sh in main tank

No. I wouldn't..first off, most LPS have sweepers that are dangerous to SHs, also clams...There are various pictures out there of clams closing up on a SH tail. Temperature is also a major issue as most reef tanks are way too warm for SHs. Most of the fish in there are also very iffy ifnot just plain bad tankmates for a SH. The anemone is also a very big no-no.

A lot has changed in the almost 5 years since this tank was shot. If you really want to keep seahorses, I suggest you but (at very minimum) a 29 gallon tank, and start reading, and keep reading and keep reading.

Good luck to you.
 
As mentioned above, there are lots of issues with doing this.

Many people have had disease issues when keeping seahorses at higher temperatures found in reef tanks.

If you are willing to drop the temperature in your reef tank to the 76-78F range, make sure that water flow is not to high (offer areas of lower flow, and eliminate fish eating and strong stinging corals, you might be successful.

Fred
 
thanks for the answers,

Just to tell you guys my reef tank doesn't have any lps coral neither it has sps corals( tank to young) it only has soft corals.
I will ad some synbiotic gorgonians in the tank in a few days.
And yes I will drop the temperature to 23 degres celius becaus it is at 25 degres celcius now,I dont think it will cause any problems if I drop the temperature a little(right???)

for the water flow I have a wavebox and 2 streams(running 6h each) and I have an area were the wavebox doesn't effect the water flow a lot it only does a little balancing movement but its really not strong I will but the gorgonians there and hopefully the shs will go there.
 
From the reading I have done, you should be ok. High lattitude reefs like those found at Lord Howe Island range in temperature from 17C in the winter to 25C in the summer.

Try droping the temperature in two steps. Go to 24C for several months to see how the corals react. If they are ok, try 23C.

Do you have any pictures of your tank that you can share?

Fred
 
I wouldn't, simply because of feeding habits. I keep a trio of erectus in my 50 gal fuge and I practically have to hit them over the head with frozen mysis in order for them to eat. If a tasty morsel is just a cm or two away, they tend to not even bother with it. I can't imagine how they'd fare in my reef. JMO and I've only been keeping horses for about 4 months
 
captainandy. If your horses are ignoring food, they arn't hungry or there is something wrong.

I always find my horses waiting at the feeding station when I come home from work.

Fred
 
for the feeding I have a fuge and there is a lot of pods in the tank + I will feed them mysis shrimp.

for the pics I don't have any for now (crappy cam) but I will post some when I get a better one.
 
I think a 265g tank will be excellent for seahorses, provided it is a seahorse only tank. I have a 125 and have 11 seahorses and it is very succesfull. You will have to stay away from most corals however. You can have a broad range and assortment of softies and zoanthids, mushrooms (not the elephant), ricordia, marcos, gorgonians, and the likewise. Stay away from LPS and most sps. SPS in a SH tank is doable, however you jeapordize your coral. Things like birdnest the seahorse will love to hitch to, making the polyps recede. Then you sps dies and it becomes a very nice ornament in your tank! 23 degrees should be fine. I keep mine at 22 right now and everything is flourishing. A feeding station might be the easiest method of feeding in a large tank. What we did is put a large piece of Botryocladia in our center of the tank and turn off all of our pumps during feeding time. Then just put a turkey baster in the water and all 11 SH go straight to the Botryocladia and hitch there and feed. Our seahorses will also "hunt" the floating mysids from elsewhere. I am a little concerned about the flow, but as long as you have low flow areas they should be fine. When i say a low flow area, I do not mean where no water is circulated, i mean it is just very easy for the SH to swim around and do what it pleases. The larger this type of area, the happier your horses will be.
 
Perhaps they're just gorging themselves on pods from the fuge. I don't think that's the issue. What a neophyte does not realize, and what I am trying to stress, is that horses are very specialized feeders and that even inverts like shimp and omnivore snails will out-compete for food. I large horse only reef would be magnificent but add a few fish and you will triple the challenge because of xcess food from overfeeding and incomplete horse digestion.
 
Perhaps they're just gorging themselves on pods from the fuge
Click to expand...
That would do it.

Fish and other inverts can be kept with horses just fine. It is a matter of choosing carfully.

I have a Bangai cardinal in with my horses. It feeds from the water column, the horses feed from a feeder. There is no competition.

