Pipefish tankmates

[jiriki]

Currently have a 30g tank with an alligator and dragonface pipefish. Is it a really bad idea to introduce a pair of Southern Erectus seahorses?

This tank will get upgraded to a 120g in the near future as well. The tank is in the garage

Lastly, once the tank is upgraded, I am thinking of adding garden eels. They are very docile eels and spend 99% of their time in their burrows and only eating if food floats by. Are they bad for seahorses?

 

[Jason7504]

I wouldn't add any eels with seahorses but seahorses and pipefish can be housed together

 

[jiriki]

Why not? Some eels are very aggressive. Garden eels are not... or am I wrong? It's not like a snowflake eel or anything.

 

[Jaguar]

Eels never go with seahorses! As soon as a seahorse 'floats' by it stands a chance if being bitten if not eaten outright.

 

[jiriki]

The mouth on a full grown garden eel is like smaller than a pencil eraser head.

 

[namxas]

mixing Syngnathids is a crap shoot at best, and your WC pipes may be carrying pathogens to which they've become immune, but a CB SH is no (assuming you're getting CB SH, which you should be doing).

as for the garden eels, they're really best kept in a species tank that's set up just for them and thier particular needs. for one thing, they require a DSB (min 7") which takes up the vertical room SH prefer/require. GE's also do best with a gentle alternating flow, which altho SH can handle flow much better than they're given credit for, i don't think is a good fit. also, i suspect the SH may stress the eels out by trying to hitch to them.

you're running into an area where you like several special needs fish, but trying to keep them all together is not doing any of the species a good turn, which is one of the reasons i currently have 13 SW systems up and running (two of them being SH tanx).

BTW, i love GE's, and i have a tank that's ready to be set up for them as a species tank once some of my other projects are out of the way.

JMHO...

 

[jiriki]

Thanks Greg. I would be endangering the CB SH's by introducing them to WC pipes is what you're saying? And I would be getting mine from seahorsesource.com probably.

You have 13 saltwater tanks...............!!! All seperately plumbed?

I do realize that GE's require deeper sand beds was going to pile the back half of the 120g (which is 2 ft deep) with a lot of sand. It also sounds like they require a wavemaker of some kind to be happy? And no curious SH's to harass them either... One or the other.

My pipes favorite thing in the whole tank is the power head... I've had them for about 9 months or so now.

 

[Elysia]

My opinion would be that 2' would be a minimum depth for garden eels, since even the "short" ones grow pretty long and need that deep sand bed plus the head room to feed above it. And who wants a bunch of seahorses around, causing you to constantly have to duck back into your hole while you are trying to feed? In this case, I think the garden eel would be too timid for the seahorses. If you so desired, you could set up an area with a DSB for a peaceful pearly jawfish -- it could co-exist with your pipes.

 

[namxas]

It also sounds like they require a wavemaker of some kind to be happy?

GE's rely on the current to bring food to them so they can snatch it from the water column, the alternating current assures that the food doesn't get piled up on one side of the tank and gives them plenty of chances at it as it passes by. plus, they sway in the current if its "just right". think of a "swell" rather than "waves".

yes, the tanx are all plumbed separately, but we DO have 5 AIO's...so in terms of plumbing, they really don't count.