is there anything i can put in with my 3 kudas to help with the extra food, i have a 55 gallon thank w/ cleaner shrimp, peppermint shrimp. a hand full of blue legged crabs and a few snails and a pipe fish, i seem to always have extra food on the bottom, i use a feeding station but i still get some other places. i don't worry about it with my reef tank, food hardly ever gets to the bottom, but with this i know its limited as to a tank mate but i was hoping someone may have found something that the charts say you cant use...thanks
seahorse tank mate??
- Thread starter larrynews
- Start date
bugjuice90
New member
I use the large Nass snails from Inland Aquatics. I have 4 in a 75 gal. Of course I have peppermint shrimp and lots of little nass snails as well.
bugjuice
bugjuice
i found this what do you guys think
In short, fishes that are suitable as companions for seahorses must be docile, nonaggressive specimens, which are fairly deliberate feeders that won't out-compete them for food. Some good candidates include:
Anthias (assorted Mirolabrichthys, Pseudanthias, and Anthias sp.)
Firefish Goby (Nemateleotris magnifica)
Purple Firefish Goby (Nemateleotris decora)
Gobies (assorted small species)
Neon Goby (Gobiosoma oceanops)
Assessors (Assessor spp.)
Midas Blenny (Ecsenius midas)
High Hats (Equetus acuminatus)
Marine Betta (Calloplesiops altivelis)
Banggai or Banner cardinals (Pterapogon kauderni)
Flame cardinals (Apogon pseudomaculatus)
Pajama cardinals (Apogon nematoptera)
Pipefishes (assorted small species)
Percula clownfish (Amphiprion percula)
False percula clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris)
Royal Grammas (Gramma loreto)
Blackcap Basslets (Gramma melacara)
Green Chromis (Chromis viridis)
Longnose Hawkfish (Oxycirrhites typus)
Six Line Wrasse (Psuedocheilinus hexataenia)
Flasher Wrasse (Paracheilinus sp.)
Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus spp.)
Scooter Blennies (Synchiropus spp.)
Green Mandarin Goby or Dragonet (Pterosynchiropus splendidus)
Psychedelic Mandarin Goby or Dragonet (Pterosynchiropus picturatus)
Orchid Dottyback (Pseudochromis fridmani) - avoid other Pseudochromis species!
Good inverts for seahorses include decorative cleaner shrimp like those listed below:
Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata wurdemanni)
Scarlet Cleaner Shrimp or Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis)
Fire Shrimp (Lysmata debelius)
and/or
large ornamental snails (living sea shells) such as the following:
Tiger Cowry (Cypraea tigris)
Deer Cowry (Cypraea cervus)
and/or
Assorted Feather Dusters (Sabellastatre magnifica, Sabella sp.) whose colorful crowns resemble gaily-colored parasols.
In short, fishes that are suitable as companions for seahorses must be docile, nonaggressive specimens, which are fairly deliberate feeders that won't out-compete them for food. Some good candidates include:
Anthias (assorted Mirolabrichthys, Pseudanthias, and Anthias sp.)
Firefish Goby (Nemateleotris magnifica)
Purple Firefish Goby (Nemateleotris decora)
Gobies (assorted small species)
Neon Goby (Gobiosoma oceanops)
Assessors (Assessor spp.)
Midas Blenny (Ecsenius midas)
High Hats (Equetus acuminatus)
Marine Betta (Calloplesiops altivelis)
Banggai or Banner cardinals (Pterapogon kauderni)
Flame cardinals (Apogon pseudomaculatus)
Pajama cardinals (Apogon nematoptera)
Pipefishes (assorted small species)
Percula clownfish (Amphiprion percula)
False percula clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris)
Royal Grammas (Gramma loreto)
Blackcap Basslets (Gramma melacara)
Green Chromis (Chromis viridis)
Longnose Hawkfish (Oxycirrhites typus)
Six Line Wrasse (Psuedocheilinus hexataenia)
Flasher Wrasse (Paracheilinus sp.)
Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus spp.)
Scooter Blennies (Synchiropus spp.)
Green Mandarin Goby or Dragonet (Pterosynchiropus splendidus)
Psychedelic Mandarin Goby or Dragonet (Pterosynchiropus picturatus)
Orchid Dottyback (Pseudochromis fridmani) - avoid other Pseudochromis species!
Good inverts for seahorses include decorative cleaner shrimp like those listed below:
Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata wurdemanni)
Scarlet Cleaner Shrimp or Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis)
Fire Shrimp (Lysmata debelius)
and/or
large ornamental snails (living sea shells) such as the following:
Tiger Cowry (Cypraea tigris)
Deer Cowry (Cypraea cervus)
and/or
Assorted Feather Dusters (Sabellastatre magnifica, Sabella sp.) whose colorful crowns resemble gaily-colored parasols.
Wow...I don't know where you got that list of candidates, but if you put many of those in a community tank with seahorses, I predict starvation for your hippocampus.
The first one that caught my eye is the green chromis - harmless little fish, right? However, green chromis are PIGS when it comes to feeding. They feed at the surface and will devour anything before it gets down to the level where your seahorses are passively waiting for food.
The green Mandarin and seahorse compete for the same foods - that is live copepods. One or the other will suffer unless you have a HUGE tank with lots and lots of flourishing live rock.
Bangaii Cardinalfish are also aggressive feeders.
I have (2) black occellaris clowns, a single small royal gramma and a pair of twin spot gobies in my seahorse tank. I always feed the community first, then turn off the pumps/powerhead in our 29G Bio-Cube which signals the seahorse to come to the front of the tank for their mysis shrimp. The other fish hang to the back of the tank because they have already been fed.
Between the 3 daily target feedings, the horses graze on copepods on the LR.
Just my opinion...
LL
angieg1123
Premium Member
nass snails are awsome for eating any mysis that escape from the feeding dish. I wouldn't have a seahorse tank without them just for that reason. A firefish is a good tank mate and will eat leftover food as well. They are one of the 3 fish I would keep with seahorses. Clown gobies are ok too.
urbanrat84
New member
Larry, it seems a much easier solution just to put less food in with each feeding if not all of it is being consumed. If its just a few bits escaping from the feeding station then the shrimp/hermits will clean it up or the seahorses will find it fairly quickly anyway. I personally just give my fish small amounts at a time until they are full.
pledosophy
Active member
Larry there are many things on that list that I would not keep with seahorses.
If your just looking to clean stuff off the sand, naussarius snails are a good choice. A twinspot goby is a good choice.
IME I think the green manderin is getting a bad rap in this thread. I have kept them with seahorses in tanks from 18g to 75g without issue of either of the inhabitants starving.
IMHO the amount of pods that seahorses consume in our systems is way over stated. JMO
If your just looking to clean stuff off the sand, naussarius snails are a good choice. A twinspot goby is a good choice.
IME I think the green manderin is getting a bad rap in this thread. I have kept them with seahorses in tanks from 18g to 75g without issue of either of the inhabitants starving.
IMHO the amount of pods that seahorses consume in our systems is way over stated. JMO
