Great article on how to care for seahorses

[truetricia]

Here's a great article on How to Keep Seahorses. I decided to put the article here for 2 reasons. First, the article promotes captive-bred seahorses, and second, proper care and husbandry of both wild and captive-bred seahorses helps to keep them from dying and the demand for wild ones down. There are great programs for breeding wild-caught seahorses for release into the wild (this article doesn't go into that), like a few I participated in Florida. Proper care of seahorses can lead to an amazing opportunity to witness the life of a highly reclusive sea creature, and one that has inspired the hearts and minds of people for ages. <br /><br />http://blog.marinede...ium-how-to.html<br/>

 

[rayjay]

It's not too bad for a short article.
I'm definitely not promoting low flows for seahorses though. It's old school thought and generally ignored now by most keepers.
I would think 10X to 20X flow is more common now.
The main thing is that there be no flow that can push the seahorses against something to damage them.
Higher flow also helps to keep detritus in suspension longer for the filters to get more of it before it settles and helps form bacteria bedding for the nasty bacteria.
I personally don't like to bring up release of any fish back into it's source because it takes specialized equipment and handling to prevent introducing pathogens not normal to the area and can be a disaster in waiting.
For sure one should NEVER release any captive bred fish that have come into contact with anything that isn't specifically in the water they come from.
That lets out anything we as hobbyists would produce.

 

[Gandolfe]

OMG now he(Rayjay) knows more about sea horses than professors and marine biologists

 

[rayjay]

Those professors and marine biologists would do well to partake of the forums at the "org", of people actually keeping the seahorses in their tanks and finding out what actually does work best.
Just remember, that when those professors/marine biologists were saying it couldn't be done, many hobbyists were doing.

 

[Mo2]

OMG now he(Rayjay) knows more about sea horses than professors and marine biologists

LOL you are being sarcastic, right? You must have no idea who you are talking about ...

I'm a journalism major but have been in the hobby for years. I have my friends who are marine biologist who come to me with questions. They still think I'm performing a miracle culturing T.Iso in my apartment because apparently culturing a single strain of algae is next to impossible outside the lab.

 

[Gandolfe]

I'm being sarcastic and serious both, every time some one has a question or posts an article about sea horses, rayjay posts something usually disputing it or giving a 10 line response on what he says they should do, like he's the only one who knows anything about Sea Horses in the world.

 

[rayjay]

Sorry my posts are upsetting you Gandolfe but a simple solution is to just not read anything that I post.
I started my seahorse hobby in 2002 and quickly started to learn that for me it was harder than keeping all my reef tanks.
What I post is based on my experiences, and because I haven't experienced everything that gets posted there ARE believe it or not, topics I don't reply to as I don't have that experience.
The postings I write are to make chances of successful seahorse keeping higher by adhering to some basic things. It doesn't mean it can't be done other ways, just that the odds are more in favour of doing them the safe way.
There I go again, a many line response.
Unfortunately I've never acquired the skill of brevity and I doubt that at this stage of my life that it's going to change.
As I mentioned though, just skip any post I write.

 

[pledosophy]

FWIW I am surprised Marine Depot would publish this. IME this article is very misleading. I wonder what experience if any the author has with seahorses. IMO misinformation spread like this sets the hobby backwards, and I am really surprised that a company like Marine Depot would put this on their site.

I highly disagree with the articles suggestion of lower flow and IMO even 20x turnover is way to low for a seahorse tank. I would go 40x minimum, and 100x max IME. You can't set that up like an SPS tank, it has to be suited for seahorses, but proper water movement will help negate a lot of the bacterial issues we see in seahorses.

I also disagree with the species only tank, I thought we solved that one 8 years ago... Anyone promoting that the only tank safe things to keep with seahorses or snails, crabs, and gorgonia's has just chosen not to do the appropriate research.

Firstly gorg's and seahorses, especially in low flow, can be challenging to keep as the current needed for many gorgs is higher, and the constant hitching of a seahorse will kill spots of the gorg.

