Seahorses at Oceans Floor gave birth

[abfleck]

Dave's seahourses at Oceans Floor gave birth today. Approxiamtely 50-60 ponies (fry) were swimming around the globe tank that Dave the the seahorses in. I decided to take the challenge and see if I can raise a few. Dave gave me a few and said that they were already eating like champs.

I got home and put the fry into a fish bowl. I began aerating the bowl and put a small heater in it. The seahorses seem to like Bio plankton that Dave was feeding. I gave a feeding a try at home and they seem to like the bio-plankton and go crazy.

I need some more direction on these guys.

KAREN and Yvette I know that you two are into seahorses.......give a fellow reefer some direction.


THANKS

AJ

[yahutch]

what type/breed of seahorse ( makes a big difference on their fry care ) . were the parents captive bred or wild ? most feed their baby seahorses feshly hatched bbs ( depends on the breed ) . some supplement with cyclop-eeze ( which is in the marine plankton you are feeding ) but they will need more than that . seahorses prefer cooler temps , so the heater may not be nec. also they will start to hitch to it and get burns.I would suggest reading up at seahorses.org .... as specific ?'s come up I will try to be more helpful.

[yahutch]

I am guessing by the low fry count that they are Erectus. if they are that will be easier on you . do they appear to be hitching ( grabbing onto things with their tails ) or are they just floating around?

[abfleck]

yvette,

I am having a brain fart on the species, but could possibly either one. I believe the seahorses are captive bred and they were only together in the tank for only two weeks. They are doing very well in the globe tank at Oceans floor.

More questions

1) So bio-plankton is ok?
2) How fast do these fry grow?
3) Whats the ideal temp?

[yahutch]

I would really need to know what type they are to know what the fry eat and the care that is needed ( it really is different with the different types ). I would start hatching out some baby brine shrimp for them .there are several breeds of seahorses and their fry care is much different . some need special type nursuries or the fry will snick air and eventually die from it , others are real easy and hitch from birth .

[abfleck]

I will find out for sure, but if I had to pick I think they are erectus. Where do I get brine shrimp to hatch?

AJ

[yahutch]

you should be able to pick-up brine shrimp eggs at most lfs . are the fry grabbing and holding onto things with their tails or are they floating around in the water ?

[Zoalander]

I was in there today, very cool. They are erectus. Picked up some real nice dragon eye zoos and a multi zoo rock.

[abfleck]

Originally posted by yahutch
you should be able to pick-up brine shrimp eggs at most lfs . are the fry grabbing and holding onto things with their tails or are they floating around in the water ?



Well there we have it. They are Erectus. They are swimming around and around, but have not hitched yet. I did put a piece of LR into the bowl so that they have something to hitch on.

AJ

[yahutch]

live rock is not recommended it can have hydroids which will hurt/kill the fry . fake plants are recommended . read over at seahorses.org they have a forum on fry rearing and a really good library . I am afraid I will forget to mention things that are important . there is alot to it , but nothing you could not handle trying.Erectus is a very good thing , their fry are easier than others.

[Dag]

Where is Oceans Floor? I couldn't find it.

[Ramble On Rose]

Originally posted by Dag
Where is Oceans Floor? I couldn't find it.

http://www.oceansfloor.net

It's a little bit of a drive for you... I was out there for work and was VERY impressed with Dave and his store.

[yahutch]

AJ , how are they doing this morning ?

[abfleck]

Originally posted by yahutch
AJ , how are they doing this morning ?

Good so far. The water is cloudy from the bio-plankton. I stir up the little letf over from yesterday and they started eating today. My wife is going to get some bbs eggs today.
I have to change the water today after I feed them

AJ

[abfleck]

I just transferred the seahorses to an 2.5 gallon AGA aquariam. The seem to like that better than the goldfish bowl.

STILL ALIVE
AND EATING

SWEET!!

AJ

[superlazy]

I just transferred the seahorses to an 2.5 gallon AGA aquariam.

Ok just courious, Could they be kept in a 3gal eclipse long term?
and lets see some pics

[abfleck]

Originally posted by superlazy
Ok just courious, Could they be kept in a 3gal eclipse long term?
and lets see some pics

I would suspect that a three gallon would be to small for an adult SH. If these guys make it I will transfer them to my 10 gallon AGA that I started a month ago. As far as pics, the water is to cloudy and they are still pretty small. I will post pics when I do get some tho

AJ

[superlazy]

Ya keep us posted. The wife has been bugging me for years to get some. I keep telling her there to hard to keep.

[yahutch]

AJ , you may want to be doing more water changes if the water is turning cloudy .
btw -a 10 gal will still be too small for an adult Erectus .

[abfleck]

Originally posted by yahutch
AJ , you may want to be doing more water changes if the water is turning cloudy .
btw -a 10 gal will still be too small for an adult Erectus .


Yvette,

Everytime I feed the SH the water gets cloudy. Do I change the water everytime I feed. Thats seems like a bit much, but you know more about these critters better than I do.

You are kidding me about the 10 gallon to small.......:confused:

How big do these guys get. If they dont get any bigger than the two adults at the store...I can see why not a 10 gallon. But I guess its just an excuse to get anouther tank......LOL

The wife cannot kill me on this one. She is the one who wants the seahorses.:lol:

AJ

[yahutch]

sorry , I did not realize you had just fed. I thought it was staying cloudy . it is recommended 20gal min. for larger breed seahorses ( which Erectus are ) the taller the tank the happier the horses . they will be fine as they grow out , but not long term.

[abfleck]

kool.......I have fed a few times today. That bio-plankton does really cloud up the water. I have some bbs eggs in the process of hatching. So hopefully they will be ready to feed tomarrow. Any secrets on hatching for me.....its easy right?

