all females. I mention all females because then you won't need to worry about the possibility of pouch problems that some males have/get.

If you're considering Erectus and may want to try raising the babies be aware that there are Northern Erectus which Draco carries, they do not hitch at birth and are much harder to raise. Seahorse Source who I can't say enough good stuff about carries the Southern Erectus which is a much easier baby to raise.

 

[agood69er4u]

It's not the # of sh to gallon , that causes the issues ....... it's the water quality that's the question. we have 9 reidi in a 46 gal w/ 30 gal sump. A couple of Deltec fluidize reactors and 400 gph water movement. I do a 30% water change every other week and they do fine. Have fry atleast once a month.. it's more of the effort to keep the water quality up then the stocking ratio

 

[Duddly01]

WILDTHING,
Jorge at Draco Marine does also have Southern Erectus, just doesn't seem to have them on his web page. I bought my pair from him not long ago.

 

[fishymann]

draco has southern BUT i'm pretty sure hes just getting a good population of them so ask jorge if he can get you them and im sure he'll follow through