Seahorses

[corper]

Can anyone tell me the deal with seahorses. I've read that they should be in a species only tank. Is this true? If not, what types of marine fish can they be kept with?

Cory

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Sorry in advance for the long story.....

Having kept many seahorses over the years, under different situations, the most important thing is getting your seahorse to eat frozen mysis. If its stuck on live food, then you are probably going to lose them whether in a species or community tank. If you keep them with other fish, they like small, slow moving fish that won't gobble up all the food before they get to it. In general, seahorses are very slow eaters; although, mine seem to be the exception to the rule. My original male, when he was only 4 inches, would suck up a floating mysis before my elongate tang (think sohol or clown but with blue colouration) could gulp it down. Really funny to watch the tang trying to figure out where his snack went.

However, if you wish to breed them, get them their own tank because everything else seem to thick baby seahorses are just the perfect little appies. :cry:

Mine are now in a 33 g with cleaner/peppermint shrimps & an Indonesian purple tang (a Kole tang without the stripes or eye-ring) who will soon be leaving.

All this is moot because unless you are willing to buy 12 or more at a time, your LFS won't bring in seahorses since there is now a CITES ban on their open importation. They would have to pay a license fee to import them & you'd have to put up the money upfront for the doz. or so seahorses for most LFS to consider it.

When I get a bigger tank (200+g plexi) for my fish, I plan to convert my 100g into a Seahorse Ranch :biggrin: If you're gonna dream, dream big & expensive :lol:

My LFS will bring in my doz. for me, but it'll be a big dent on the VISA :eek: :cry:

PM me if you want me to contact you when I do this (won't be for a few months).

[corper]

Thanks! I was not aware their was a ban on seahorses. I'll keep in touch about the seahorses. What kind are you planning on breeding?

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Whatever species I can get :biggrin:

Seriously, they'll most likely come in as black Kudas or Reidis but my plan is to bring in 10 blks (m & f) & 2 prs of coloured (hopefully reds or oranges).

Unfortunately, still have to convince wife about the merits of a huge fish tank, so I can convert the 100g into the Shieh Seahorse Ranch :biggrin:

Anthony

[corper]

I hear ya on that one. I'm still trying to convince my wife that a 150gl would be better than a 72gl. Good luck! :lol:

[Beverly]

Corey,

Before you decide to keep seahorses, read EVERYTHING you can about them, both in books and on the internet. Buy only captive bred and not wild caught. CB will eat frozen foods much more readily than WC. Use a feeding station for feeding, so the SHs will have a better chance of eating throughout the day, which is their normal mode of eating.

I kept seahorses at one time and still have a load of info about them at my website:

http://www.lostmymarblz.com/hippocampushaven.htm

Join a forum or two and READ, READ, READ :biggrin:

[corper]

Thanks Beverly. I always try to read as much as I can, but a lot of the articles I read contradict(?) each other. I find even the people I speak to at the fish stores all seem to have a different opinion. Thats why I always take my questions to the fine members of canreef for the final say.

Cory

[Beverly]

OMG, don't talk to anybody at the lfs about SHs :eek: They know next to nothing and will sell you wild caught animals that will only eat live food :eek: Many WC SHs will die before they are ever trained to eat frozen :cry:

[corper]

Tell me about it. When I first got into saltwater fish I actually trusted the guy at my local fish store :confused:. Then I started doing my own research (should have from the start) and realized everything he was selling me couldn't even survive in a new setup, or could only be fed live food :sad: . Now I research every fish and invert I put into the tank :idea: .

All the fish and inverts in my tank have a job to do. I think thats what keeps my so interested in saltwater vs. fresh water. The fish don't just eat, get fat and float around the tank. They're always bussy doing something, looking after their own mini reef I created for them :mrgreen: .

Cory

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

What I have found is that if you have at least one seahorse trained to eat frozen mysis, it will train the others. I bought one on Monday morning, by the afternoon my veteran male had taught the little female to eat mysis. He taught 3 of them so far, so I'm hoping that the ones I have will teach any new ones. (If not, I'm willing to raise live brine shrimp & mysis shrimp like I used to before.) I read postings from some petshops in the States that related how they've had the same experience. That as long as they keep some trained seahorses that are already feeding, those will show the new arrivals how to eat.

Before my male learned to eat frozen, I had gone through some in the past that I had to raise brine shrimp & keep my tank loaded with live pods & mysis. They also require way too much TLC for most keepers. Even mine still require me to use a turkey baster to target feed them 2-3 times a day. If you're not willing to put in that kind of effort, skip seahorses & keep lower maintenance species. As a tutor, I spend large parts of my day at home so my lifestyle/career choice fits in with feeding & raising seahorses. Most don't. :sad:

My dream is to start a captive breeding program & produce Canadian-born seahorses. :biggrin: Some dream of winning a lottery, others dream of owning their own home, I dream of winning a lottery to buy a home that will house a whole collection of seahorse ranches :biggrin: :biggrin:

If you're gonna dream, dream BIG!!!