female seahorse dropped eggs

[bubble14]

Hi,
2 weeks ago i got my 3 female H. erectus seahorses. they are doing great and seem to be very happy. This morning I woke up and there were seahorse eggs in a clump on the rock. Is this normal for females to just drop their eggs when there are no males in my tank? Does it mean their happy?(this also makes me sad because i would love to have babies but i cant handle it right now-I'm assuming there is no way to hatch the eggs once they've been dropped.)this is my first time having seahorses and I would appreciate any responses!

 

[rayjay]

The female must have started her process just before you got her as I don't believe they can stimulate themselves to produce eggs without males around.
As the female passes the eggs to the male's pouch for the pregnancy where the eggs develop inside the special conditions pouch, there was no way for you to get fry from those eggs without having a male for her to transfer the eggs to.
Often in the female to male egg transfer, some or all of the eggs get dropped but again, they are not viable outside of the pouch.
This happens most with seahorses undergoing their first few batches.