Reef Central Online Community

Go Back   Reef Central Online Community > Marine Fish Forums > Seahorses & Pipefish
Blogs FAQ Calendar Mark Forums Read

Notices

User Tag List

Reply
Thread Tools
Unread 12/02/2019, 05:48 PM   #1
ThePurple12
Registered Member
 
ThePurple12's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Virginia
Posts: 506
Question Why can you keep pipefish in warmer temperatures, but not seahorses?

They're both pretty much the same except for shape, so why can pipefish thrive in 80 degree water and not seahorses/why does vibrio affect seahorses much more than pipefish?

Is it because pipefish aren't captive-bred and come straight from the tropical ocean and seahorses, generally being captive-bred, have adapted to cooler temperatures?

Or maybe wild caught pipefish and seahorses just have stronger immune systems from being exposed to vibrio?

Anyone know?


ThePurple12 is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 12/04/2019, 11:37 AM   #2
rayjay
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: London, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 3,969
IMO, the MAIN reason is that seahorses just don't have as great an immune system as the pipe fish. They are MUCH more susceptible to pathogens than pipe fish are, especially bacteria related.


__________________
Seahorses. Culture nanno, rotifers and brine shrimp.

Current Tank Info: Seahorses
rayjay is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 12/06/2019, 05:19 AM   #3
ThRoewer
Registered Member
 
ThRoewer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Fremont, CA
Posts: 9,555
There are many families and species of pipefish and a large number of them are actually found in subtropical or temperate waters, and some even in freshwater. Seahorses, on the other hand, are predominantly found in tropical and equatorial waters. And most seahorse species prefer shallower waters with seagrass meadows. Just based on that I would think that seahorses should want it warmer and not cooler than pipefish.

The reason why people generally suggest to keep seahorses cooler is that seahorse tanks are much "dirtier" (more bacteria due to uneaten food and rather low flow) than their natural habitats (which should btw. be significantly "dirtier" than reef biotopes.)


__________________
Pairs: 4 percula, 3 P. kauderni, 3 D. excisus, 1 ea of P. diacanthus, S. splendidus, C. altivelis O. rosenblatti, D. janssi, S. yasha & a Gramma loreto trio
3 P. diacanthus. 2 C. starcki

Current Tank Info: 200 gal 4 tank system (40x28x24 + 40B + 40B sump tank + 20g refugium) + 30x18x18 mixed reef + 20g East Pacific biotop + 20g FW +...
ThRoewer is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 12/06/2019, 11:51 AM   #4
rayjay
Registered Member
 
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: London, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 3,969
Actually, seahorse tanks should have great flow, with areas of high medium and low flow and hitching in each area so that they can chose just where to be at any given time. Normal recommendation is at least 10X tank volume but many of us long term keepers have flows of 20X and more.
Many seahorses come from waters that are higher in temperatures but their water is always changing. In our tanks, everything is captive including the bacteria beds that cause the seahorses so much trouble. Excessive cleaning and larger more frequent water changes help to alleviate the "dirty" water they create, but also we keep the temperatures cooler to lessen the grow of those bacteria. (68°-74°F)
Bacteria multiply EXPONENTIALLY with each rising degree, and it becomes much more problematic when temperature gets above 74°.


__________________
Seahorses. Culture nanno, rotifers and brine shrimp.

Current Tank Info: Seahorses
rayjay is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 12/08/2019, 06:52 AM   #5
ThePurple12
Registered Member
 
ThePurple12's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Virginia
Posts: 506
Thanks, your answers make sense


ThePurple12 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:17 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Use of this web site is subject to the terms and conditions described in the user agreement.
Reef CentralTM Reef Central, LLC. Copyright ©1999-2022
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.