seahorse safe fish??

ambrosiozoa

New member
looking for some suggestions for fish/inverts that would be safe with a Reidi/ Erectus seahorse. i have a 45 gal hex with 2 fire fish and a pygmy hawk. looking to add 2-3 more fish. i wanted to do a premium black ice clown pair but i am afraid they might beat up on my pony.
 
I would be concerned with the hawk fish more than a clownfish...and a pair of clowns might bully the horse...stick to one
 
I would be concerned with the hawk fish more than a clownfish...and a pair of clowns might bully the horse...stick to one
he is actually very shy and about a 3rd the size of my seahorse. never shown any signs of aggression. thoughts on a fire shrimp?
 
Aw OK...as far as shrimp he is still a "cleaner" shrimp, not as avid a cleaner as the skunks but still might stress the fish if he chooses to be annoying lol
 
My buddy has his seahorses in with a group of cardinals and a Maroon clown! He's had it running like that for a little under a year. Fortunately he got lucky and he got a sub-adult friendly maroon clown. I've been trying to buy it off of him for the past 3months, that clown is so friendly! it will swim in your hands.
 
The only fish I have in with my seahorses are a mated pair of yellowhead jawfish. They're pretty fish with a ton of personality and since they live down in sand burrows, they don't bother the seahorses at all.
 
One of the main reasons most don't keep other fish with their seahorses- other than the issue of finding peaceful enough fish- is the increased risk of introducing pathogens, etc from the wild which the seahorse's immune systems are unfamiliar with and are thus very susceptible to. The way to minimize the risk, is, of course, to get captive bred tankmates for captive bred seahorses. So I would suggest doing just that, and fortunately, there are several seahorse-safe fish which are readily available captive bred. For example, ORA breeds all three known species of Assessor Basslets, which, according to seahorse.org, are seahorse safe (except Randall's, which hasn't yet been attempted). Bangaii Cardinals are also safe tankmates, and they are fairly easy to find captive bred, as well. For someone who has a large enough tank, Ocean Rider now has captive bred Banded Pipefish. I expect the list of readily available captive bred seahorse tankmates will only increase over time, given the current push towards captive breeding programs.
 
One of the main reasons most don't keep other fish with their seahorses- other than the issue of finding peaceful enough fish- is the increased risk of introducing pathogens, etc from the wild which the seahorse's immune systems are unfamiliar with and are thus very susceptible to. The way to minimize the risk, is, of course, to get captive bred tankmates for captive bred seahorses. So I would suggest doing just that, and fortunately, there are several seahorse-safe fish which are readily available captive bred. For example, ORA breeds all three known species of Assessor Basslets, which, according to seahorse.org, are seahorse safe (except Randall's, which hasn't yet been attempted). Bangaii Cardinals are also safe tankmates, and they are fairly easy to find captive bred, as well. For someone who has a large enough tank, Ocean Rider now has captive bred Banded Pipefish. I expect the list of readily available captive bred seahorse tankmates will only increase over time, given the current push towards captive breeding programs.


I bought a pair of captive-bred banded pipe fish from Ocean Rider three years ago and they are still going strong. They breed almost every month, although the babies are so small that I am unable to raise them. But it is cool to see the dad carrying all of those red eggs on his belly every month. The pair eat frozen mysis, and they get along very well with my seahorses:)
 
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