Seahorse with clown?

[meeks101]

I really want a seahorse! I wanted one before but people said they couldn't survive in a tank with my clownfish. I had two but one died of ich. I am going to get another one though. On my previous thread someone said you could feed clownfish on one side of the tank and a seahorse on the other and they would be fine. Is this true? The type of clownfish I have is a ocellaris clown, and I'm going to get another occelaris. Is there another way I could keep a seahorse? Please help! If you don't know you could just give your opinion.

 

[teresaq]

my opinion is yes you could if the clowns were babies, and the horses were adults. but as clowns grow and mature they can become aggressive. Alot would also depend on the size of the tank. The bigger the tank the better the sucess would be. If you decide to do it, just be prepared to remove either the clowns or the horse if problems come up. Also you wouldnt be able to have any type of amemone.
T

 

[zeke92]

I'm not disagreeing or agreeing wiht teresa here. but this is a highly debatable question.
i think 75% or so of the people here will say no to an adult clown and an adult horse..
I kept a dwarf seahorse (RIP Belle) with my full grown clown in a 10 gallon. They both got along great. They usually staid on other sides of the tank due to her favorite hitching post and his pot. But even when they were right next to each other the horse could be all over him and he wouldn't care a bit. He mostly ate pellets i gave him so my horse didn't have to worry about being out-eaten with brine shrimp.
So some people may say yes and others no..it really depends on the horse and the clown i supose. mine was a false perc.
So you could try it or you could be safe and not try it, but IMO, the only way to know is to try.
I have heard true percs are more aggressive then false, and that false are the least aggressive of there species..so that might have an affect to it.

 

[teresaq]

if you look at the compatability chart that was writen by seveal horse keepers, fps are a 3 and all otheres are a 4. 3s are questionable.
T

 

[meeks101]

Yeah, I read that but I realy wanted one so I wanted to see if there was another way I could keep clowns and seahorses together. I have a occelaris clown and they aren't aggresive so I'm going to try it, if it doesn't work I'l take the seahose out.

 

[meeks101]

What kind of seahorse should I get?

 

[reefnutpa]

The answer is still - no, it's not advisable It's not the clownfish picking on the seahorse that is the issue (although an aggressive clown would be a concern). It's the erratic movement and aggressive feeding pattern of the clownfish that is an issue. Those with clowns and other fish with their seahorses often find the seahorses are much more stationary (stay hitched most of the time) as opposed to those with seahorse-only tanks where the seahorses are swimming all over the tank. Fish stress out the seahorses and make them feel unsafe and more shy. Sometimes resulting in the seahorse being hesitant to eat as well as it should.
Again, it's not a matter of fish beating them up - it's just the presence of the fish in the tank that can be an issue.
But, since you're going to go against the advice and try it anyway, I wish you the best of luck. Just remember....clownfish are just damsels in fancy suits
Tom

 

[meeks101]

If I feed them on the other side of the tank it's not going to be an issue, right?

 

[teresaq]

no nessaseraly, especially if your clown get aggresive.
What size tank is this??
T

 

[zeke92]

i think this question is like asking if two false perc clowns will get along..it really depends on the fish.

 

[pete159]

false perc clowns should be fine. My ponies eat off the bottom of the tank and the fish from the top

 

[reefnutpa]

What species of seahorse do you have, Pete? Sorta look like Kuda - but they shouldn't be black like that....unless they are stressed out. Perhaps by having fish like a hawkfish and clownfish in with them Most Kuda/Reidi are shades of yellow, orange, red, sometimes golden brown. Rarely black if all is well.
Tom

 

[pete159]

they are black reidi and change from black to a lighter shade all the time, they hitch to the hawkfish sometimes if its near them and get along fine with everything in the tank. captive bred seahorse will get along with anything that does not bother them.

 

[reefnutpa]

That is a gorgeous male! I never had luck rearing Reidi fry Wish I did because Reidi are awesome seahorses. I tried various methods and still couldn't get any past a few weeks. Part/most of it is the lack of time I can spend daily on the tanks due to work. Erectus seem to fit my schedule better for some reason - bbs is easier to hatch than culturing rotifers lol. Maybe someday I'll give Reidi a try again......
Tom

 

[jerryatrick]

Meeks101, why experiment? If you really wanted this type of species you would find a way to make sure they thrived. As stated above, clownfish are damsels. I can't feed my clownfish enough to keep it away when I am feeding my corals. A clownfish is a poor choice of fish to be housed with a seahorse. Just because one hobbyist seems to able to keep both does not mean you are a lock to do so. Nothing is a sure bet in saltwater but you have to play the percentages. IMO you are rolling the dice by introducing a seahorse.

 

[zeke92]

well jeri your not the only one in the world. like me and others said some clowns get along fine with horses and have no issues at all.
if people didn't experiment and see what likes what, we would have ONLY species-only tanks because no one would know what likes what and everyone would be afraid to try.

 

[jerryatrick]

Originally Posted by zeke92
http:///forum/post/2742461
well jeri your not the only one in the world. like me and others said some clowns get along fine with horses and have no issues at all.
if people didn't experiment and see what likes what, we would have ONLY species-only tanks because no one would know what likes what and everyone would be afraid to try.
I completly agree with everything you said. There are things that I do in saltwater that are not conventional. I just never preach my unconventional practices because just because it worked for me doesn't mean it will work for someone else (cliche I know).

 

[zeke92]

yah yeah i agree. i didn't mean to come off rude or defensive.
The only thing you can really do with things like this is try. But sometimes it's ot always worth the risk, and sometimes it is (unless the risk is death).

 

[dse]

imo if your new to keeping swt i would not keep a sea horse. at least get over 1 year experiance then if your still into the hobby/horses then try it out. remember know thy tank.

 

[pete159]

there are many types of clown fish. captive bred percula clowns are friendly fish that never bother anything. I don't know about other kinds as i have not kept them but percs are fine with captive bred seahorse and mainly eat flake food. long nose hawkfish are also really good as are purple firefish. Anything that will not pick on the ponies or eat their food is fine with captive bred seahorse. good luck raising the fry from reidi, they are so small that within 24 hours they are all gone. They need their own tank and alot of work but i might give it a try one day.