There are several probably over a hundred species of fish that can be kept with seahorses, some even beneficial in a closed system. I would welcome any scientific evidence of pathogens spread from other species to seahorses that is not present in snails and crabs. The idea that a seahorses sensitive immune system is somehow jeopardized by adding a mandarin goby (just an example) to the tank seems to be more opinion then fact.

There are also many many corals that can be kept with seahorses that will pose that absolutely no risk and in some cases be beneficial with the break down of waste. GSP is not going to harm your seahorse. Neither is your kenya tree or your ricoridia's. It seems to me like the author just didn't do the research.

How can the author reconcile that he states seahorses are found on coral reefs and then a few paragraphs later state that corals are not safe for them?

Low light? That is a myth for long back. Seahorses are often found in knee deep water in the ocean. Some species of seahorses are often found hanging around (see what I did there) on stony corals that require high light. IME they do not care if you are running low or intense lighting.

Furthermore I disagree with the food variety and the suggestions on how to enrich certain foods. Who has ever heard of an adult seahorse eating cyclops. That is ridiculous. Even feeding frozen brine to an adult is ridiculous. Plankton? Did anyone follow the link? That is not a seahorse food.

Turn off the protein skimmer when feeding? Did I just read that?

To me some of the statistics sound made up, but I am leery of anyone using the 99% stat. I hear 99% of the time it is made up.

I disagree that the tank setup for all species of seahorses beyond temperature is nearly identical. There is a huge difference in how I would choose to keep a dwarf vs. a reidi vs. a potbelly.

The thoughts on "effective mechanical filtration" are also something I disagree with. I have never used those in my seahorse tanks as the type of filtration suggested interrupts the food chain IME.

I disagree with the low end of the temperature recommendations. Tropical species do fine at temps lower then 70F.

While I do appreciate the lower temperatures finally becoming more mainstream, the explanation on why these temperatures are needed in this article is a bit dumbed down but at least it is in there.

JMO

 

[pledosophy]

OMG now he(Rayjay) knows more about sea horses than professors and marine biologists

Marine biologists and professors have been behind the times for years in many areas.

When I started with seahorses it was well accepted that they lived to be 2 years old. Needed a species specific tank. Only ate live food. It was "scientifically impossible" to breed them in captivity.

Here I was defying science at the age of 20 in my kitchen, with a seahorse who lived to be 8.

There was actually a guy who got arrested in Australia for breeding seahorses because the government did not believe he could do it in a closed system and thought he was collecting small seahorses. True story.

Seahorses have never been a fish that has received a large amount of research money mostly IMO because they are not a food fish. Tuna on the other hand, you can learn everything about Tuna. Many of the advances in seahorse husbandry have come from hobbyists, and breeders and not from University labs.

The problem is exacerbated by groups like project seahorse who perpetuate myths about seahorses like the males get pregnant, and they are magnanimous. These myths get spread as fact.

The information I read on this species is usually wrong.

 

[Mo2]

Marine biologists and professors have been behind the times for years in many areas.

When I started with seahorses it was well accepted that they lived to be 2 years old. Needed a species specific tank. Only ate live food. It was "scientifically impossible" to breed them in captivity.

Here I was defying science at the age of 20 in my kitchen, with a seahorse who lived to be 8.

There was actually a guy who got arrested in Australia for breeding seahorses because the government did not believe he could do it in a closed system and thought he was collecting small seahorses. True story.

Seahorses have never been a fish that has received a large amount of research money mostly IMO because they are not a food fish. Tuna on the other hand, you can learn everything about Tuna. Many of the advances in seahorse husbandry have come from hobbyists, and breeders and not from University labs.

The problem is exacerbated by groups like project seahorse who perpetuate myths about seahorses like the males get pregnant, and they are magnanimous. These myths get spread as fact.

The information I read on this species is usually wrong.

Well said!

 

[Han Solo]

:blown:

Well said!

wait hold on the males don't get pregnant? isn't that like the most "well-known" fact every child is taught in school about seahorses?

or maybe they are just carriers of the baby's after they are born from the female? can't exactly remember..

edit: quoted the wrong post, sorry.