In a big tank, I believe your choice of fish could actually be broader. Things like chromis that are mid water swimmers and feeders could nicely share space with seahorses in a 265 gallon system

Snails will definately not outcompete a horse for food. I have not tried shrimp, but would consider them suspect because they tend to feed agressively.

It is a matter of understanding the behavior of the animals you are going to add to your system.


vipjd39. I have a thin branching gorgonian in my tank that would make a very nice hitching point for my horses. However, it is in a part of the tank where the horses don't spend much time. I have seen them hitch to the base occasionally, but they never stay there more than a few minutes.

I find that my horses have two or three places where they like to spend the majority of their time and cruise the rest of the tank throughout the day. My males hang out in the back left corner mostly. The female will hang out there sometimes, and also spends a lot of time around the feeding station.

Fred
 
And seahorses are not, after all, coddled in the wild. The waters they tend to inhabit are transient and definitely not free of corals.
There are even other fish in the same areas. Sorry.
I kept a pair of females in my 55 for four years with a variety of tankmates. The only tankmate that was ever an issue was a yellow damsel "#$%()&" who went for a drive with me one afternoon. :eek:
If you promote breeding of natural live foods and use the water flow to the advantage of the tank, it can absolutely be done successfully. It might take strategic feeding, if you house larger fish. But, as said already, seahorses are intelligent and can learn when and where to feed.
 
ok I will put a pair of shs but does somebody know how to see witch one is the male and witch one is the female???


can I put some pipefish to???
 
The only tankmate that was ever an issue was a yellow damsel "#$%()&" who went for a drive with me one afternoon.
Click to expand...
Didja give him concrete shoes and toss him in a local river? :lol:

Fred
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8931989#post8931989 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kevin1234
ok I will put a pair of shs but does somebody know how to see witch one is the male and witch one is the female???


can I put some pipefish to???
Click to expand...
I'd go slowly and not overwhelm yourself with pipefish too. Any pipefish would likely be wild caught and would probably require live food. Research that well before you go there.
These photos should help in identifying. It's sometimes more difficult to tell on young seahorses. If you buy them from a good breeder, you won't have any problems.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/136174The_male.JPG
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/136174The_female.JPG
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8933725#post8933725 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Fredfish
Didja give him concrete shoes and toss him in a local river? :lol:

Fred
Click to expand...
No, a bus ticket for St Louis..she looked very happy when she boarded!
Actually, my LFS took her in. I went back a couple of weeks later and asked about her, but he "couldn't seem to recall at that time" if she had made it and been sold. Ollie-speak for toilet ride, I suspect. She was VERY aggressive. But I won't be making that mistake again.
 
ok thks to all of you guys and girls but I dont see the difference between the shs exept in the link, I see the stomack of the male is bigger but I am gessing its pregnant, the female is more slim. right are there other differences I should look at when buying them.
btw witch sort of shs are red I would like to get some of em.
 
Seahorses change color based on stress/temp/mating/surroundings....so I wouldn't recommend spending a lot of money on a horse that is a certain color when you buy it. I would instead spend the extra money on making sure that you are buying a healthy specimen. I'm really hoping you are planning on buying captive bred horses. www.seahorsesource.com is an excellent source.

Also, for a beginner (or even the advanced) I wouldn't recommend mixing pipes into the equation. This is for many reasons, including that almost all pipes are wild caught and can easily spread diseases to your seahorses. I would pick one or the other.

Hope this doesn't discourage you, as I think you're going in the right direction so far.

It is a lot easier to ask questions now, then to have to post in the emergency forums later.

Best Luck to you
Jennifer
 
Kevin. What you see on the male is his pouch. It may be slightly inflated in the picture, but not a lot. You will notice that the female has nothing below its belly area. Even when not inflated at all, you will see this pouch on the male.

Fred
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

H
High ammonia in 24 year old tank
Replies
15
Views
1K
brandon429
brandon429
Z
5.7ft tank stocking
Replies
7
Views
555
ZanaZoola14
Z
F
Invasive Algae in my tank
Replies
10
Views
633
Timfish
Timfish
K
Carbon Dosing causes STN/RTN?
Replies
13
Views
816
Timfish
Timfish
F
Re-using salt (crazy idea)
Replies
14
Views
1K
DjPhato
DjPhato
Back
Top