scarf_ace 1981's 15g/20g sump sea horse/pipefish

[scarf_ace1981]

change of plans: this will become my rbta/clown pair tank

i planned to set up a small tank in my job but due to renovations i can't set it up for a long time so i decided to put it where my 55g used to be @ home. so much for telling the old lady that i wouldn't put another tank there here are the specs:

28bow display 20g oceanic sump
36" Nova Extreme 4 bulb- 156w total w/ three monlights
external u- tube overflow
mag 5
remora urchin pro
seio 620
some LS and LR

inhabitants:
pair of clown
coral beauty
geometric pygmy-from 30xh
pinkbar goby- from 30xh
mccocker flasher wrasse- from 40


coral:
lobo
zoos
shrooms
frogspawn
hammer
purple digit
acan
doughnut
favia
rbta
gsp
toadstool

inverts:
feather duster
skunk cleaner
anemone shrimp
anemone crab- going to 30xh

 

[scarf_ace1981]

i just realized pipe fish grow to a nice size and probably won't be comfortable in a 15g. so that i dea has been scratched.

how about a goby/pistol pair?

 

[coralcrazy]

Dam Ace, how many tanks do you own..LOL..

 

[scarf_ace1981]

well let's see
155g bow- malawi haps being turned into discus tank
40br w/ 30g sump-reef
30xh-reef
15g w/ 20g oceanic sump- seahorse tank on the drawing board

55g sold- lake tang cichlids
55g- selling- lake malawi mbuna
old 30g-sold- old sump

 

[prattreef]

By Dwarf do you mean H. zosterae? They are very small and you could easily have more than a pair in your 15g. You do know they need freshly hatched brine nauplii daily ( as a cichlid guy you may do this anyway). They are too small for frozen mysis and while I believe it has been done, weening them onto cyclopeeze is the exception rather than the rule. A small goby/shrimp pair would probably work and there are dwarf pipes too.

Randy

 

[scarf_ace1981]

thanks randy.

how hard is it to culture your own brine?? i know wingo has small sea horses but that doesn't mean they won't grow large. first i have to figure out which ones they are. his eat prepared foods.

liveaquaria only has 6-8" pipefish. which ones are the dwarf pipes?

 

[masterswimmer]

Thank you for the recognition on being part helpful and part inspiration. I doubt very much I deserve any mention though. :redface:

Believe it or not, a 6"-8" pipefish does not require the same room as a 6"-8" 'standard' fish. A pipefish swims very 'eel-like'. Randy might want to chime in here. But I think one Jann's pipefish would work fine. I can get banded pipefish if that's what you'd like.

swimmer

 

[prattreef]

From what I can tell, Wingo's seahorses are not dwarfs, they are just juvenile of a larger species and that means they will eventually get too big for a 15g. While they are small you can probably get away with it, and one Jann's pipe would probably be OK too. I STRONGLY recommend you read up on seahorses before venturing into it. Seahorse.org is a good place to start. Culturing brine is not hard, but it is another committment and another small setup that needs regular attention. BTW, only the true drarfs need the baby brine. Captive reared horses of other species should be eating frozen already (like Wingo's). HTH. Randy

 

[scarf_ace1981]

i was checking out www.worldofseahorses.com. here are some i'm interested in. of course i was just going by size. availability and requirements are some other factors i have to research.

3" and under
fisheri
lichtensteinii
minotaur
mohnikei
tuberculatus
zosterae


3.5-5"
algiricus
camelopardalis
capensis
coronatus
hippocampus
histrix
jayakari
procerus
whitei

really i can have a jann's pipe. great. russ i'll let you know when.

 

[prattreef]

You will probably not see any of the species you listed available except for the Whitei and Procerus ( some think they are the same species). H. procerus would be a good choice if you can find them as they stay quite small. I got some from Inland Aquatics a few years back, not sure if they still culture them or not. Most of the horses you see for sale are either H. reidi, H. kuda, or H. erectus all of which are hardy( relatively) but larger
species. Do not buy wild caught horses!!!

Randy

 

[scarf_ace1981]

russ can you get these:
http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=282
http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1918


they appear to be smaller. not much but smaller

 

[prattreef]

The second one is larger, more beautiful and I think hardier. RD

 

[masterswimmer]

No

Yes

swimmer

 

[DevIouS]

Cool link for both SeaHorses & Pipefish:


http://www.seahorses.de/index.htm

 

[scarf_ace1981]

thanks dvs
i was actually just looking @ that site

 

[scarf_ace1981]

Yes
swimmer

i'll let you know. hopefully in a month or so.

it says pipefish should not be keep w/ corals that sting. which corals would be safe?

 

[prattreef]

Shrooms, zoanthids, softies, Monti's and most SPS... no Hyno, Euphyllia, things with sweepers etc. BTW, seahorses don't particularly like very bright light and prefer it on the cooler side, so this might rule out a lot of species for you i.e. those that need MH lighting. RD

 

[scarf_ace1981]

keep the info coming:biggrin: you guys have been of big help.

one thing though: most seahorse tanks i see have tons of macroalgae. wouldn't these suffocate the corals? i guess i can go the coral way or the macroalgae way. another choice to make.

 

[prattreef]

Yup and Yup. Either way they need something to hitch onto Macro, digitata ( worked well for me) gorgonians or artificial branches of some kind. RD

 

[scarf_ace1981]

gorgs yes.

i'll have two or three large pieces of LR in the middle and then gorgs all along the back.
i have a big rock covered in zoos and shrooms that will be the middle piece. in the front i can put some more zoos.

what about chalice on the front bottom?