Does he look pregnant?!

[BrooksReef]

Just making sure the male I have is pregnant... his pouch looks puffy, he isn't eating as much since his pouch started getting larger and he tends to stay more by himself.

He is a bit younger, so I'm thinking this could be a small first brood?

Pictures:

 

[Nam Nguyen]

Nice looking sea horse. I never had sea horse before so I don't really know.

 

[luvabunny]

I am going to say that he looks as if he could be carrying babies, but I've also seen males fill their pouch with water to that extent to impress females.
Either way, it shouldn't be causing him to eat less. You might want to do a water change, just to be on the safe side.

It appears there is a tiny bubble at the opening in the top pic. Is he having any bouyancy problems? If so, that is a whole other thing going on.

Nice looking pair. I hope he has lots of babies for you.

 

[rayjay]

I've found that pregnant males often go into seclusion and with that it appears that they do not eat as much, but still continue to eat.
I would have thought that they should eat more to maintain energy needed for the pregnancy but it certainly doesn't look that way to me.
I too have problems determining pregnancy as some males seem to be forever filling their pouches with water, some for long durations.

 

[namxas]

As everyone has mentioned, it's hard to tell, but if he is, you'll know pretty soon. However, if you want to try and see for sure, try "candeling" the SH with a flashlight if you tank setup allows. SH eggs are bright orange, and you can sometimes tell if they have a load of eggs by looking thru their pouch.

As rayjay mentioned, pregnant males often go into seclusion and become less "social", so if he's out and about, it's likely just water in his pouch.

 

[mikencarol]

All of my males, Erectus and Reidi, go into seclusion when pregnant. Namxas is right...when preg...they won't be out and swimming with the female...they will stay to themselves and it seems like they hardly eat anything.....

 

[scapes]

looks preggers to me!! hope it works out

 

[BrooksReef]

Well, this morning he popped! Roughly 80 babies.

The fry are doing well. They are eating BBS and swimming well.

So far, only one has died.

Wish me luck!

 

[lori7973]

Good Luck!! I have tried to raise the fry and let me tell you it is quite a job that you have to be 110% dedicated to. Hatching brine everyday unless you have the space for it is a real pain. Expect to loose them all, eventually. The longest I could keep them alive is for about 5 weeks. I had a seperate system for my fry too, just a ton of work!! After a few months, I gave up.

 

[mikencarol]

I disagree with the "lose them all" stuff. Yes it is alot of work...hard work. But if you will listen to the people on this forum that have been around awhile...YOU WILL HAVE SUCCESS. People like Beth, Dan and Abbie, rayjay, Kim, Brenda and Greg all contributed to me having several...15-20 survivors of my 3rd Reidi's release of his babies.....almost 4 months ago. All are eating frozen cyclopese and shaved mysis. My grandad was a hillbilliy...but a smart one. He said "Listen to the ones who dun it...not to the ones that aint......" I'm not being critical of Lori...but it can be done...even by a dummy like me..!!!!

 

[BrooksReef]

Fry are doing very well. Only 1 lost so far...

The others are eating like pigs, and hitching onto the fake plant I put in there for them.

Did a 50% water change and sucked up the crap on the bottom of the tank.

 

[SaylorsReef]

My boys are usually active up until the last few days. Mine also get a LOT bigger than that! So I can see where it would be hard to guess if he was pregnant or not. 80 is somewhat of a small batch, but good for you because it means less cleaning and it is not as hard to keep up with the food demand.

Good luck on the fry! Ask lots of questions!

 

[namxas]

You may or may not notice a rise in death rate after the first week, as this is about the time the fry have used up their yolk sacs, but the fact that they're eating well already is great.

Personally, I think if you get ANY SH fry to adulthood on your first go-round, you're doing well. It really does take learning from others as well as figuring out what works for you.

Interestingly enuff, my very first ever SH were about 50 erectus fry that were shipped to me in a couple of drinking water bottles from Chicago from a friend, so I was not only new to SH, but was rearing fry! I managed to get two really nice males from that bunch, and I felt accomplished! Plus, I had a lot of great advice/support.

So don't give up, and you'll no doubt put your own spin on your fry setup/rearing as you go along. Beth (Peka) and Dan (DanU) are great resources (they're about as successful as you can get, and they know erectus very well).

 

[BrooksReef]

Thanks for the advice Saylor and Greg!!

Everyone is doing well. Today I had a little bit of a die off. I thought I had lost almost 20 but they were just moving about the bottom. I lost three today.

Everyone is doing very well still. They are all eating like pigs!


One question, what should I do with the left over brine shrimp that remain with the horses? I don't think I could get every single one out! :O

 

[laurarca]

I am so proud of you Brooks!! I want to follow your thread neighbor...;-)