Cherub angel and seahorse?

[Pescador]

Has anyone tried keeping cherub angels (Centropyge argi) with seahorses? I've had my eye on a pair from seahorse savvy, which sells them as seahorse-safe tank mates, but I'm still a little wary. They would be kept with a pair of H. erectus in a 90 gallon reef with lots of rock and caves. Do you think it would be safer to get only 1, or should they be avoided all together?

 

[DED65]

Welcome!
I don't have experience with cherub angels, but seeing the way my flameback eats, I would be hesitant to put one in with my seahorses. The seahorses eat very slowly and any competition for food would have to be dealt with. Hopefully someone else will chime in that has more experience with the specific fish.

 

[Pescador]

Thanks for the insight. The seahorses are trained to eat out of shells. Do you think that makes any difference? Could the angel be successfully distracted with its own food on the other side of the tank while the seahorses eat? Would you worry about aggression at all?

 

[tjohnson3]

Do not put the Angel with the Seahorse... they will out compete for food

 

[DED65]

I think you would still have issues with feeding. Aggression is dependent on the individual fish. That is why I keep the seahorses in their own tank, peppermint shrimp, hermits and snails are fine. I believe most run a dedicated tank, although some do run mixed species. Another issue would be disease, seahorses are usually purchased captive born and never exposed to the diseases that fish carry. You could email, or call Alyssa at seahorse savvy and see what she may think. She has the experience, but she is also making the sale. You would need to make the choice, but I would either choose the dedicated tank or go with the fish and not the seahorses.

 

[Weasel1960]

Agree with @DED65 call Alyssa at Savvy, if she’s saying they are safe she must have some sort of strategy. Let us know what she says as I am working out my stocking list for a similar tank with seahorses.

 

[tjohnson3]

Agree with @DED65 call Alyssa at Savvy, if she’s saying they are safe she must have some sort of strategy. Let us know what she says as I am working out my stocking list for a similar tank with seahorses.

Alyssa is a great source... and she’ll probably tell you it’s a no-no, too lol Pipefish are really the only other “fish” you could put with the SH... I used to breed SH (dwarves and mustangs) for years. I’d even go as far as saying hermits are a risk, too... They’ll snatch up any unknowing fry like they’re brine, also.

 

[Pescador]

Thank you all for the advice. I will send Alyssa an email and let y'all know.

The seahorses are actually from her. I got them a year and a half ago and they've only ever shared a tank with captive-bred fish - ocellaris clowns , a molly miller blenny, a rainfords goby, and most recently, 5 black cardinalfish. The seahorses were a little spooked by the cardinals at first, but now pay them little to no mind. I'm actually considering the cherubs even though they are wild because I know Alyssa super careful about biosecurity and all her wild fish are quarantined.

I am worried about food competition and the seahorses being harassed by such a fast swimmer. I bet Alyssa does have a strategy. I'll definitely let you know what she says, and if I end up trying it, I'll let you know the outcome.

 

[Pescador]

Ok. So I reached out to Alyssa. She tells me that they have cherubs in their display tank at Seahorse Savvy and they do well with the seahorses there. She didn't say anything about any particular strategies to make it work, just that they are very peaceful fish and that she has sold quite a lot as seahorse tank-mates over the past year and doesn't hear of any issues with them. Yes, she is the seller, but I honestly trust her word on this one.

Several of my students have requested that we get an angelfish since I set the tank up in my classroom at the beginning of the last school year. My response has always been that you can't really keep one with seahorses (I've done my homework on seahorses many times over). But if I'm going to go by Alyssa's experience, it seams like this one may be different. The cherub angel, or Atlantic pygmy angelfish (Centropyge argi) is the smallest and most peaceful of the angels. I think that my system set-up (90 gal. with lots of caves for both the seahorses, angels, and others to hide), and feeding practices are conducive to success in this situation, so I'm most likely going to try it before long. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

 

[DED65]

You have to listen to someone with the experience and she's the one that has it. I would trust her judgement also, she has been doing this a long. If I listened to others about the temperatures needed for a reef tank, my seahorse tank would be pretty plain. A lot of posts will state that for corals and fish, you need temperatures between 76 and 78 degrees. I have Gorgonians, mushrooms, leathers, scolies and a cyarina at 72 degrees and I actually think that they appear healthier at this temperature.
That is so cool that you actually listen to your students and then take time to do the research! I hope it all works out! Do you have any pictures of the tank? Please keep us updated, it may be something that I would like to try!

