JRBear5658
Well-known member
Can different types of Seahorses be mixed in a tank for example a Kellogi with another type of Seahorse?
Also can tey be mixed with pipe fish?
JR
Also can tey be mixed with pipe fish?
JR
Seahorse's
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JRBear5658
Well-known member
Some one has to know something
steve-s
Well-known member
Seahorses can be mixed with pipes (tank set up/size depending) but I don't know about other species of horses. My info on them is quite limited as I have never kept them.
I know there are a few others here that do keep/breed seahorses so I'm sure someone will help you soon.
Cheers
Steve
I know there are a few others here that do keep/breed seahorses so I'm sure someone will help you soon.
Cheers
Steve
Wink
Crazy Seahorse Lady
Can they or should they? Quick answer is that it is not recommended but some species can be kept together - some cannot. Dwarves are not kept with larger species. Other species can be housed together as long as they have the same temperature requirements.
There are major risks involved in keeping pipes & seahorses together and in keeping seahorses from different species and even from different sources together. I don't have time to post details now but hopefully tonight.
There are major risks involved in keeping pipes & seahorses together and in keeping seahorses from different species and even from different sources together. I don't have time to post details now but hopefully tonight.
Wink
Crazy Seahorse Lady
Sorry, last night got a bit busier then I was expecting!
Dwarves don't mix with big seahorses because dwarves need to be in small tank for proper food density and the big seahorses just don't fit.
Ok, think of the drinking water in Mexico - makes us sick, but doesn't cause any problem for people who are raised on it. It's the same kind of thing - depending on how and where they grow up, seahorses have different tolerances to various bacteria, depending on what they have been exposed to and at what levels. Also, different species may have different sensitivities to various things. The belief is that a seahorse can be carrying a bacteria (or a parasite, etc) that does it no harm but when a seahorse with no exposure to that comes in contact with it, the new seahorse gets sick. The same thing with pipefish exposed to seahorses - they are all syngnathids and are more likely to transmit things to each other - there is little concern with exposure to inverts or other families of fish. The biggest risk is mixing wildcaught with captive bred because the range of things they have been exposed to is radically different and it's usually the captive bred seahorses that die due to the contact. I can't tell you how many people have lost their captive bred seahorses when they added a wildcaught pipefish to the tank. There are varying degrees of risk involved. Mixing species from the same breeder is lower risk as they have likely had the same exposures. Even members of the same species create some risk if they come from different sources.
That said, I have successfully kept different species together - I currently have 3 species in one tank. I also lost seven seahorses last year to a disease that could have been introduced by mixing them. There is a risk.
Dwarves don't mix with big seahorses because dwarves need to be in small tank for proper food density and the big seahorses just don't fit.
Ok, think of the drinking water in Mexico - makes us sick, but doesn't cause any problem for people who are raised on it. It's the same kind of thing - depending on how and where they grow up, seahorses have different tolerances to various bacteria, depending on what they have been exposed to and at what levels. Also, different species may have different sensitivities to various things. The belief is that a seahorse can be carrying a bacteria (or a parasite, etc) that does it no harm but when a seahorse with no exposure to that comes in contact with it, the new seahorse gets sick. The same thing with pipefish exposed to seahorses - they are all syngnathids and are more likely to transmit things to each other - there is little concern with exposure to inverts or other families of fish. The biggest risk is mixing wildcaught with captive bred because the range of things they have been exposed to is radically different and it's usually the captive bred seahorses that die due to the contact. I can't tell you how many people have lost their captive bred seahorses when they added a wildcaught pipefish to the tank. There are varying degrees of risk involved. Mixing species from the same breeder is lower risk as they have likely had the same exposures. Even members of the same species create some risk if they come from different sources.
That said, I have successfully kept different species together - I currently have 3 species in one tank. I also lost seven seahorses last year to a disease that could have been introduced by mixing them. There is a risk.
Wink
Crazy Seahorse Lady
Oh... forgot to mention that some seahorses being sold now as captive bred are being pen-raised in Indonesia and other places. Basically, they throw a bunch of mixed seahorses into net pens in the ocean, throw in some food, wait for the fry to grow up and there you go. Legally, these are captive bred seahorses as they are in captivity when the breeding occurs, but the exposures they have had make them more similiar to wildcaught. Species ID on these horses is very iffy - many may be hybrids - this particularly applies to the ones sold as Kellogi - they actually appear to be a hybrid.
There's quite alot of discussion of these issues at http://www.seahorse.org and people are having quite a bit of trouble with these horses - particularly with feeding issues.
If you're going to buy captive bred seahorses it's a good idea to find out who the breeder is and under what conditions they have been raised. Another red flag is when they are selling "captive bred" seahorses but are unable to give you the species name (black seahorse is not a species!) as any breeder should know what it is they are breeding. It's best to buy from a reputable breeder/seller.
There's quite alot of discussion of these issues at http://www.seahorse.org and people are having quite a bit of trouble with these horses - particularly with feeding issues.
If you're going to buy captive bred seahorses it's a good idea to find out who the breeder is and under what conditions they have been raised. Another red flag is when they are selling "captive bred" seahorses but are unable to give you the species name (black seahorse is not a species!) as any breeder should know what it is they are breeding. It's best to buy from a reputable breeder/seller.
