Baby erectus seahorses...proper foods and weaning onto frozen?

[tjdouglas]

Hi All,

I have a batch of approximately 200 - 300 H. erectus babies which are now about one week old :celeb3: I have been feeding them newly hatched BBS and also starting to enrich some of the live BBS for 24 hours or more.

I now have four 5 gallon buckets setup where I throw in extra uneaten live BBS and add phyto and aeration to the water to start producing some BBS of various sizes.

I have also been throwing in copepods for the babies to eat when I can get them...(my LFS is culturing them).

Any ideas on when to try to start introducing some frozen cyclopeeze into the mix? Are there any other foods I ought to be offering these babies?

I do have some Dan's feed with beta-glucan which I use to enrich adult artemia...wondering if I should try to use any of it to enrich the BBS for these babies?

Thanks so much for any advice or suggestions!

(Included some pics of dad and babies in case you are curious. Sorry the pics of the babies are not very clear)

 

[tjdouglas]

Here is a you tube link to view the seahorse fry at two days old.

Here is a you tube link to view the seahorse fry at two days old.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaWv0xP2D1o

 

[rayjay]

Congratulations!!
Enrichment beginning 24 hours after bbs hatching is ideal. They don't have a digestive tract in the first Instar stage. It takes two 12 hour sessions to enrich bbs with new water and new enrichment to start each 12 hour stage. Using Dans Feed is excellent although it's best to also use the Dans Feed without BG as well. Using BG can be problematic if done continually I think.
Check with Dan and he can tell you.
Many start feeding cyclopeeze or shaved mysis at about 6 to 8 weeks but I never had luck feeding my reidi non live foods until almost 3 months.
You have to be more diligent with housekeeping chores once that starts.

 

[tjdouglas]

Thanks so much Rayjay..I figured you would know! I will see about getting some of Dan's feed without the BG...I thought the BG might be a problem too.

Thank you for explaining about the two part enrichment process...I had no idea. If it is going to be 6 - 8 weeks (or longer) before they start eating frozen, I guess I am going to be hatching BBS for a while yet. I don't mind though...it is kind of exciting. I just hope at least a few of them make it!

I have them in a 2 &1/2 gallon drum for now to make the food easier for them to access. At what point do you think I should consider upgrading them to a 5 or 10 gallon?

 

[rayjay]

You will also have to grow out brine to larger sizes as the seahorse fry grow.
I can't help with transfer times as I grow my reidi fry in 4L jars, not larger containers, at least until they are 3 months old, sometimes longer.
http://www.angelfire.com/ab/rayjay/fry.html
Don't get discouraged with any losses as it took me until my tenth batch to be successful with reidi fry.

 

[DanU]

H. erectus can start with enriched artemia naups from day 1.

Beta glucan, as explain to me by the scientist, should be used for up to 6 weeks and then have a 2 week break. The reason is so that the cells don't become used to it. The two break helps with this. Kinda like flushing the memory. It doesn't hurt to use it continuously, just begins to lose it's benefit after 6 weeks of continuous use.

I would consider going to a much larger tank with a really good filtration scheme.

Dan

 

[tjdouglas]

Thanks so much Dan! They still appear to be doing well after 10 days now I will work on upgrading them to a larger tank soon.

BTW, will you be releasing the reidi/erectus hybrids soon? They sound very exciting!

 

[tjdouglas]

Fry at about 10 days old now

Fry at about 10 days old now

Here are updated pics of the fry at about 10 days now (They were born over a three day period, so some are a a day or two older than the others). I think they have possibly doubled their size. They sure eat a lot:spin1:

 

[tjdouglas]

Here is a you tube link to view the seahorse fry which are now about 10 days old

Here is a you tube link to view the seahorse fry which are now about 10 days old

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2zJX0n9V0k&feature=youtu.be

 

[tjdouglas]

The above link did not seem to work...sorry! Here is the updated link.

The above link did not seem to work...sorry! Here is the updated link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2zJX0n9V0k

 

[tjdouglas]

Seahorse fry now two weeks old!

Seahorse fry now two weeks old!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fPLpUNIiyQ

 

[mtc1966]

awesome. nice job

 

[tjdouglas]

Thank you mtc1966! I noticed that you use ozone in your tank. Do you find it helpful? Have you always used it?

 

[mtc1966]

Thank you mtc1966! I noticed that you use ozone in your tank. Do you find it helpful? Have you always used it?

you know I cant say for sure my water does stay nice and clear but I also have a good skimmer. I got one at a real nice price and went for it.

 

[tjdouglas]

Hi MTC1966....What setting do you keep the ozone at... do you control your ozone with an ORP meter?

 

[tjdouglas]

Lined seahorse fry at about 2.5 weeks

Lined seahorse fry at about 2.5 weeks

So the seahorse fry (h. erectus) have now reached about 2 and 1/2 weeks of age. This is the first time I have ever had them survive this long...so I am very afraid of jinxing it!

I am feeding them mostly enriched baby brine shrimp with some added copepods when I can get them. Wondering if I should start trying to give them some cyclopeeze and also thinking I should move them to larger quarters very soon, but don't want to screw up a good thing!

Below is posted a short clip of them filmed earlier today. They really have grown so much in such a short time....they are little eating machines!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAAqXcpv1p8&feature=youtu.be

 

[mtc1966]

Hi MTC1966....What setting do you keep the ozone at... do you control your ozone with an ORP meter?

I keep it set at 350 with a controller orp

 

[rayjay]

Everyone has their own opinion on when to start frozen but I prefer to get them larger first, and over the initial problems of the earlier raising because first of all, I didn't have any luck starting them that early, and second, once you start feeding non-live food, the bacteria problem increases and cleaning becomes a bigger part of the fry raising chore.
I don't start any before the two month mark now, and many times it's later, depending on their growth rate also.

 

[mtc1966]

what do you guys do with the fry once they are 2-3 inches ? sell to other hobbyist local fish stores ?

 

[rayjay]

IMO that is too soon to sell them as they still have a high probability of mortality in the 2 to 2 1/2" range.
I wait until it is definite that the males have well developed pouches and appear to be courting. Usually for me, the reidi, it's not before the fourth month when I'm sure they are ready.
I sell to stores and to hobbyists when I have them.