feeding seahorses

[didimcginty]

i was just wondering, i have a 29g cube, with one erectus(huge) that i just got last week from seahorsesource, and one reidi(small) that i got from the lfs around the corner, so 2 total, i have frozen cubed, both eat hikari mysis no problem, i was able to finally find pe mysis frozen cube tonight, should i feed one cube each daily in two seperate feedings or 1/2 cube each in two seperate feedings, i can only feed them twice a day, once around noon when i come home for lunch and once at about 6-6.30 at night. i didn't know if two full cubes a day would be over feeding my tank or not
thank you for any help and advice

 

[rayjay]

As there can be some differences in food uptake from seahorse to seahorse, it's best to feed a little and observe how much they eat, adding a little at a time until they appear to be satiated.
If uneaten food remains, siphon it out to prevent seahorse illness due to nutrient laden water.
Once you see just how much they eat each time, then you can go with just that amount.
In my case, I use four cubes to feed 25 seahorses, having just a little left over that I give to my reef tanks.
Based on that, you probably need about 1/4 to 1/3 of a cube but it will depend somewhat on your tank set up and can they access all the food or does a lot of it get trapped in crevices or course substrate.
I do this three times a day.
When I was working, I fed before going to work, on my return, and about 1/2 hour before lights out at nine pm.
Now I feed three times but try to space it evenly throughout the day/evening, about 6 hours apart.

 

[timinnl]

What happened to the other ones?

 

[didimcginty]

unfortunatly i lossed all but 1, the only one that seemed to take the mysis no problem, it was the only black one i had since the day of purchase, it has a mark on its belly which is how i have always been able to identify it, after the last one died i took the advice of this web site, and from the other time you guys helped me, on buying a true captive bred horse, i saw seahorsesource metioned a few times so i checked them out and bought one female, great people to deal with, great seahorse, since i had added it last wensday, my black one is now a yellow and orange mix color. seems so happy since the arrival of this other one even though it is a good bit smaller than the new one, i have been adding a 1/2 cube twice a day of the hikari mysis, since i bought the pe i was going to try a cube of pe and 1/2 cube of hikare daily, since the tank is only 4 months old and i am still battling hair algae, my lights are not on when i leave for work in the morning, since i get an hour lunch and live 10 min from work i go home and feed them every day. sorry i for the novel
thank you very much for your advice and help, i greatly appreciate it
i also posted a pic of the new ones in my profile

 

[timinnl]

Sorry to hear about that.


If possible put the lights on a timer. It helped me out a lot. Do keep an eye out on the two that you have. You mixed a tank rasied with a captive bred one. Sometimes it works out sometimes it doesn't. Do you have a skimmer or canister filter on the tank?

 

[didimcginty]

the tank has a built in wet dry filter w/ bio balls, i also bought the skimmer that goes with it, the lights are a timer, they are on at 10am and are off at 7 pm, this way i can feed them when i get home from work. hoping it all works out all right
thanks