Hi All! Please forgive the intrusion; someone pointed me to this thread. For some background before I get into saying what I have to say: I've been an seahorse keeper for 15 years, and do a lot of writing about seahorses and pipefish, and because of that, interact with a lot of seahorse keepers.
I do think seahorses are easier to keep than a lot of people think. That being said, I got a little nervous when reading this. I say testing the limits is always good. Without it, out hobby wouldn't be where it is today. I hate being a debbie downer, but I wouldn't expect long term survivorship in this type of setup for seahorses. I won't say impossible, but anyone considering seahorses in a mixed setup like this should go in with the knowledge there is a strong likelihood of failure, and be prepared to make changes on the fly. I've seen more people than I can count try it, and it eventually fails.
The temperature issue isn't because seahorses can't live in warmer water; indeed most of the species aquarists keep come from warmer water. Rather, it's a hack seahorse keepers use. Seahorses have really poor immune systems, and are prone to numerous bacterial infections. They are missing an important part of their immune system, and may lack an adaptive immune system entirely, which is what makes them very prone to bacterial infections. Vibro is one of the primary bacteria that causes illness seahorses and is common in the aquarium. Its normally not pathogenic, but it is opportunistic and can become pathogenic. It's growth also slows down at lower temperatures, thus the hack part - we keep the temperature cool so that the most virulent problem bacteria is kept at bay. Dan Underwood of Seahorse Source
wrote about it in some detail.
The male seahorse pictured
here is definitely underweight. The keel is hollowed out, suggesting malnutrition. If you want to keep this setup; I'd suggest figuring ways to target feed. He should also be much larger if you've had him for 5 months. I'd say he's just surviving, not thriving.
Clownfish will almost always savage seahorses eventually. But it generally doesn't happen until you've got a mature, fat female clown that is getting broody. You're aren't there yet; but I've seen people post about it time and time again. People seem to forget that clownfish have pretty vicious teeth and can do some
significant damage. But it's hard to see that with younger clowns that haven't gotten territorial.
Which brings us to tankmate selection - yes, seahorses can definitely live with other fish. BUT, any fish that has the potential to damage a seahorse can cause a fatality. Even minor damage can lead to infection because of their weak immune system. Most algae eater will graze the algae that naturally grows on seahorses, causing damage to their skin. On that note,
FinzAquatics, I would definitely stay away from a lawnmower blenny. They are notorious for ripping the dorsal fin off seahorses.
On the upside, of all the seahorse species, H. erectus does seem to be the hardiest and the most likely to handle a non-specific seahorse tank. But this is also a fish that can live a decade or more. A lot of people report short term success when experimenting like this, but once you look at it over the span of years and not months, it doesn't work. I've never seen long term success in this kind of aquarium. Not that you can't be the first, but I would be surprised to see it. This is a fish that can live 10 years; I know some people who have reported 12 and 13 year old seahorses.
Make of this what you may; I just wanted to comment here so anyone considering this setup understand that this kind of arrangement generally doesn't work long term. You can setup a kick *** seahorse tank with other fish inhabitants, but it has to be done right. To sum it up, what I'm trying to say that the lack of immediate failure really shouldn't be equated to success.
