what fish are ok with seahorses?

[cubanheat1]

im moving to a new location and i currently have a 29g reef.i have a pair of true percula clowns, a starry blenny,and a spotted mandarin. i have no carnivorous corals,nor stinging. will i be able to house a pair of small seahorses with my fish and coral such as zoanthids,acans, and ricordias?or should i only house them with the clowns, and maybe the mandarin.

 

[Big Brother]

in addition to that question, are pistol shrimp ok with ponies and pipes?

 

[ann83]

Seahorses need temperatures under 74 degrees; even tropical seahorses, and they cannot be kept with any aggressive feeders or territorial fish (like clowns and many types of blennies). They will also compete with the mandarin for copepods which could starve the mandarin. They need a dedicated cooler water setup.

 

[Big Brother]

wow

cut and paste generic basic advice here

 

[ann83]

Um, no. Thats the advice. Can't go with the clowns and probably not with the blenny, and I explained why. Can't go with the mandarin, and I explained why. Most likely can't go in the reef tank because of temps and I explained why. Not one of your posts has even attempted to address his question. Is there part of his question that I didn't answer?

 

[pledosophy]

Honestly it sounds like your 29g is fully stocked. In terms of tankmates:

IME clowns won't really work out, I've tried it, didn't go so well.

A manderin in a 29g long term is just not a good idea IME, unless you have a rather larg refugium hooked up to that to produce the nessecary amount of copepods. Even manderins that readily accept frozen food at one momnet have a habit of changing there minds and only accepting live pods IME.

I have kept seahorses with a manderin in a 44g with a 20g refugium. The tank had over 100 lbs of LR and a good amount of macro algaes. JME

If you were to do a pair of seahorses in a 29 gallon there are several options for fish you could keep, but you would have to keep the stocking density fairly low without a really good filtration system. You also couldn't keep more then a pair of seahorses and a couple other fish and maintain good water quality without some work IME.

You could keep many of the smaller gobies. Personally I would look at the twinspot as it tends to stay on the sand and will eat left over mysis. A clown goby, they are cute and don't take much room. A yashia although you hardly ever see them. A Tangora goby. A yellow or wheeler's watchmen (the pink spotted get to big and are kind of aggresive IME). Any of those would do well paired with a pistol shirmp.

A rainford goby is a looker and safe. A red headed catalina or catalina if you plan on keeping your tank in the low 70's (which I recomend)

In a tank that size most of the other sand sifters are out.

You could get away with a royal gramma basslet.

A pair of firefish will work, but mak sure the tank is enlosed as they jump.

A bi-color, midas, or tail spot blenny might also work out O.K.

Most of the other seahorse safe fish need more room then the 29g will allow.

Yes pistol shrimp are safe with seahorses. I find peppermint shrimp to be a preffered tankmate as they also have a taste for aiptasia.

HTH

cut and paste generic basic advice here

When asking for help, that really isn't the best attitude to take. We are here helping people we don't even know to try to benefit the hobby. A search of the forum would have anwsered the question itself. After you have replied to the same question a hundred times or so, the advice does tend to get a bit generic. Leaves us wondering why people ask the same question over and over and over again.

Not getting down on you, but be nice to the people you ask for help from. We're all doing are best.

 

[cubanheat1]

sounds good, thanks for the advice. my 29g reef currently has a 20g refuge and plenty of filtration, so the mandarin is nice and thick. It also accepts frozen mysis and enriched brine.i would love to do the clowns with the horses but i will just have to setup a seahorse, pipefish dedicated tank.Oh ya, Theres no need for people to argue on this site, people here give great advice and every1 is able to speak there mind on the hobby.

 

[craiglanda]

ive been keeping a breeding seahorses for quite sometime and my tanks are always between 74-78 and never had any issues where temperature was the concern. Granted if you get a bacterial infection on any of the seahorses you will want to lower the temp to around 68 or so. As for the corals mentioned...they will be fine for seahorses IMO. The mandarin may be a food competetor in the tank but i would say the mandarin would come out on top over the seahorses. They are much stronger swimmers which will enable them to get to the food before the the seahorses. Clowns could get agressive/territorial so im all for keeping seahorses with other syngnathids. Im just stating what has worked for me and going by the expierences i have had in the past. Obviously many people have many different methods that work for them but might fail miserably for others. So IMO if you are worried and want to play it safe than keep seahorses with other seahorses and pipefish. Anything else could lead to a potential problem.

 

[Duddly01]

The spotted Mandarin would be no problem with seahorses in a 29 gal. only if it is eating prepared. I have had one in a 24DX nanocube just under a year now that eats pe mysis right along side of my horses and is very fat and happy. They both require tank mates that aren't aggessive eaters and the 2+ times a day feedings seem to do both well. The mandarin doesn't eat any faster or more agressively than my H. Erectus. He doesn't care for them trying to hitch to him at feedings though.

The clowns are hit and miss. I have a pair of small Black and White Ocellaris that have been in the tank for seven months now. I purchased them from a local breeder at under 1". They only eat out of the water column. They are also fed twice a day so that may be why they aren't agressive eaters either. When the baster goes in they actually swim to the front and take a bit right out of it and swim back to their special spot in the tank. I am assuming as they grow they may need to be moved to another tank, but it has worked out well so far. Just keep and eye on them and be prepared to move them if necessary.