any species that would work with this

[bfin3]

I have a 20 Gallon picoaquariums starphire tank I am considering selling but would love to have macros and seahorses in it. Seems to be too small for most of these guys and I can't put the time in to have live foods for the dwarfs. Is there a species that could do well as a pair in this tank that is obtainable?

[rayjay]

Well the 20 is a WAY too big for dwarfs anyway, unless you want a couple hundred of them.
At one time H. fuscus were available but unless I've missed something lately, I haven't seen any available for a long time now.

[bfin3]

where would I look?

[rayjay]

Sorry, I just don't know.
I guess all you can do is Google the term H. fuscus and see if something shows up.
Normally though I think I would have seen something posted on the "org" if any surfaced recently.

[bfin3]

Yea I'm not seeing much about them in the last 5 years. I don't understand why they would be easily available and then disappear.

[enchelycore808]

If u can find Fisheri, they'd be great in a 20g. Kinda in between dwarfs and full sized seahorses. They get about 4" stretched out and are pretty hardy.

[rayjay]

Like fuscus, they haven't been around North American tanks for a few years now.

[SantaMonica]

20 too big, but does that hurt anything?

[rayjay]

A twenty is too small for standard seahorses but a WAY too big for dwarfs.
You can put 3 or 4 dwarfs on a sliver dollar.
With dwarfs, the biggest problem is the fact they don't normally hunt for their food, but rather sit perched waiting for it to come close enough to them to snick it up.
For a large tank that means a WAY too many enriched brine shrimp nauplii have to be placed in the tank to ensure a density that gives them sufficient food in a feeding.
Then, before the next feeding you need to remove the uneaten food because the nutrient levels decrease too fast to leave them in for the next feeding.
You remove, then replace with newly enriched nauplii.

[bfin3]

well this is a huge bummer.

[enchelycore808]

Ever thought of pipefish?

[bfin3]

I didn't think this tank could handle any pipefish.

[enchelycore808]

Could handle a pair of blue stripes.

[bfin3]

That would be cool. Would I be able to maintain enough pods?

[rayjay]

Not for an only food supply.

[enchelycore808]

Yea u would have to supplement the tank. If nobody sells pods locally u might have to grow your own. To be honest I've never had one that wouldn't switch over to frozen. In fact most of mine started eating frozen the day I caught them. It is however, best not to assume that they will switch over so be ready with a backup source of pods or in an emergency, brine. Don't use brine long term though.

[bfin3]

I Could definitely do frozen. Or pull pods out of my reef

[rayjay]

You have to be sure the pods you add to the pipefish tank are ones that they are going to consume. Not all pod species are suitable to all fish, and, you have to have ones appropriately sized for the size of the mouth of the fish you wish to feed.