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Feeding Issues
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Seahorses and hippo tangs have conflicting feeding habits. Seahorse slowly, patiently swim after the small crustaceans they dine on. Tangs are mostly vegetarians who eagerly feed on small live foods. And they will do so faster than seahorses, snapping up food before the seahorses can. This makes it hard for seahorses to get enough food to survive in an aquarium with a hippo tang.
Aquarium Size
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Seahorses and tangs require very different aquariums. Hippo tangs can grow to longer than a foot and need a tank with a capacity of hundreds of gallons to accommodate them. Meanwhile, seahorses are one of the few saltwater aquarium creatures that require a smaller tank, since it helps concentrate their food. Large species of seahorses need tanks smaller than 30 gallons, while small species like the dwarf seahorse can get lost in a tank any larger than 10 gallons.
Water Movement
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Seahorses and hippo tangs have very different requirements in terms of water movement. Hippo tangs require well-oxygenated water with a strong current to support their active metabolism. Conversely, seahorses are weak swimmers who have a hard time fighting against any but the mildest of currents. A tank with a weak enough current for seahorses would not support a hippo tang, and vice versa.
Size
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On top of everything else, a hippo tang will get large enough to eat most species of seahorses. Though mostly vegetarian, tangs will eat smaller creatures, and some seahorses are small enough. Even if the tang does not prey on the seahorses, sharing a tank with a larger, faster-swimming fish will stress the seahorse out. Stress weakens fish like seahorses and makes them more prone to illness. Under stress like that, a seahorse may also stop eating.
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Can Hippo Tangs Live With Seahorses?
Seahorses do not share aquariums well. They have unusual care and housing requirements for saltwater species. Meanwhile, the hippo tang has more standard requirements. For a number of reasons, these two fish should never share an aquarium.