AJ

[yahutch]

yeah , pretty easy to do . my son and daughter (11 &9) take turns hatching and feeding them out . they think its cool they "grow" shrimp . the bbs ( baby brine shrimp ) are really small , but can be seen with naked eye . they will appear to be "jerking" all over the water. as the ponies get older you will need to keep the shrimp living longer ( bigger ) and start to feed the shrimp ( "gut load" )before feeding out . for now feed the freshly hatched brine shrimp 2-3 times daily and you want to use baby brine that are less than 18 hrs old ( the sooner after hatching the better ) . the reason for this is the shrimp are born with an egg sac attached that they survive the first days feeding from , once that egg sac is gone they have no real nutritional value . this is why we later feed " gut load" the adult shrimp before feeding them out, to give them nutritional value via the food we put in their tummies.. I am typing this while watching dinner I hope this is making sense .
p.s. I am sure your wife will want a bigger tank in the future anyhow , maybe she will get one bigger than yours lol . I really like the 35hex for the horses , it seems just the right size .

[abfleck]

Originally posted by yahutch
yeah , pretty easy to do . my son and daughter (11 &9) take turns hatching and feeding them out . they think its cool they "grow" shrimp . the bbs ( baby brine shrimp ) are really small , but can be seen with naked eye . they will appear to be "jerking" all over the water. as the ponies get older you will need to keep the shrimp living longer ( bigger ) and start to feed the shrimp ( "gut load" )before feeding out . for now feed the freshly hatched brine shrimp 2-3 times daily and you want to use baby brine that are less than 18 hrs old ( the sooner after hatching the better ) . the reason for this is the shrimp are born with an egg sac attached that they survive the first days feeding from , once that egg sac is gone they have no real nutritional value . this is why we later feed " gut load" the adult shrimp before feeding them out, to give them nutritional value via the food we put in their tummies.. I am typing this while watching dinner I hope this is making sense .
p.s. I am sure your wife will want a bigger tank in the future anyhow , maybe she will get one bigger than yours lol . I really like the 35hex for the horses , it seems just the right size .


Yvette,

Makes complete sense. Thanks for your help! I will keep you posted and asked questions as I go.

AJ

[yahutch]

I wanted to mention that as they get a little older you should be able to train them to eat frozen mysis shrimp and then they will be much easier to feed.

[abfleck]

Thats what I have been reading. Are there any good books that you recommend on rearing SH's. Some questions?

1) Do they float around most of the time? I have not seen and Hitching....maybe to young yet...right?

2) Since the bbs are so small...can you actually see when they have hatched? Feels like a dumb question...LOL

3) How fast do the erectus species grow?


Thats it for now...but I am sure that I will have more in the future.

AJ

[yahutch]

1. if they are Erectus they should have the ability to hitch from birth , sometimes they just choose to hitch to each other at first .
2. there is no such thing as a dumb question. I wondered the same thing .at first I thought I could not see them and then once I had them in another container out in the light I could see that they were everywhere ( hundreds ) . they are pretty easy to see once you know what you are looking for as they will be "jerking" around in the water ( lots of movement ). I have learned to de-cap ( remove the shell ) the eggs before hatching , so I would not have to deal with all the egg shells. you can find alot of info. on how to do this both here and at seahorse.org
3. that will depend on how well and what they are eating during their first stages of life .the sooner they can be trained to frozen the faster they will grow , but you can not start to train them until they have snouts big enough to handle food that large .
I have 2 male Erectus that are around 7 mos old they are 3.5-4" with uncurled tails and I have 2 girls that are 5 mos and they are 4-4.5" . the males were fed live shrimp that the breeder would collect ( he lives in florida ) . I really seen them grow and put on weight once I had them trained to frozen . the girls ( which are younger and larger ) were fed the way I have been recomending to you .mine are all breeding at these ages/sizes ( they are in tall tanks which all seahorses need to breed , they do a dance going up in the water while they do the egg exchange).

[abfleck]

Thanks again...........I can only find one SH horse today. I cannot see the other one at all. Hope he is ok, but if not I tried. I want to continue trying so let mek now when your have some more fry and I would be interested.

AJ

[yahutch]

they are not easy , but better to have tried than just let fate take them . does he have more there ? I would gladly take them ( I would give you a couple if I am able to raise them ) . I am expecting fry this week , but I will likely be keeping them until they are trained to eat frozen (few months), but I will deffinately be looking for good homes at that point .I will keep you informed.

[abfleck]

Yvette,

It looks like they did not make it. I had the feeling that they were not eating as much. Its too bad because it looks to me that the bbs were close, since I saw some movement as you described. Oh well. Yeah I deff would be interested in a few seahorses after a few months. Just keep me posted! When I went into Oceans Floor there were very few left. I suspect that they did not make it either. Just not eating enough.

Since the brine shrimp are starting to hatch...what do I feed them to grow them out to feed to my other critters?

AJ

[Soggy Pockets]

Abfleck...

I apologize in advance for jacking your thread..but, Yvette, I sent you a pm this morning..would love to talk to you about your knowledge w/seahorses...thanks..

bill.

[abfleck]

Thats ok.........Yvette is very knowlegible with the SH's. Good luck!

AJ

[Soggy Pockets]

thanks AJ.

[abfleck]

Originally posted by viccap
thanks AJ.

NP

[karenL]

AJ,
Sorry I missed the thread, I been working like crazy
feel free to email me if you ever have a question

looks like the info you got was dead on correct

[abfleck]

Originally posted by karenL
AJ,
Sorry I missed the thread, I been working like crazy
feel free to email me if you ever have a question

looks like the info you got was dead on correct


Thanks karen!