His do you get wild caught seahorses to eat frozen?

[RedAnt78]

I've had 3 wild caught seahorses for around 2-3 months now and they are doing great on live foods, but I really want to get them started on frozen and they just ignore it every time I put it in the tank. What is a good technique to use? I've been putting in frozen mysis if that helps any.
Thanks for any help!

 

[claireputput]

Hi, I read about the training and although I have not tried this, here goes.
According to RC, the Mysis should be put in as the same time as the live food. This way the seahorse will begin to associate the Mysis with food.
I have a feeding tube into my seahorse tank and I put the Mysis down this tube.
Good luck and look through the seahorse RC site for more detailed information-I saw one in here today but not sure where.

 

[FinzAquatics]

Not sure if its an option for you, but I feel that it can be a learned behavior.. If they see others eating the frozen they will give it a try..

I have a wild seahorse who ate frozen within 48 hours of leaving the store. He was not remotely interested in prepared food while at the store.. After 2 days of watching my other 7 seahorses (captive bred) eating Mysis every time I offered it to the tank he began chasing and finally started eating it like a champ..

So, if its an option for you I may try to get 1x captive bred seahorse who is eating frozen and see if they will learn to eat it by observing that one eating.. Worked for me

 

[myfavoritereef]

I agree that eating the frozen mysis is a learned behavior. I usually place my juvenile seahorses in with the older ponies that are eating frozen when converting them from live brine. It works well.

I have also purchased live mysis (which is very expensive) and mixed the frozen with it when feeding and they eventually learned to eat the frozen.

I would be cautious when mixing wild caught seahorses with tank raised since they carry different "bugs" and you might end up losing your wild caught seahorses.

 

[RedAnt78]

Cool, I'll have to try putting the mysis in when I put the live shrimp in. Right now I am maxed out in the tank, but I do want to get a bigger tank so if they aren't eating frozen by then I'll look into getting a captive bred one to teach them.
Thanks!