 

[Pescador]

Thanks! Sounds like you have a nice set-up and cool to here you have some happy corals at lower temperatures. It makes sense that a lot of corals would experience those temperatures in nature.

I keep mine around 76 - 77. If I hadn't asked my students to choose the species, I would have gotten reidi and kept the tank a little warmer, but they wanted erectus. The brood stock for these came from Florida, so it's not like like their natural environment never gets above 76. Still, though, I want to avoid bacterial infections and try to keep all the inhabitants happy.

This is the most recent picture of the tank. I keep the lift side under dim blue light only and blast the bright light on the right, which is having a nice little ugly phase (but at least it's past the dinos! ) Which makes a nice home for amphipods. The corals are doing fine, so I don't worry about it. I really need some herbivores, though. If you zoom in closely to the dark, bottom left, one of the seahorses is hanging out next to a red tree sponge.

 

[Weasel1960]

Awesome hope it works out for you and the students. Can’t wait to get my build going soon, have a long list of things I want to buy through Alyssa

 

[SaltBabies]

I have a pair of flame angels in with my seahorses in a 120 gal. tank. I though handle the feeding competition by overfeeding and then removing left over food after 20 minutes.

Both seahorses and flame angels spawn which is usually an indication of health.

 

[Devaji]

I have a pair of flame angels in with my seahorses in a 120 gal. tank. I though handle the feeding competition by overfeeding and then removing left over food after 20 minutes.

Both seahorses and flame angels spawn which is usually an indication of health.

how about a pic or vid of the tank I would love to see it.

 

[SaltBabies]

I'll try to get some pictures. I had a tank leak about 1.5 months ago so I'm still in the restart mode.

 

[SaltBabies]

how about a pic or vid of the tank I would love to see it.

Didn't want to jack up this thread so I made another
My seahorse tank

 

[Pescador]

I have a pair of flame angels in with my seahorses in a 120 gal. tank. I though handle the feeding competition by overfeeding and then removing left over food after 20 minutes.

Both seahorses and flame angels spawn which is usually an indication of health.

That's awesome! Thanks for sharing your experience. In your experience, does it seam like it helps to have a pair of angels instead of having only one?

I checked out your tank. Very nice!

 

[SaltBabies]

That's awesome! Thanks for sharing your experience. In your experience, does it seam like it helps to have a pair of angels instead of having only one?

I checked out your tank. Very nice!

Thanks.

Since I wanted the flames for breeding, I got both of them not very far apart. The first added was the male and he had been starving at the LFS. Once I got him shortly after I got the girl. I do find they spend so much time paying attention to each other they don't mess with others that much. Every once in a while they may try to move a seahorse out of their favorite cave. But the seahorses just ignore them. Sometimes the seahorses accidentally bully the angels by swimming over the top of them and grabbing them with their tail.

I think this would be dependent on the angels. Some angels maybe more aggressive in mated pairs. But mine seem to be less. They spend more time chasing each other and paying attention to each other than anything else in the tank.

My flames honestly spend most of their time picking algae and copepods than worrying about other fish.

 

[Pescador]

Thanks.

Since I wanted the flames for breeding, I got both of them not very far apart. The first added was the male and he had been starving at the LFS. Once I got him shortly after I got the girl. I do find they spend so much time paying attention to each other they don't mess with others that much. Every once in a while they may try to move a seahorse out of their favorite cave. But the seahorses just ignore them. Sometimes the seahorses accidentally bully the angels by swimming over the top of them and grabbing them with their tail.

I think this would be dependent on the angels. Some angels maybe more aggressive in mated pairs. But mine seem to be less. They spend more time chasing each other and paying attention to each other than anything else in the tank.

My flames honestly spend most of their time picking algae and copepods than worrying about other fish.

That's kind of what I imagined. Thanks!

 

[sunken3]

I have a 35 gallon tank (with crazy filtration)... slow pumps in the tank though. 4 RBTA, some macro algae, orange sponge, and rockwork.. snails, hermits, 2 clowns, 2 blue stripe pipefish, 2 banded pipefish, and wait for it... a cherub angel and 2 seahorses. no issues at all. .. now to be honest, the clowns dont care for the angel, so they chase him around a bit, but 3 years and running