Seahorse tank, Clean up crew.

[WerezMiePie]

I had no idea were to post this thread...

I have a up and coming seahorse tank. It is 55 gallons. 21 inches tall, 4 feet long, and 13 inches wide.

I decided to establish a clean up crew and feed them as the fish come in. I love the blue legged hermit crabs and I don't know their real name, zombies snail. ( they bury them selves and come out when their is food.

But, I don't know in what quantities or what I should get.

Any advice is appreciated!

 

[vlangel]

I don't know about the crabs, but Dan from Seahorse Source advised me to get 10 Nassarius snails for a 30 gallon. He knew I was a newbie and was getting 2 seahorses. I also have some peppermint shrimp. I've had my ponies 3 months and it's working out pretty well. Perhaps that can help give you an idea.

 

[ichthyogeek]

it depends. In my research before dumping the seahorse idea, the blue legged hermets and Nassarius (zombie) snails were safe, so you're good there. Umm...I'd go for about one snail/5 gallons, and one crab/2.5 gallons (11 Nassarius snails, and 22 hermit crabs). How many horses, amount of open sandbed, etc. can also affect how much of a CUC you can afford (say, a C. prolifera forest vs an open sandbed).

 

[WerezMiePie]

Uh it is pretty dense those numbers seemed perfect I am adding a little bit more liverock I have 18 pounds atm. Sand to rock is about 1 to 8. But, the seaweed is growing rapidly... Thank you. I will get a few peppermint also.

 

[Fudz Cwerner]

Uh it is pretty dense those numbers seemed perfect I am adding a little bit more liverock I have 18 pounds atm. Sand to rock is about 1 to 8. But, the seaweed is growing rapidly... Thank you. I will get a few peppermint also.

I keep 1 turbo and 1 trochus snail per 5 gallons. Ive never had any problems with the cheap red legged hermits, so I would recommend 10-15 of them for a 55 gallon. Against peoples advice I have also kept an Emrald crab too. 4 years now without any problems, but my ponies are mature adults and the Emrald could even bother them if he wanted.

 

[WerezMiePie]

Okay so I am thinking of a diversity. I do have the brittle star so I have to base it around that. From what I see from all the reviews is that, Turbos mow down diatoms and green hair algae which is my main problem atm, hermit crabs do a great job keeping the smaller algae down, and I do not have a emerald crab but, the way the clean urges me to get one. I am not sure if it is compatible with the brittle star and I kind of want to get a cleaner shrimp which I'm not sure about compatibility as well. Zombie snails is must just because they are so entertaining.

These are the numbers that I will get if they are all compatible if they aren't Ill remove the incompatible and rearrange,
2 Blue leg hermits
4 turbo snails
2 emerald ??
1 pepper ??
2 Dwarf Red Hermits
5 Zombie snails

 

[jcgso]

Just my thoughts. I dont use hermits or any kind of crabs in my tanks. The hermits have a habit of killing the snails for their shells.
Also, I have read some seahorse keeing sites which don't recommend crabs, as they can nip at the horses and cause lacerations which can result in the eventual death of the ponies.

 

[WerezMiePie]

I don't think that would be a issue if they weren't clinging to rocks... I have large amounts of seaweed growing in mine some up to a 1 foot tall. With I guess tail holds every were they shouldn't need to resort to rocks. And these hermit crabs are about 1 cm x 1 cm so they shouldn't have issues with the snails. The two emerald crabs I have thought long about and just the way my tank is setup with the seaweed I don't think the seahorses will come in contact with the rocks and sand very often. But, now that you mention it I might wait till the ponies are mature and full sized before introducing emerald crabs.

 

[jcgso]

I'd like to see your tank with the seaweed growing in it. Any way you can post a picture?

 

[pledosophy]

IME I would skip the hermit crabs completely. They will eat the snails, they can cause injury to seahorses, and they could become snacks for the seahorses depending on the species of seahorse if they are that small.

Seahorses will hitch to any and every thing they can. They won't stick to the seaweed.

I would go for nausarrius for sure. Probably 5-10 depending on the size. I'd do 3-4 turbo's depending on the size. Maybe 10 or so ceriths and 5 or so astrea. See how those do then add more if needed.

Emerald crabs, and cleaner shrimp aren't really a good idea IME. If you are talking about a full size brittle star not the micro's those are not a good idea either IME.

Peppermint shrimp are cool, but get big ones or they will be food.

 

[WerezMiePie]

I'd be really embarrassed to post one now the diatoms and green hair algae is terrible. Let me get the rest of my clean up crew and clean up my room then I will... I'll make a video of it when it is done. It is start also set in my room wall and I am putting trim up around the tank. I am getting the cleaning crew sometime this week and probably start my refugium as well. Seeing all these comments I think I will hold off on the emerald crabs for another tank.

If I was to acquire a 55 gallon hexagon tank what would be a good setup? I'm thinking either another seahorse tank or a fresh water teacup ray.

 

[WerezMiePie]

I understand the issue with crabs let me post a pic of the ones I plan on getting I can't really sea how they could be eaten or cause damage... Sorry for the quality it is covered in GHA and diatoms...

 

[WerezMiePie]

So this video is before the cycle began... Since then I have taken out one of the power heads, added a header, and setup the protein skimmer.

As far as living stuff there is two zombie snails, polyps and , ofc the diatoms and GHA... The seaweed grew a ton also.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7kaQSDDbSQ

I'm only 15 so that is why my voice sounds strange...

 

[Fudz Cwerner]

Definitely avoid the cleaner shrimp. He will do nothing but irritate the horses. As I said above after 4 years of my 60g running with 4 sea horses in it...I dont see any hermits running around with my turbo or trochus snail shells, so they arent killing my snails...if anything my trochus breed every few months and provide a steady supply for my 210g. The hermits take each other out more than anything, every few months I have to buy 5 more for the horse tank.

The emerald crab would be the main concern I would have recommending. My horses are large, so the crab can do them little to no harm. And if/when the crab gets big enough to make me worry, off he goes to the 210g.

 

[WerezMiePie]

Okay thanks. Yeah I don't feel as the emerald crab is a good idea... Probably just more hermits or snails... Is there any type of shrimp that don't irritate seahorses?

 

[ichthyogeek]

Not sure about these, but I think peppermint shrimp were the best shrimp for seahorses as they could withstand the lower temperatures that seahorses need better than cleaner shrimp.

Also, since we're talking about CUC's for seahorses, has anybody got experience keeping neon gobies or similar species with seahorses? My thinking is that the gobies are too small to eat the staple mysis shrimp, but since seahorses are such messy eaters, the gobies can feed off of the cloud of chewed particles that seahorses spew out during feeding.

 

[Fudz Cwerner]

I kept a yellow head sleeper goby with my seahorses. He left them alone and was not aggressive towards them, but he could out compete them for food. Eventually I decided to move him to my 210g. He was a pain to catch since he lived under the rock work.

Maybe look at cardinals or firefish, I have kept both with my seahorses without any issues.

 

[WerezMiePie]

Okay so I ended up going with 5 blue leg hermits, 9 turbos, 2 pepper shrimp, 4 dwarf red hermits, 5 zombie snails...

 

[jcgso]

Peppermint and camel shrimp should not be a problem.

 

[WerezMiePie]

Can I get a little more info on the Fighting Conch in another thread I was asking about something to sift sand, and someone mentioned Fighting Conchs, I looked them up and they are huge! I know sleeper gobies are usually the key to sifting sand but will they eat all the useful bugs in my sand? I have 2 and a half inch deep sand. Would the Fighting Conch interfere with my brittle star?