Hey, Winyfrog, glad to see you've finally come to your senses and are going to become a seahorse wrangler! WooT!
:) lol I know it right!
Let's go over the list you've provided. First, about the corals. I don't know enough about each specific coral you've listed but Smitty was totally right anything that stings will be a problem for your ponies. That usually eliminates a lot of the stony corals.
I was pretty sure about that but wanted to hear about others experience . I will move my frogspawn out Also, some of the corals you've listed makes me concerned about the lighting you've got.
I only run VHO's its not to bright and I would be able to add shade for them. Horses can get stressed under intense light. You'll need to provide shade for them if you've got strong lighting system. Good coral choices for seahorse tanks include anything that has branches and doesn't sting. My horses really love the non-stinging gorgonians and the finger typed leather corals. Also, you may want to start looking into branching macro algae. While we're on the stinging subject, you probably want to start getting rid of your hermit crabs and your bristle worms.
Not a problem I have no hermits lol Try to use CUC that doesn't have claws. I've got a few hermits and I'm trying to catch them and move them to my fuge.
Something that is concerning me is your desire to mix seahorses and pipefish. I haven't done this but what I do know is that all pipefish are wild-caught which means they almost certainly have parasites. Most wild-caught seahorses will have parasites too. You'll need to be diligent about quarantine and de-worming all of your new arrivals. The favorite de-worming technique for most seahorse owners is the freshwater dip. I haven't had the need for doing this but I hear it's awful to watch but very effective. Do your research here, I just don't know enough about mixing pipefish and seahorses to give you advice. What I know about pipefish is that they are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to train on frozen foods. Are you ready to provide an assortment of live pods/ shrimps for them?
I do know pipefish, I have kept them for years and have never had any issues in training them to frozen foods. At the moment I have 3 different species types of pipefish (one pair which breeds regularly in my tank) :)
About keeping a group of horses. Horses need to be in 'herds' they are very social animals and they can die if they are all alone in a tank. Mine are happiest when I've got 4-6 and it doesn't matter how much real estate they've got to cover, they hang out together no matter how big or small the tank. I had 4 in my 26 gallon and 5 in my 55 gallon. If you've got a smaller tank, you'll need to be changing water more frequently and you'll need an amazing cleaning system (horses are pigs) but as long as there's a group, you're fine. When I move into my 155 gallon, I'm thinking 10-12 horses maybe 14? We'll see
that was my thoughts. My 180 is pretty self sustaining, thats why I am choosing to do this in my 180 and not my nano's. So do you think 20 + horses? and would I be able to add them at seperate times or will they be territorial to each other
Lastly, which species. I've kept H. erectus and H. reidi. Of those two, my favorite is the erectus. They are very personable, much more hardy and very active horses. The reidi are pretty and they know it, they tend to be posers and they are more temperamental about the slightest change to their environment. There are lots of other species each with their own set of tank needs so I would say to talk to Dan and Abbey at Seahorse Source
Seahorse Source, the ultimate place for captive bred seahorses. great site I have been researching with them for years :) and they will be able to give you good advice on a breed that would be good for you. There is a lot of controversy amongst seahorse keepers about mixing species. Most strongly state that it is very wrong to mix species. From a practical point of view many of them have different needs so you can't. I'll let you make up your own mind on that one. I have erectus and reidi in the same tank, I mixed them before I found out you shouldn't. They are both Atlantic seahorses with similar needs. I won't do it again and I wish I could separate them now but one of my reidi has bonded with an erectus and I feel it would be worse to move them. I agree with the "don't mix" philosophy and I won't do it again.
why would you not mix them again? what challenges have you had with this?
Little fish gave you great advice, take the class offered by Pete Giwonja. They are awesome, FREE, classes and they will cover everything you need to know about these beautiful animals!
Welcome aboard!
C