Getting a new seahorse on frozen food

[seanothon]

So I just got a new kuda horse and it doesn't seem the least bit interested in frozen mysis or brine. Luckily I have a large population of copepods and she has been cruising around munching on them but obviously I don't want this to continue forever.

Any tips to get it to try the frozen?

 

[Clownfishfan]

Feed it enriched brine shrimp and once it gets onto that good mix frozen mysis with it. It also helps if you feed with the same pipette/syringe in the same spot every day.

 

[rayjay]

It may not have any interest in the frozen food until it decimates the pod population. Shouldn't take long for that.
What size tank? What tank mates?

 

[seanothon]

It may not have any interest in the frozen food until it decimates the pod population. Shouldn't take long for that.
What size tank? What tank mates?

It's in a 30gl hex by itself other than a chocolate chip starfish. I'm planning on one more eventually. I was going to get a male and female at the same time to keep down the risk of illness but LFS only had one when I went in there and I was too eager to wait.

I'll try some brine today and put some garlic juice on it.

 

[mtc1966]

look up tank mates i am not 100% sure but i think chocolate are not good with sh

 

[rayjay]

Chocolate chips can latch on to a hitching seahorse and devour it pretty fast.
They decimate live corals as well.
The advice for feeding enriched brine shrimp meant LIVE adult brine shrimp.

 

[seanothon]

I'll toss the starfish in my other tank. I only had it in there to help cycle the tank anyway. Do you think it would be wise to start giving it live brine since I'm trying to wean it onto frozen? It seems like it would keep me in the same situation I am currently in. I understand I'll need to if it refuses frozen after the pop population is depleted.

It was eating live ghost shrimp at the store. Would this be an alternative? No place to get live brine around here other than hatching it myself

 

[rayjay]

First of all, I wouldn't recommend feeding live food on a regular basis, and, it should be enriched first of all anyway with something like Dan's Feed from seahorsesource.com.
If it is feeding on pods for sure then I would say you're not in an immediate panic. However, you could get just a few ghost shrimp and see if it is interested in them still. Other than for a trial period I would say always enrich them first.
You can try to feed thawed and rinsed mysis using a baster and putting the food right in front of it's snout, or, you could try a feeding dish with a few pieces in it and see if it responds.
Hatching live newborn brine shrimp won't be any good for a seahorse of any size other than fry or dwarfs because they can't be bothered snicking something so small.
If all else fails you can order live brine from livebrineshrimp.com.
Make sure whenever you put another one in the tank that it comes from the same breeding source as some stores have more than one source.

 

[amutti]

Once you know it's eating the live food you're feeding it, then you mix some frozen food in with the live food. Eventually your ratio of live to frozen becomes 0 live, 100% frozen.

If it was eating frozen before you bought it, then you shouldn't have to ween it onto frozen mysis, but it sounds like this isn't the case. If it was, then it might be the live pods are enough for now.

 

[CNoonan]

Was it eating frozen food at the store? For all you know this seahorse may have never interacted with frozen before.

 

[seanothon]

Was it eating frozen food at the store? For all you know this seahorse may have never interacted with frozen before.

I did not see then try to feed it frozen (dumb move, i know, but I was pretty excited to get it). I just saw them put in the ghost shrimp. It has been going non-stop on the pods so it should be good for a bit.

 

[seanothon]

Once you know it's eating the live food you're feeding it, then you mix some frozen food in with the live food. Eventually your ratio of live to frozen becomes 0 live, 100% frozen.

If it was eating frozen before you bought it, then you shouldn't have to ween it onto frozen mysis, but it sounds like this isn't the case. If it was, then it might be the live pods are enough for now.

Seeing as its food is already in the tank should I just keep tossing in frozen from time to time? Eventually the pods will run out and that would be going to the 0-100 ratio, if I am understanding you correctly

 

[seanothon]

First of all, I wouldn't recommend feeding live food on a regular basis, and, it should be enriched first of all anyway with something like Dan's Feed from seahorsesource.com.
If it is feeding on pods for sure then I would say you're not in an immediate panic. However, you could get just a few ghost shrimp and see if it is interested in them still. Other than for a trial period I would say always enrich them first.
You can try to feed thawed and rinsed mysis using a baster and putting the food right in front of it's snout, or, you could try a feeding dish with a few pieces in it and see if it responds.
Hatching live newborn brine shrimp won't be any good for a seahorse of any size other than fry or dwarfs because they can't be bothered snicking something so small.
If all else fails you can order live brine from livebrineshrimp.com.
Make sure whenever you put another one in the tank that it comes from the same breeding source as some stores have more than one source.

I have set up a feeding tray but have had no luck, thus far. My LFS can get live pods if I ask. Would this be any better/worse than live brine?

 

[CNoonan]

I did not see then try to feed it frozen (dumb move, i know, but I was pretty excited to get it). I just saw them put in the ghost shrimp. It has been going non-stop on the pods so it should be good for a bit.

Sounds to me like you purchased a wild caught seahorse that never ate frozen food. You need to get some ghost shrimp.

If you keep adding frozen food, and nothing is eating it, it's going to rot and cause bad water quality - which could also kill the seahorse.

 

[rayjay]

I have set up a feeding tray but have had no luck, thus far. My LFS can get live pods if I ask. Would this be any better/worse than live brine?

You can get live brine from livebrineshrimp.com a lot faster than your LFS can get pods, and, it will be a lot cheaper than pods.
Seahorses eat some pods and not others.
Size of the food also comes into play. Too small or too large and they don't eat it most times.
While live brine are not a normal seahorse food, IME, most take them.
You can keep an order of live brine alive by placing them in a suitable container with an open ended air line for good aeration.
An excellent food for the brine is spirulina. Place flake or powder in a blender with water and blend for a minimum of two minutes. Store in a bottle in a refrigerator and add small amounts to the brine container about 3 times a day.
Smaller additions of food don't foul the water as fast and you are less likely to kill off the brine. Use just enough to "tint" the water a touch green.

 

[mtc1966]

i have also found brine lives longer if you put them in the fridge

 

[rayjay]

i have also found brine lives longer if you put them in the fridge

That fridge method is only good for a few days and depends on the brine density to oxygen content as to how long they last. They should be warmed up and enriched before being used as food.
Also, it does nothing to boost their nutrient value.
Brine fed on spirulina have an excellent nutrient profile, and then, you can enrich them on Dan's Feed (seahorsesourc.com) and make them even better.
Once one gets the touch for keeping brine alive with very light feedings, you can have them living for months, reproducing live born as well.

 

[seanothon]

Thanks for the info.

I ordered some live brine shrimp and will start feeding those once they come in. With any luck I can start mixing in the frozen and it'll start munching on those. I'll keep you guys updated

 

[rayjay]

Don't mix the frozen brine in until you see them actively eating the live brine with some gusto.

 

[TamiW]

Just a word of warning, I ordered from livebrineshrimp.com, and their packaging leaked all over, causing the package to be delayed. When I inquired with livebrineshrimp.com and asked them to try and track down the package (still at large at the time) I got the most nasty, vitriolic response I've ever had from a company, ultimately telling me to go f*** myself and that I would be blacklisted forever.