Sea horses
- Thread starter kams56
- Start date
Kiah
Non-member
Make sure you have a lot of free time on your hands 
. There is a lot of good information available. It is very dependent on the type you choose to raise. Key items are proper food, proper amount at the right time, stable environment. If you could be a bit more specific I might be able to help a little.
. There is a lot of good information available. It is very dependent on the type you choose to raise. Key items are proper food, proper amount at the right time, stable environment. If you could be a bit more specific I might be able to help a little.
sciknen
$20.00 PEOPLE, COME ON.
The major differnce in seahorses is which ones need live food
Do not get babies as your 1st seahorse learn how to keep adults
I have h redi I feed twice daily about a cube a day I tend to overfeed. My temps stay betweem 70 and 71 water quality is okay but it should be better
If this is your first sw tank do not go with seahorses. Reefs are much easier to learn on
Otherwise a tall tank a nice refuge/sump skimmer heater fan or chiller.. I run a controller
What do you have so far?
Do not get babies as your 1st seahorse learn how to keep adults
I have h redi I feed twice daily about a cube a day I tend to overfeed. My temps stay betweem 70 and 71 water quality is okay but it should be better
If this is your first sw tank do not go with seahorses. Reefs are much easier to learn on
Otherwise a tall tank a nice refuge/sump skimmer heater fan or chiller.. I run a controller
What do you have so far?
this isnt my fist sw i have been keeping then on and off for about 5 yrs, but the set up is at my school and i will be taking care of it the sea horse have recently had babies and a few have died, and since i dont really want the rest to die i would like to know as much as i can about raising them
Kiah
Non-member
Raising Hippocampus erectus Fry
The major differences among raising the different types are the food necessary and length of pelagic phase.
If they are erectus their first food is newly hatched, decapsulated brine. Then to enriched brine with slow transition to frozen mysis.
Erectus are fairly large at birth with a short pelagic phase (1 - 2 weeks). They also tend to be enthusiastic eaters.
A good way to set up for fry raising is to purchase an inexpensive plastic fish bowl of about 2 gal. Silicone an air tube down from the top along the side about 3" down. Fill the container with water from the parent's tank. Bubble air in to cause light turbulence at the surface and a circular flow in the jar. Add very thin plastic items for the fry to hitch to.
Hatch brine - http://oceanusinlandreef.org/Oceanus_the_Inland_Reef/Brine_Shrimp.html
and feed enough so they don't have to swim to far to eat them. Light from the side to keep the brine and seahorses off the surface. I add a few drops of phytofeast or similar product to give the seahorses better visibility of the brine and feed the brine if they survive. Do not over feed. Feed 3 - 5 times a day small amounts so it is all gone rather than a large amount that hangs around.
Siphon bottom of bowl every day and makeup with water from parent's tank. Do not do a large water change. In a week (depending on quantity and size) move to a 10 gal tall with a cured sponge filter and air bubbling. Siphon bottom daily.
Here is a link to an excellent paper on raising erectus. In my experience this setup works well if you have a large brood. It is difficult to provide the proper amount of food in this setup with smaller batches.
http://www.seahorse.org/library/articles/scaleerectus.pdf
If they are reidi - this will not work at all. Need to start with rotifers and pelagic stage is 4 - 6 weeks.
If you'd like to come out and see my setup just let me know.
The major differences among raising the different types are the food necessary and length of pelagic phase.
If they are erectus their first food is newly hatched, decapsulated brine. Then to enriched brine with slow transition to frozen mysis.
Erectus are fairly large at birth with a short pelagic phase (1 - 2 weeks). They also tend to be enthusiastic eaters.
A good way to set up for fry raising is to purchase an inexpensive plastic fish bowl of about 2 gal. Silicone an air tube down from the top along the side about 3" down. Fill the container with water from the parent's tank. Bubble air in to cause light turbulence at the surface and a circular flow in the jar. Add very thin plastic items for the fry to hitch to.
Hatch brine - http://oceanusinlandreef.org/Oceanus_the_Inland_Reef/Brine_Shrimp.html
and feed enough so they don't have to swim to far to eat them. Light from the side to keep the brine and seahorses off the surface. I add a few drops of phytofeast or similar product to give the seahorses better visibility of the brine and feed the brine if they survive. Do not over feed. Feed 3 - 5 times a day small amounts so it is all gone rather than a large amount that hangs around.
Siphon bottom of bowl every day and makeup with water from parent's tank. Do not do a large water change. In a week (depending on quantity and size) move to a 10 gal tall with a cured sponge filter and air bubbling. Siphon bottom daily.
Here is a link to an excellent paper on raising erectus. In my experience this setup works well if you have a large brood. It is difficult to provide the proper amount of food in this setup with smaller batches.
http://www.seahorse.org/library/articles/scaleerectus.pdf
If they are reidi - this will not work at all. Need to start with rotifers and pelagic stage is 4 - 6 weeks.
If you'd like to come out and see my setup just let me know.
thank you for all the advice they are looking better already. the setup that i have now is almost identical to the set up that kiah described. but i cant really tell if they are eating the food. i think they are but it is hard to tell. how do i best tell if they are all eating
