seahorse tank mates?!

I aquired my tank with 3 seahorses (and a bunch of corals) so Im interested in compatability with those…
A list of “tank mates for sea horses” that Ive come across on the web, doesn’t seem to include any angel fish, surgeon fish, butterfly fish, puffers, hogfish, tuskfish, damsels, lionfish, snappers, rabitt fish, spadefish, hawkfish, soapfish, anthias fish, foxface, sweet lips, banner fish, toby fish, other damsels (to name the majority of the fish Im interested in, of most intrest are the angel fish and butterfly fish)…If you have any knowledge in this are (or know where I can find some) please inform…

 

IN general those larger fast moving fish can throw off a seahorse. They get to the food quicker and can stress them out even if not being harassed by them. On another note, those bigger fish need a stronger current for them to swim in. And seahorses do not need that.

Id stick to a few species of Gobies, or Pipefish or Dragonets.

 

SEAHORSE TANK MATES

 

great link rayjay
aside from HRH continually waving at me that is

Steve

 

Can you tell us what type of corals you've got in the tank with the seahorses?

 

There are even better ones at the bottom of the "MY THOUGHTS" page linked in my signature.

Anyone considering the keeping of seahorses needs to do a thorough investigation of what you need to do to give the best chances of survival.
There are too many people starting up based on someone's success in keeping seahorses in non recommended tank set ups when in fact, probably only one in a thousand survive long term under such conditions.
Even doing all one can is no guarantee of success with them.
The links I've just mentioned via my signature give a lot of insight into why they can be so difficult to be successful with.
In my area with multiple thousands of seahorses being sold in the last few years, I can count on one hand, the number of hobbyists that still have theirs.
I suspect if one were to check, the same would apply to most areas of the continent.
Seahorses should live to between 5 and even 8 years of age.
The number one cause of death is from bacteria infections which seahorses are so prone to, and in captive aquariums and warmer temperatures are a case of "when" not "if" they are affected.
Number two cause of death is pathogens.
Seahorses are VERY prone to failing due to pathogens introduced by other tankmates, be they other seahorses from a different breeding source, or from any other fish introduced to their water system.
Often, just with mixing two species of seahorses from different sources, each species succumbs to the pathogens of the other and you are left with nothing.
Uhhhhh, I just realized I have no signature on this forum so here is the link.
MY THOUGHTS ON SEAHORSE KEEPING

 

While I do whole heartedly agree with almost everything that RayJay has said above but I have to disagree with his longevity statement of 5 to 8 years. In the wild they can and do live from 3 to 5 years, unfortunately their life span in captivity can and usually is much shorter.

I had my seahorses for almost 2 years and greatly enjoyed them. unfortunatley due to the fact that they are so labor intensive and because of a change in my lifestyle and job I had to give them to friend, someone who had the time to take care of them properly.

Lastly RayJay, your link does not go to your page, you really need to fix it because I have read them (link from another site) and there is lots of very good and valid information on seahorse keeping.

 

What temperature are you running the tank at ?

Seahorses need systems with lower temperatures, around 74 degrees F. They live longer and it decreases the chances of bacterial and fungal infections, which they get if you look at them the wrong way.

 

Is anyone else experiencing problems. When I click on it the link works.
Today angelfire/lycos made a big change to their network so I'm wondering if that is the problem.
I tried to put type in the info here but it automatically makes a link but here are the basics to type in the location bar to get there.
angelfire.com/ab/rayjay/seahorsekeeping.html but you have to put the http:// and the www. in front to work.
Life span of 5 to 8 years is quite possible now when buying TRUE captive bred seahorses and by maintaining recommendations as can be found by viewing posts of most long term keepers on seahorse.org.
Don't expect this to be as easy to do with wild caught or tank raised or net pen raised seahorses.
The reason the life span is shorter in the majority of tanks is because people do not adhere to maintaining the tanks suitable for the longer life spans that can be done, and choosing the cheaper livestock that prevails at most LFS's.

 

Link is working fine for me.