 

[Betta132]

Males don't get pregnant. What happens is they have this pouch on their stomach, and the females lay the eggs in the pouch. Once the eggs hatch, they emerge. It LOOKS like the seahorse gets pregnant, as it gets very fat and then apparently gives birth, but it's not pregnancy. There is no connection made from the male's body to the eggs, and the male does not produce the eggs.
A good comparison would be the pipefish. Pipefish females stick the eggs all over the male's tail. The male most definitely isn't pregnant, it just carries the eggs.

And the article is incorrect, yes. Seahorses can swim reasonably well (for seahorses) in flow, and they can be kept with other fish.
Basic requirements for a seahorse tankmate:
Should be smallish and not overly hyperactive/flashy, though some larger seahorses will peck anything small that gets annoying- usually the thing learns to leave them alone.
Shouldn't be predatory or nippy, of course
Should be okay with the temperatures
Preferably shouldn't get all up in their space
For example, gobies and jawfish should be fine. Depending on the horse, green chromis could work- larger species of seahorses shouldn't mind. Yellowtail blue damsels can work, if it's a small damsel and a larger horse- yellowtails can be a bit puffy, but large seahorses will peck them and make them go away if they get irritating. I have seen this for myself, with a rather bossy little 1 1/2" damsel and a 4 1/2" tall seahorse. Damsel was doing his usual tail-in-yo-FACE thing, seahorse got irked and pecked him a couple of times. Damsel left him alone after a couple of repeats. Best not to keep any kind of damsel with a small seahorse, though.
That's just off the top of my head.

 

[DanU]

There is no connection made from the male's body to the eggs

Here I disagree. Within the pouch, the epithelium thickens and becomes more vascularized. The eggs become imbedded within the epithelial folds of the pouch. Besides osmotic regulation there are proteins released in the pouch of which we are still learning about. It is also believed that some nutrition is provided from the epithelial tissue. One study I read showed that the better the eggs are secured within the epithelial folds the better the fry condition at birth and the higher the survival rate. This could be the reason that males like to blow up their pouch showing off to females and why females have a tendency to select males with larger pouches for mating.
So while the male does not produce the eggs, rather the sperm, there is a connection between the males body and the eggs and it is believed that some nutrients are provided.

Dan

 

[Betta132]

Hmm, didn't know that.
So it's sort of pregnancy, but only a tiny bit. For the average person's purposes, the male is just carrying the eggs around.

To make sure I got that: the inside of the pouch gets more blood flow, the eggs get embedded in folds in the inside of the pouch, osmotic regulation takes place, and some sort of nutrients and proteins are produced.

Do you suppose pipefish have that kind of protein thing, or is it just the seahorses?

 

[DanU]

So it's sort of pregnancy, but only a tiny bit. For the average person's purposes, the male is just carrying the eggs around.

In humans, the egg is fertilized and then imbedded in the uterus. In seahorses, the egg is fertilized during transfer to the pouch and then imbedded in the pouch folds. Definitions seem to vary a bit but generally it is considered the carrying of a developing embryo within the body. The scientific community considers the male seahorse to be pregnant.
As a breeder from both experience and reading through scientific papers, we know that the better conditioned the male from proper diet the greater the viability of the fry and the higher the success rate we have. If it was just a matter of carrying the eggs, this would not be the case as apparently some nutritional aspects pass through to the developing eggs.

To make sure I got that: the inside of the pouch gets more blood flow, the eggs get embedded in folds in the inside of the pouch, osmotic regulation takes place, and some sort of nutrients and proteins are produced.

Yep.

Do you suppose pipefish have that kind of protein thing, or is it just the seahorses?

This I don't know as I haven't studied it on them or sea dragons. Some of the other syngnathids don't carry eggs in the pouch. I don't know how this works. There has been research on it but since I don't breed them, I haven't read them. Too busy with seahorses!

Dan