Any baby seahorse nannies out there?

[jarabas]

Hello folks,

My name is Jan and I am here because of the kind suggestion of my new friend Paula. I have two seahorses (erectus) in a 30 gal dedicated tank.
Chloe and Harve just birthed their first fry which are too cute for words. I gave the fry to another hobbyist friend to raise, except I discovered "Junior" left behind, so he is now in my shrimp tank. I am anxious to see how he does in there--so far so good, as he is swimming and snicking baby brine.

My 30 gal tank is an Eclipse with the filter in the hood. I have live sand and live rock in the tank, some macro-algae, an assortment of snails and a hermit.
Chloe and Harve eat frozen mysis and also get some live snickin shrimp each week. They were at it hot and heavy yesterday so I think they may have another pregnancy going already. Anyone interested in raising the fry?--I just do not have time to do it. I'd be very willing to drive them to you (a reasonable distance--I live just north of Boston)

The shrimp tank is a five gal with live sand and a huge chunk of live rock, some macroalgae and a bubble wand. I grow out tiny snickin shrimp in it. I don't do much with this tank besides add some DT Phytoplankton each week and toss some brine eggs and shrimpgro in there every week. The tank seems to take care of itself.

Anyway, I am looking forward to learning from you all. Let me know if you are interested in seahorses --particularly if you want to raise some babies.

Jan

[randoma]

I would be interested in the next batch... We currently have two adult H. reidi, ~40 H. kuda juveniles and 21 H. comes juveniles. :D

[Greg Hiller]

Put me down as well. Particularly if you are delivering! :D I'm north of town in Wakefield. I've also raised some seahorses before. Does anyone know off hand if H. erectus fry can take newly hatched Artemia as a first food? I do not have any rotifers cooking at the moment.

[randoma]

H. erectus should be okay with BBS as first food..

[CaptainAndy]

I've raised a couple of batches recently. Doesn't hurt to feed rotifers the first day or two. Also, erectus fry are pelagic (free swimming) for the first 10 days to two weeks so the only filtration to use is airstone with sponge or they will all be trapped. Need to put in a fairly high density of food during this time.

[jarabas]

hi all,

That's great! The parents are captive bred from Ocean Rider, about one year old. I tried attaching some photos. Chloe is usually either a nice rose color or a light brown with a lot of ligther and darker bands. Harve is almost blue with white stripes.

Let's keep in touch-especially around the end of the month. It might be an idea to exchange phone numbers in a week and a half.

Jan

[fishmom]

Wow! They are gorgeous!

Can you post a photo of your tank? We have a 30 gal Eclipse that we are considering for seahorses.

[jarabas]

I'll try to get a pic--I just cannot do it today.

Jan

[jarabas]

Here are my very unartistic tank pics--one of the right side and one of the left.
Sorry about the reflections and glare--I'm in a rush this week.

Jan

[~Flighty~]

Beautiful! I just took a few shots of the ones I have. They had been in a 30g hex, but I moved them temporarily to a nano to more easily train them on to frozen food. I'm realising just how different these guys are from other fish. I have more learning to do than I anticipated.

[randoma]

You should put a heater guard on the heater.. If they hitch to the heater and the heater comes on, they can get burned before they figure out they need to let go.

[fishmom]

Thanks - it's a sweet tank. I think we will be using our 29 gallon Eclipse for seahorses as well.

Cindy - your seahorses are adorable!

[jarabas]

Cindy, your horses are beautiful--look at that cirri! Where did you get them?

Randoma, Thanks for reminding me about teh heater guard. The heater is not on now--too warm. I have a home-made guard for it that I used in the cold weather-- a piece a craft mesh sewn into a tube. I had so much trouble trying to find a heater guard for sale anywhere.

My tank is no where near as artful as most people's. It seems to work though-stable, knock on wood and Harve and Chloe are breeding so I guess they are not uncomfortable. I love suggestions--all are welcome.

Jan

[~Flighty~]

We got these on the collection trip to long island. They are wild caught, which I don't normally support, but since these are swept so far north as babies they have no chance of surviving the winter. This way it is more of a rescue trip than just wild collection :)

[Rays]

The northern erectus such as Cindy and I have are pelagic, the southern erectus and OR's are benthic (hitching).
These are day old southern erectus.
http://starl.web.aplus.net/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/babies02.jpg

[jarabas]

Ohhhhhhh--toooo CUTE!
Some of my fry hitched right away, and some did not. Can you get both tendancies if you mix northern and southern lines?

Jan

[Rays]

In either case you may get some hitching with the pelagic, and some free swimming with the benthic. Also, my day old fry ate newly hatched artemia no problem. However, I have never bred northern erectus and they need roti's or small strain artemia for the fry. My son and I are heading back down to L.I. again tomorrow A.M..

[Firefish]

oh wow... I wish I had sea horses... no place for them to live at my house though... those are some really good looking ones!