seahorse questions

[Reef-o-Roni]

I've been getting an itch for seahorses and am looking for some good reading materials on them,If anyone has a suggestion of good reading it would be greatly appreciated.I plan on stting up a 29gallon as a seahorse tank early next year,maybe dec as the earliest.I just had a few questions iI was wondering about.

Can I put 2 seahorses 2 pipefish of diffent species and a mandiran all in a 29 gallon?.Can I even keep any of these in the same tank?

Also, Can I pair a red and a black seahorse together?

And are there corals I can't keep besides anenomes with them?

[Duddly01]

I wouldn't mix seahorses and pipefish. That is not to say it can't be done, but no one is currently breeding pipefish and introducing possible pathogens from the different species is not recommended. ONLY buy captive bred horses from a reputable breeder! The color of a seahorse means nothing, they can change color on a whim. I wouldn't mix species though. Reidi for instance can be yellow, red, black, etc. And I mean the same horse, within a days time. .

I would only recomend the Madarin if you can get one that eats prepared food readily, otherwise it would eventually starve in a 29 gallon tank. I have a spotted Mandarin with my horses and it eats pe mysis right along side them. They make great tank mates, if you can keep them both fed.

There are corals that should not be kept with horses. Basically anything that could sting them. Zoas and most softies or mushrooms are ok.

[Reef-o-Roni]

I have a mandiran in my display, It eats anything I throw in there.But it also hunts all day too.I'm thinking of hooking the tank into my main one .Would that be ok?.My tank and fuge have pods o' plenty.

So I can keep shrooms ,zoos, how about pom pom Xiena?or a branching monti?

I will shop around for my horses and treat it like any other thing I buy.I dont mind paying for quality.

Not shure of what species,I'd like to have some that are no more then 4 or 5" at adult size.

What amount of flow Should I be running in a 29gal?
Sorry for all the questions(and I have a million) but I want to get the best chance for a sucesful run at this.

[angieg1123]

Hooking a seahorse tank to a main reef tank is not a good idea since the temp. needs to be about 72 for seahorses. I personally keep mine between 70-72 to guard against bacterial infections. Some sps are ok with seahorses, almost NO LPS, and almost all softies are ok. They seem to like colts, kenyas, and finger leathers to hitch to. Sun corals are nice since they will eat the mysis you'll be feeding the seahorses anyways.

Buy all of your seahorses from the same breeder. You can request unrelated pairs if you are wanting to breed them. IF you are not interrested in breeding I would suggest an all female tank. No pouch issues to deal with on females. Pouch evacs can be scarry if you've never done one.

Erectus are the "easiest" IMO and they are available from many breeders. seahorsesource carries them. Draco marine carries them. So do other breeders that can be found on other seahorse boards.

Good luck.
Angie

[angieg1123]

Oh as for flow.....I have higher then normal flow in all of my seahorse tanks. I do use spraybars to break up the flow so they don't get blown around. I had a fluval 205 on my 20g XH Juvi tank. On my 75g I have a mag 9.5 and a chiller that has 600gph return. My seahorses don't have any problems swimming all over the tank. It's just how you break up the flow. You can make custom spraybars by drilling holes in PVC pipe. Use the PVC pipe and PVC elbows and you can make unlimited configurations for flow patterns.

Try to remember to add ball valves to your plumbing so you can turn off / restrict the flow during feedings without the water siphoning back into your sump if you use one. I use a feeding dish and if I don't restrict the flow, the mysis gets blown out of the dish.