Seahorse compatibility question

[hallzy]

I have never tried to care for a seahorse before and wanted to give it a try, but im not sure if it would be compatible with what I already have in my tank. First off its a 29 gallon tank, no special lighting or anything. I only have one fish, a percula clown, and I have a fire shrimp, cleaner shrimp, 2 camelback shrimp, and a brittle starfish, and of course my cleanup crew of some snails and hermits.
Would a seahorse be able to get along in this tank, or would some of my other inhabitants not take very kindly to him? I local pet store has tank raised seahorses for 20 bucks! But I didn't want to take the employees "i think it would be ok" advice before I bought.
Also is there anything else special i need to get or do before getting a seahorse? Like i said, im new to them, and i know they can be very finiky! Any help would be greatly appriciated! Thanks!

 

[reefnutpa]

Just to caution you... tank raised DOES NOT mean captive bred. Treat tank raised the same as wild caught - meaning you will need to QT and de-worm them.
IMO clowns are not suitable tank mates. Their erratic swimming patterns and semi-aggressive behavior (remember...they are in the damsel family) during feeding time can make seahorses stressed.
Peppermint shrimp are usually ok as tankmates, the cleaner shrimp can become problematic if they try to "clean" the seahorses...again, resulting in a stressful situation.
My best advise, if you want to try seahorses would be to find true captive bred seahorses direct from a breeder/hobbyist.
Tom

 

[hallzy]

Thank you for the input! A couple more questions tho.... What do you mean by de-worm them? Ive never heard of that? How does that work? I have a QT tank, just let me know what I need to do! Im not getting the seahorse now since I have the clown, but I would like to know for later reference.
Also, I dont have peppermint shrimp, i have camelbacks. I know they are similar but not quite the same. Are they still ok with a horse?
And my cleaner shrimp I have had for quite some time, and he has never tried to "clean" anyone that Ive had in there! Kind of annoyed me because thats the reason I got him, but I guess its a goof thing now since I want to eventually try horses! But besides him stressing him out if he tries to clean him, does the shrimp pose any other trheats to a seahorse?

 

[ann83]

Deworming is treating for internal parasites. Typically, deworming in seahorses is a 9 week process. You spend 3 weeks on each of three antiparisitic meds (praziquantel, metronidazole, and fenbendazole). One day each week, you feed two meals of adult brine shrimp gutloaded with the antiparasitic med; doing 3 consecutive weeks with each medication. I would also do prophylactic freshwater dips on any WC or TR seahorses that you buy.
To be honest, though, some things that WC and TR seahorses come in with cannot be treated with dewormings and freshwater dips. They may suffer from pathogens for weeks or months before coming down with symptoms of protozoan or bacterial infections that are sometimes untreatable by any means, or require expensive medicines for treatment. Sometimes, the illness is so virulent it requires a complete tear-down of your system to rid the pathogen from your tank and make it habitable for new fish. Granted, this isn't "common", but it isn't winning-the-lottery-rare either. For that reason, its really a much safer bet to buy true captive bred from a breeder that you're familiar with and trust.