clowns and seahorses

[napier02]

Does anyone know if I can keep a pair of false percs with two kudas in a 58. Would it be better if I put the seahorses in first?
Will the clowns eat baby seahorses?

[Carlos]

Sea horses are species only creatures. Most people keep the Seahorses in a seahorse only tank. They dont do well with other creatures in the same tank.

Carlos

[Will]

id say if you were very careful you could try it. of all clownfish, false percs are the most docile. you must, however, put the seahorses in first and let them get adjusted and eating well. i'd say if you were gonna try it, let the seahorses stay alone in the tank for about 6 weeks and make sure they are eating regularly. also, buy baby clownfish. if you buy adults, they will probably be able to eat mysis and steal it from the seahorses. if you buy babies, they'll try it once and wont be able to swallow it so they'll leave it alone. one other thing, are you sure you want to have seahorses in such a large tank? the largest seahorse tank i've seen was about 40 gallons, but had somwhere around seven or eight horses in it. if your tank is too large, they will have a problem with finding food. have you already bought this tank, or is it just in the making?
fourhand2

ps- BUY CAPTIVE BRED HORSES!! EVEN IF YOU CAN'T FIND THE SPECIES YOU WANT, BUY ANOTHER SPECIES!!

[napier02]

Hey thanks for the help

I've already got the tank and it's a 58 Oceanic with 2-55w pc lights and about 90lb of live rock. I've got some soft corals in there and have been planning to add seahorses in there from the begining. The LFS has a pair of kudas that I'm planning to get but I got a pair of false percs this weekend and am not sure if i should just stick them in the refugium so that they won;t bother the seahorses when I get them. I don't want to tear up the rockwork trying to catch them if they turn out to be trouble makers. I have a 16 gallon refugium with a 3 inch sandbed. would that be too small for the percs?

[Will]

that refugium isnt too small for the false percs just for a temporary stay since its getting all of the benefits of the water volume of the whole system. just make sure they cant get sucked into a pump or an overflow. you're in luck. false percs are the easiest fish (in my opinion) to catch. just wait about an hour after the lights are out. then they're asleep and since they continue to swim while they're asleep, you'll be able to easily scoop them up with a net and put them in the refugium. since its the same system you won't have to mess with acclimation or anything like that.
fourhand2

[SeaNemesis]

I have kept a perc clown with seahorses and it became very close my my wc kuda, but the clown did get ich, which spread to the seahorse. The problem with these type of fish, IMO is not just if they get along, there are issues such as salt water ich. The symptoms are not often seen on seahorses and often die without the hobbyist having any clue what happened. For this I will probably not try clowns again. It was just not worth the aggravation.

[napier02]

whoohooo
I finally got my seahorses. They are a pair of CB kudas that were on consignment at the LFS and they had just mated a couple of days ago. I have been watching them closely for about the last month and they were doing very well. when I got them home they were a bit shocked at first but after about an hour they are eating frozen mysis like crazy. The female is a dark grey color and the male is a greyish yellow. I think they both were grey before they mated and I was so supprised by thier color change in the store a few days ago. Thanks everyone for their input. I'll post some pic in the next couple of days.