can i add sea horses to my tank???

[becka]

I need advice about adding sea horses to my sw tank its a 20 gallon, i have 5 turbo snails, two cleaner shrimp, two flamed scallops and 1 sifting star, ls ,lr coralife light my tank has been running for 3 months any advice is appreciated thank you becka

 

[grimlock3000]

Probably not with the shrimp in there. Just about anything that moves will get to food faster than a Seahorse.

 

[becka]

Ok i see, well do you happen to have any suggestions of what would be a good thing to add? I am nervous because i lost three of my babies by overstocking i think so now i am scared thanks for your time becka

 

[grimlock3000]

Well to be honest you have a few things in there you would not normally want in a 20g tank. The Flame Scallops are notoriously difficult to keep alive even in the best environments and can pollute the water when the die. The Sand Sifting Star will basically go digging around in your substrate eating the beneficial pods and other creatures (worm) that live in there. In a 20g, one Star can do a good job of preventing sandbed life from spreading like it should.

 

[becka]

Wow i had no idea! I was told to get the star because i had an algea outburst and the turbo snails together would be a good mixture to get it gone and wow did it work!
So should i get rid of it? the scallops are accually the most healthy looking thing in there at this point,and need to know what else i can put in this tank that would thrive, my live rock is looking good but how long til it grows stuff?
I really want sea horses but i see from the posts thats not a good idea more help is need for poor me
should i get rid of the scallops too? i really want odd looking creatures not nemo and dori everyone has those cuties!
how about octopus or something like that?

 

[steve r]

unfortunatley your sandsifitng star will most likely die in a 20g. the are big eaters and will quickly eat all the life in your sand. nassarius snails do a great job of stirring the sand bed and cleaning up. a brittle or serpent star would be a good choice. they keep the surface of the sand bed cleaned up pretty good. seahorses are a pretty specialized animal. they like a pretty big tank. a square or tall tank seems to work good. they also like a good amount of macro algae to wraps their tails around and hang out in. a gentle but substantial flow ( more volume than direct streams of water ). like grimlock said, jut about anything will get to food faster than them. they eat pods, and like live food. very similar to a mandarin dragonette.

as far as what you can have in a 20g that is odd looking...
firefish are kind of odd with their tall spike. bi color blennies kind of look like a horse in the face and are fun. i am not sure about the size requirments, but possum banded wrasses are pretty strange looking. an urchin is also pretty cool.

octopus are very aggressive and escape artisits. they are generally not suggested for the home aquarium.

sorry for the long post
steve r

 

[becka]

Never say sorry for the long post i really needed all that info! Thank you very much!! I am going to print it out and use it as a shopping guide! Any info is VERY appreciated!! Becka

 

[quarryshark]

Agree with all of the above. Take a look at out guide, may give you some ideas.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/SWCompatibility.php

Here is a crazy thought. Why not take back the shrimp and star and set up a species tank for the horses?
Here is a good article, can give you an idea if you really want to go that direction.
http://www.syngnathid.org/articles/stockingLevels.html

BTW, welcome to AA!!

 

[becka]

Hi thank you for the welcome i am going to go to those sites and do reserch i also have 2 sea scallops would they be ok with sea horses?

 

[becka]

Hi thank you for the welcome i am going to go to those sites and do reserch i also have 2 sea scallops would they be ok with sea horses?

 

[quarryshark]

i also have 2 sea scallops

Are you refering to Flame Scallops? Like mentioned above, they have a dismal survivial record in captivity. Not a good aquarium candidate IMO>
I have never kept Horses and I understand they are a lot of work, but it would be a cool, unusual tank if you went for it.
Here are a couple more links.
http://www.seahorses.de/seahorses.htm
http://www.seahorse.org/index.shtml

 

[grimlock3000]

Ask the LFS if you can trade in the Scallops for something else when you get rid of the Sifting Star. At this point, it might be a good idea to get rid of those before you start having trouble with them in your aquarium. With the Scallops, many times they just die no matter what you do or how perfect the tank water is.

Also, you may want to look into a different LFS

 

[becka]

You know i was thinking the same thing about the lfs i will not got there again! you know you guys are all so great to take time and help me like this i have been printing everything out and learning so much! I will probably have lots more questions so dont forget me thanks Becka