dwarfs

[stupidpoldi]

hi everyone!

I want to have a dwarfseahorse tank in the future and just read the book on dwarf seahorses by alisa abbott. that s also how i found this forum.
In the book it says that its bests to start out with at least 4-8 couples. My problem now is that im from germany and i could only find one breeder in hawaai who only offers a special with one couple. Are these seahorses (H.zosterae) so rare? In the book it says theyre easy to get?
Do you have any other adresses of breeders?

Thank you very much

greets Miriam

 

[greenighs]

They aren't rare at all in the United States, especially the southeast altantic coast. The problem is that there are CITES export/import restrictions and ANY seahorse of that size. And they are very high-maintenance animals, expensive to breed.

 

[Samala]

If you check the stickie at the top of this forum, the FAQ, there is a post or two in there for sources that have captive bred seahorses, including dwarfs, H. zosterae available. It would be a lot of work to get them to another country, but you may be able to work it out. As Greenighs mentioned, there may be permits you need to fulfill as well as transit.

Best of luck! I was under the impression that Europe was getting access to the net-pen raised H. kuda's from the east just like the US. I also thought that H. hippocampus from the Med was also finding its way to you, albeit as wild caughts. I would look into larger species of horses first and see what can be had semi-locally or is available to your LFS' wholesalers. Many people dont consider dwarfs to be a good starter seahorse, or starter marine fish, despite what the book says. It would be awful to go to the trouble and expense of bringing them to Germany only to lose them.

>Sarah

 

[pledosophy]

SeahorseIreland should be able to ship them to you. Therre site is SeahorseIreland.com

IMHO you do not need to start with that many couples.

I would look into the advances made with the species since the pblication of the book as well. Make sure you understand the nutritional needs and the tank setup/ care involved with keeping dwarfs.

Not hard to do, but does take a little bit of reading.

Good Luck.

 

[stupidpoldi]

thanks for your answers.

Where can I find more recent and good information about those little creatures? I now it will be hard getting them..and of course i want to be prepared perfectly..so they will stay healthy and happy. Im glad for any information sources I can get.

gr Miriam

 

[Nano-Nag]

Miriam,

Check out: http://forum.seahorse.org/index.php? - pretty much all things seahorse and very helpful.

Happy reading!

Shay

 

[Samala]

Oh I forgot about Seahorse Ireland! Pledo you should post that to the stickie!

>Sarah

 

[CodyH]

You can find a lot of dwarf seahorse information here, the dwarf forum of seahorse.org. Searching throughout posts on the dwarf forum will help you learn a lot.

They are quite different from 'normal' seahorses and need the live food.

 

[stupidpoldi]

I have just one other question. Im just wondering why all the other seahorses are so easy to get. They have to be imported too..and all seahorses are on appendix 2 of CITES. How is that possible?

gr. Miriam

 

[TamiW]

Captive breeding programs, most likely. Dwarfs don't produce a large number of young and are difficult to care for in the sense that they need live food even if they're captive bred. So they're not very commercially viable.

 

[fishcalledwanda]

You guys shuld check out seahorseworld.com theyve got some decent prices if your looking to mail order some dwarfs.