Help with Fry

[Allmost]

so I get up today to feed the seahorses and others, and noticed something in the tank :S

turned power heads off, started feeding, and I saw a bunch of little seahorses !!!!

they are REALLY small, like the size of a full grown brine Id say, so I didnt know what to do, caught them all and put them in a breeders net, and the current was too much for them, so moved them all to a small tub with some tank water. there is a small airstone in there as well with very small flow.

I gave them some cyclopezee (only small thing I had in hand) dunno if they ate it or not, but seems like the cycploezes are like almost the same size as them :S

so any advice ? opinions ? links ? on what I should do ? how do I grow them ? what do I feed them ? should I set up their own tank ?

I have sponge filters, bunch of litle tanks (5Gs, 10Gs) and a couple of canister filters.

Please advice, really appreciate it.

I think I cought about 50 of them, I'm sure there are many I missed due to the capelura I have in the seahorse tank(which will be removed), I hear they give birth to like 200 fries ?

thanks all will post a pic of them soon. it was the hardest thing to leave then in a tub and come to work but of well. lol

 

[Allmost]

ok sooooo, any one here raising seahorse fry ?

so far, I am stuck between going with a regular 10G tank, and a sponge filter, or going for a round fish bowl with circular flow :S which one is better do you guys think ? 10 G seems easier.

I will make enough water tonight and age it so I Can do daily water changes of like 10-20%.

will start over decapsulating brine shrimp eggs and then hatching them (is this necessary ? to get rid of hydroids that may be present on the BBS eggs ? )

I have a bunch of plastic screens and fake plastic plants for aquarium decoration, will place those in there for hitching as well.

I will buy some rotifers tonight as well. and start feeding them that too.

now I knwo my Fuge in my reef tank is full of pods, how do I catch them ? if I place a cup with some shrimp at the bottom, wil hte pods go in there to eat so I can remove the cup say half an hour later with alot of pods in it ? and feed to the seahorses ? would this work ?

any other advice ?

I already told the GF, half of my room is going to seahorses lol,

wish me luck

 

[Allmost]

these seahorses were born in reef conditions, temp at 80.0 F

really small though, do u ppl think they can eat baby brine shrimp ?

 

[rayjay]

To add to the PM, your fry cannot eat anything but live food now, and if they are pelagic, they most likely need rotifers although some might eat bbs.
If they are benthic like erectus then you could probably just use enriched bbs but start with decapping a bunch of cysts and hatching them out.
The next day when hatched out, rinse well and add to the nursery(ies) for immediate consumption by the fry, but take the remainder and grow them out for another day (no food at this point because they don't have a mouth nor anus until instar II stage.
Also, decap and start another hatching for down the road.
The following day, capture the grown out bbs in a mesh/net and rinse well and add to the enrichment container using Dan's Feed with Beta Glucan for enrichment.
It takes two 12 hour sessions with new water and enrichment after the first 12 hours to fully enrich the bbs.
Also, rinse and start the new hatching in a grow out container to be ready to enrich them for the next day.
As well, again decap and start a new hatching, and repeat everything as long as needed.
Once enrichment is finished, rinse well again and add to the fry containers.
I don't mention grow out and enrichment for the first feeding because you don't have time for that, but once you have enriched bbs, that's all you should use until they are ready for frozen. (or enriched larger brine)
If you don't get them transferred to frozen foods early you need to grow out the bbs to larger size before enrichment and addition to the fry containers.
You have looked at my method but on the Propagation and Rearing forum on the "org" you will find at least one sticky with many types of nursery set ups, and more threads in that forum that aren't stickied that might show you something you favour better for your first attempt.

 

[rayjay]

I forgot to mention, don't bother with "pods" from your fuge or reef system as they will be too large, and, might pass on pathogens from your reef tank that can kill the fry off, if they haven't already picked them up from being in your system.
Decapping of the brine shrimp cysts is mainly to lessen the chances of bacterial problems know to be associated with the cysts but should lessen the chance of hydroids also, depending on what method you use to change them.
I don't have to worry about the hydroids as the change and cleaning and bleaching every two days takes care of that, but with seahorses, I'm always cognizant of anything that can have a bad bacterial influence of seahorses from fry to adult.
Sponge filters have worked for some and not worked for others, including me, that's why I use the 4L jars.

 

[SaylorsReef]

Try feeding the brine, newly hatched or 2 day old enriched, if you see orange bellies they are eating it.

 

[lucycat]

if you can get hold of it use the sanfransico strain brine shrimp .as it is the smallest brine on the market.you need to feed them the brine within 4 hrs of hatching to get the best nutricion out of it .the fry need to be fed at least 4/5 times aday .it is very intensive with the feeding and water change it is worth the effort when you raise them.