Seahorse qustion

KendallC

New member
Even though seahorses have a hard time competing for food can i still have one in my tank with other non-seahorse fish?
 
That is a very complex question. What are the other fish? What are the tank conditions-temperature, water flow, size...?
 
I am getting an azur damsel blue damsel 2 clownfish snowflake moray eel 2 blue/green reef chromis firefish and a yellow and blue tang with some invertabrates
(these are the fish that I PLAN on getting i do not have them yet)
 
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While there are those that will say yes, I think the majority of experienced seahorse keepers will advise against it.
There are a lot of reasons for it, and some of those reasons can be explained by reading the links at the bottom of My Thoughts On Seahorse Keeping page.
Some links may require registering at that site to be able to view the pages.
 
Like wdt2000 said, almost all of those fish are incompatible with seahorses. I strongly recommend that you do not put a seahorse into that tank.
 
IMO, that is a WAY to much bioload for a 55g tank.
Putting a blue tang in that small of a tank is not good even if there are no other fish, but to put two tangs in there will mean a heck of a lot of stress in the tank and probably loosing a fish or more.
 
Thanks for telling me. I will take the blue tang of my list and stick with the smaller type yellow tang
 
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That doesn't get over the fact that the remaining fish are still a WAY too much bioload for the tank.
In addition to the bioload, salt water fish are more territorial than the average fresh water fish and need more room to establish territories. With aggressive fish like many damsels, some clownfish, and a yellow tang, health problems will most likely run rampant in your tank that size, especially with parasites that take advantage of fish that are stressed.
It's wise to remember that although some people are successful (at least in the short term) with overloading a tank, the majority of people attempting it will be in for major losses somewhere down the line.
 
My new list of fish is, 2 clown fish, one blue/green reef chormis, one yellow tang, a flame angle fish, and a firefish any comments?
 
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Well if you were in the fish forum you would probably get conflicting views on that fish list.
However, IMO, you should be OK except for the flame angel, but don't put them in all at once, and be sure the yellow tang is the last one to go in.
I feel the tank is just too small for both the flame angel and the yellow tang.
You may also need eggcrate over the tank top, or something at least that can stop the firefish from jumping out if the hood doesn't completely enclose the tank top.
Maybe post in the fish forum and see what replies you get.
 
If you have plenty of LR and let the tank mature a dwarf angel should do well.

I would drop the chromis and add the snowflake if you like it. But like Rayjay said your better off starting a new thread in the fish forum to get more feedback. Also post more details about your setup to get better feedback such as flow, skimmer, filters, ...
 
I am getting an azur damsel blue damsel 2 clownfish snowflake moray eel 2 blue/green reef chromis firefish and a yellow and blue tang with some invertabrates
(these are the fish that I PLAN on getting i do not have them yet)

You really can't house any of those fish with seahorses. Seahorses have a hard enough time eating as they are slow and "study" their food while eating. Those other fish will gobble it up way before the seahorse eats any. The eel may work.
You also should feed seahorses a couple of times a day, 3 would be better.
You can house them with mandarins and pipefish.
 
Yikes...if you're new to SH, I really recommend that you start with a SH only setup, get them situated, conditioned, and eating well for you, THEN consider adding tankmates.

As mentioned, SH can't compete for food. Also, sharing a tank with "fast movers" (esp. tangs) usually results in the SH hiding, and starving. A 55 gal is WAY too small for a blue tang, BTW (you might be able to keep one of the bristletooth tangs in a 4-foot tank like a 55 gal).

As for the eel...no-frickin'-way-in-h3ll will that work. SFE's get progressively aggressive as they grow, and IME, you'll begin to lose tankmates to their nocturnal foraging. This is worse because SH sleep super soundly and are prime dinner prospects. Trust me...I kept a SFE for 15 years, and I've seen it first hand in a reef setup. So much so, that I eventually had to keep the eel on its own.

Nobody has even mentioned that SH need to be kept at cooler temps (<74*F) for best results...

Sorry...don't mean to be a "nay-sayer", but it would suck for you to have a bad experience.
 
+1 to Greg's advice

The only fish that I keep with SHs are gobies, mandarin and aiptaisia eating filefish. Having said that, I am not new to seahorses amd have had problems with the gobies in the tank with the horses at times. I would suggest keeping a SH only tank....
 
What is a sump and is it nessasary to have one in a salt water tank?

Not necessary, but in most cases, it's the best way to run a system. A sump is nothing more than a "second aquarium" that is typically housed in the stand below the DT. They boost water volume, provide a place to run all those unsightly pieces of equipment instead of taking up space in the DT, they can also be set up as refugia, or simply for additional LR to bump up your biofiltration.

Briefly, water exits the DT via an overflow (O/F), passes down the plumbing, flows into the sump, and is returned to the DT via a water pump (either submersible of external).

Once you run a sump-based system, you'll never want to run anything else if you can help it.
 
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