Seahorse CUC

N

nyc joe

Guest
PIX soon.
I have a 60 cube with a decent amount of live and dead rock, 50/50% 2 walls slanted and lots of crevaces, caves etc. .Just got a sump that I just put in. 20 gal.
So. I do want this to be sort of a community tank with seahorses as the main focus.
I was planning to do 4- 6 seahorses. (over time)
Starting with 2 first.
but am interested in starting to put a cleaner crew. (when all is done cycling) about next month or so.
I know i would like snails and such but which ones?
Im keeping the numbers low for now until i see what needs what etc. but ideally i would like to know whole number.
ie; 50 snails etc. ( but i want to know how much now and how much later? 10 nass, snails now- 20 ideally later.
short list.
-10-20 snails of some sort.
cerith, cowrie, astrea, nerite, nass.,
can someone explain which one does what?
-1-5 hermits?
halloween, blueleg, jade, scarlet,
which ones arent aggresive?
-2 emerald crabs?
1 up top, 1 in the sump. think seahorses would mind?
maybe another crab? decorator?
-3 Shrimps?
cleaner, will this guy be too stressful on the horsies?
pistols- bullseye, randalli, tiger , caribbean?
camel?
to maybe form a relation with each other? or a goby or blenny?
if you had to pick 3 which ones?, or can i eventually have more in the tank. like 5?
-2 cleaner clams
i can get these local for a buck at a supermarket.
-few sand sifter stars
maybe that small star that looks like the large guys?
serpent, brittle? id rather get the tiny ones.
i dont know, you dont see them anyway.
-1 little bear conch?
-Any other interesting creature that i may have missed?
Well all in all im just looking for variety.
Anything that becomes Bad or evil can go in the sump.
I do like different things to look at, and was careful in making sure i dont have any wierd hitchers. ( i have none basically)
i would like to introduce copepods around this time too. half sump and half tank.
Thank you in advance for helping me put together a wide variety and assorted clean up crew.
please let me know you thoughts and compatibility issues.
-Joe
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
10-20 snails of some sort.cerith, cowrie, astrea, nerite, nass.,
can someone explain which one does what
cerith and nerite -These snails will consume diatoms, detritus, cyano and algae in the substrate as well as on rocks, and glass
Nassarius Vibex- sand sifters-do not eat algea, but left over food
I have these along with a few astrea
I was planning to do 4- 6 seahorses. (over time)
Starting with 2 first. (What species are you planning on)
Be sure to get them all from the sam breeder and only captive bred
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
crabs- avoid if posible, I have a few small blue legs that are slowly being moved to my big tank because they are getting to big. Stick with Scarlet if you really want hermits.
Emeralds-check compatibility chart- they are questionable.
shrimp-stick to pepermints - but remember that seahorses natural food is shrimp (be sure to get lrg ones)
pistols- bullseye, randalli, tiger , caribbean -never owned one, but they are a 1 on the chart so should be ok, just watch them
Cleaner clams, everyone I have ever had dies in a short time. stick with Nass snails to sift sand.
No brittle stars unless they are the tiny hitchhiker type
T
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
I've got a little experience in this as well:
little bear / "florida fighting" conchs are OK for a seahorse tank...I had 2 in my 37g horse tank. They're not the most active of critters during the day, but they cruise around the sandbed at night looking for uneaten food and algae. I like them cause they're known to eat cyano off of the sand bed. My fighting conchs have also been known to eat...umm, seahorse "gastric leftovers," if you catch my drift. ;-)
Nass. Snails, as already commented, are great for seahorse tanks. They do a great job of stirring the sand, though they won't keep the sandbed "clean."
When I started keeping horses, I had a single green emerald crab in the tank. It stayed there for about a month...until I saw it reach out and take a swipe at a passing seahorse tail. The crab missed, but he was out of the tank within minutes of that little attempt. Remember all crabs, even the so-called "safe" ones, are opportunistic feeders, and omnivorous....even emerald crabs will catch and kill a slow moving fish if it can. If you're concerned with hair algae, a few mexican turbo snails, or a sea hare, will service that need more effectively anyway -- just make sure your rock is secure.
I've had better luck with dwarf hermit crabsthan Teresa apparently...I kept three of four blue-leg hermits in the horse tank with no issues to the horses. I have one hermit that took a liking to Zooanthid polyps, though!! Just be very watchful about any hermits. Remember that sometimes you can get a batch of murderous little buggers who will kill and eat your entire snail population. I've not had too many problems with this, but I know it can be an issue.
I also keep nerites and turban snails in the 37, both species are commonly known to graze on the glass and rock for film algae and that sort of thing.
If I was to make a suggestion, I'd recommend that you not worry too much about the dwarf hermit crabs and focus on a snail and (possibly) nudibranch CUC. Bumblebee snails do after leftover food just like the hermits do, as do peppermint shrimp. Teresa mentioned the issue with seahorses and peppermint shrimps...and she's absolutely correct. I went through three peps before I found one large enough to stay off the horse's evening menu, and I gotta tell you I had to find a monster of a pepshrimp in order to do that. You'll be shocked and amazed at the size of shrimps most adult horses can suck down. Good luck!
 
N

nyc joe

Guest
for snails ill do an assortment.
a little for this, a little for that.
For the shrimps, i was actually worried about the shrimps attacking the seahorse. didnt know they can suck them down pretty easily.
any problems with pistols, or mixing a few?
Ill probably get a hermit or 2.
I can always banish them to the sump!
was recommended the red ones, but how are the halloween and zebra?
gonna be careful with the emerald.
but i still have the sump, so ill keep my eye on them.
conch. ill get 2.
what is this nudibranch, off to research i go!
thanx again
guys and girls!
-Joe
 
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