Hi there, I'm Henn. There are some good questions here that have been issues for my Dwarf Seahorses. Regular Seahorses need too much depth for my Marine Ponds. There are now three separate breeding populations in three Corrals ( Dwarfs seahorses are called Ponys here ). Please be patient with a new member, when I feel that something needs to be cleared for the good of the Ponys.
The only safe crew are snails and Lettuce Nudibranch. Every type of shrimp gets aggressive eventually. After catching crabs in the act of hunting, they are out. One pony thought it was fun to be sucked in by a large Tube Worm then spit out. One wrong move and bent tail. They are the only fish passive enough to be hand captured in the main pond and returned to the floating corral. They will eventually fall afoul of any active tank mates. The system used here is to have the ponies live in a black mesh with only snails and Lettuce Nudibranches. The Nudibranch eat the hair algae and clean the Mesh. All the live Pony food comes off the stuff living on the mesh. It is the only way to cover all the size requirements from fry to adult. The Brittle Stars, Urchins, crabs, fish, and Peppermint Shrimp live outside the mesh. In a Tank I would recommend a folded black Tulle backdrop with the Ponys up front with their crew and any nasty crew in back. The reason for the Peppermint Shrimp is Hydras. One small sting will cause a sore on a Pony. Aptasia are only one type that will occur. Only Peppermint Shrimp have ever been effective at clearing the 750 gallons here. There are about 5 Shrimp per 250 gallon pond. Stay away from Cleaner Shrimp. One finished off a large Pony body in 5 minutes and only Peppermint Shrimp do Aptasia. My Brittle Stars are over 10 inches and might grab a Pony. One thing about Ponys is that catching them is easy, they don't panic. They can live for hours in a small display tank while you clean the main tank. Until they got natural forage on the Mesh the Fry survival was very low. Now it is very high and without extra effort.
