looking for a good dwarf seahorse source

[Jack_Maturin]

Can anyone point me in the direction of someone who will ship these to Canada?

[reef-keeper]

Seahorse corral. They are in Florida. That is where I got mine. Very very expensive. Even higher now with the exchange rate.

[Myka]

There was an LFS in Ontario that was importing from Seahorse Corral. I'm not sure if he's still doing it - I'll try to figure out who that was. There is a minimum 100 pony order from Seahorse Corral, so it's not really retail-friendly. :)

You could try contacting Seahorse Canada who raise Erectus, and ask if they know a Canadian source for Dwarfs. Google it, they have a website, but I can't post a link to a non-supporting vendor. Reef Boutique in Toronto has a Facebook page with recent pics of Erectus too.

Maybe rayjay will reply soon, he knows the LFS.

[rayjay]

Ken at Sea U Marine in Markham Ontario started bringing in seahorses from Beth of seahorse corral in Florida after my initial order.
I don't think he will be bringing them in now with the price of the dollar that would make dwarfs probably about $60 each now. The erectus would now be about $100 or more each.
Seahorse Canada started their program with erectus that I brought in years ago.

[Myka]

Ken at Sea U Marine in Markham Ontario started bringing in seahorses from Beth of seahorse corral in Florida after my initial order.
I don't think he will be bringing them in now with the price of the dollar that would make dwarfs probably about $60 each now. The erectus would now be about $100 or more each.
Seahorse Canada started their program with erectus that I brought in years ago.

Thanks Ray. I couldn't remember which LFS it was. The dollar situation sucks, but fish prices are higher from all over the world, so maybe he will bring the ponies in anyway.

[rayjay]

I doubt that he will because to make it profitable he has to be able to sell a lot of them and it's already hard here in Ontario to sell at the old prices.
A 100 lot order would not make him any money as his orders typically were in the multiple hundreds.

[Jack_Maturin]

Thanks for the quick replies. I checked out seahorse corral and they look to have closed up their business recently according to the "about us" section on their facebook page.

I'll keep looking. I may have to do some cold calling to places in Florida, but then you never know what you are going to get. If people are breeding them anywhere in Canada, it should be easy to ship if Reptiles express still has their fish/marine division going. Maybe there is a breeder somewhere in Canada? Not that I can find on google.

[Bill@IA]

I don't have any Dwarf Seahorses but I can ship you Captive Bred/Tank Raised Seahorses. Here is the link to order: http://www.incredibleaquarium.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=31_304&products_id=3710

[Myka]

Thanks for the quick replies. I checked out seahorse corral and they look to have closed up their business recently according to the "about us" section on their facebook page.

I'll keep looking. I may have to do some cold calling to places in Florida, but then you never know what you are going to get. If people are breeding them anywhere in Canada, it should be easy to ship if Reptiles express still has their fish/marine division going. Maybe there is a breeder somewhere in Canada? Not that I can find on google.

That's too bad about Seahorse Corral.

You won't get anyone to ship them to you from the US. Seahorses are CITES protected (like hard corals, clams, and live rock), so they take a lot more time and effort for the shipper to ship across the border than typical fish. This is the same reason why you can never find a US vendor that will ship corals to you across the border.

[reef-keeper]

My order took 6 months to get everything in order.

[Jack_Maturin]

It won't be my first rodeo with a CITES import. I know it will take time, effort, and cash. I'm honestly starting now in the hopes that something can be accomplished by fall. Maybe I'll get lucky.

[rayjay]

As of early last year, Beth at seahorse corral was the ONLY business in the US that would take the trouble to ship captive bred seahorses to hobbyists in Canada.
I tried to get Dan Underwood of seahorse source to do it but he says it's too much work to do for what he sells them for, and, he is able to sell all he produces in the US anyway so there is no incentive to think about out of US sales.

[Myka]

It won't be my first rodeo with a CITES import. I know it will take time, effort, and cash. I'm honestly starting now in the hopes that something can be accomplished by fall. Maybe I'll get lucky.

The trouble is finding a vendor that will do it because it's THEIR effort and time, not yours. :)

[Jack_Maturin]

I am well aware. I've done imports with CITES before. It's a pain logistically but I've never had a problem finding a source. I've got one possible now, and perhaps a second if I can locate the provider I used last year. I just asked here in case someone had some sources already in place.
Thanks for the tip on seahorse corral. I don't know why they went out of business, but it happened recently as they had posts as recent as august regarding stock.

[rayjay]

Be sure to let us know if you have success.

[shiftline]

Did you happen to find any sources within canada? I'm in the hunt for some dwarf seahorses as well!

[Doug's fish]

Jack are you still on here?