How do you know your seahorse gave birth to all?

sugartooth

sugartooth

Reef bully
I went to check on my seahorse late morning and saw him "scrunch" like he's doing situps. By doing this his pouch opened, and I can see inside. It didn't seem like there was anything there, but he seemed very pregnant these days.
Well, after observing for a little bit, he did look a bit deflated. I took a quick look around to see if there were any babies, and didn't see any.
I came back and he was still "scrunching" or "pushing".
Then I saw one baby seahorse swimming around! I scooped him out with a cup and looked around some more. I thought maybe I caught the tail end of this, so I checked the overflow box, removed the sponge filter and put in a bucket with tankwater.
Oh my gosh, I found some more babies. I tried getting all of them, even if they looked dead.
I spent 4 hours with the sponge filter, sump filter sock, and poly filter pad and pulled out about 20-25 babies. :(
So far, it looks like I have 14 babies that are swimming around in my bucket.

Back to the daddy. He was deflated looking and when I checked on him again, he's swollen like he's pregnant again!
My question is how do I know when and if he gets them all out?
I've heard some of the stories of infection when they don't.

Thanks for any advice.
 
They are awfull - really.

They can also fake pregnancy, and go for weeks with a 'fake brood'

What tends to hapen depends on how many fertilised eggs the male received. If he got a maximum load, he may pre-release some fry to make room for the remainder. He would flush his pouch to rearrange them inside. If he received few eggs, he may well have finished his pregnancy.

Even skilled breeders with many broods get caught out with both early releases, partial releases and fake pregnancies..
 
Ugh, it's so stressfull wondering. He really looks pregnant, like nothing ever happened.

The first he was "scrunching" about a month ago, a big pile of orange looking eggs was found on the sand.

This time, I was wondering if the same thing was going to happen, but there were actually babies this time. Now I'm worried about daddy's pouch health if they don't all come out.

What would be the first sign that something is wrong?
 
I wouldn't worry too much sugartooth.

I don't know what sighs to look for. My horses have been pumping out fry every 16-25 days for the last year without a problem.

Fred
 
So with your seahorses pumping out fry that often, do you remove them, do the seahorses eat them, other tank mates eat them, or what? Surely if they get stuck on the filter they'd poison the tank?

- Chris
 
In my case, I went through all the filters and swished them in tank water to find them all.
They are so small, that it may not have that big of an impact as a dying fish would. It would be equivalent maybe to overfeeding a piece of krill or two.
All I know is, it looks like he's huge again and ready to pop. I sure hope it's okay to constantly be preggos. Wouldn't it be stressfull?
 
I tried unsuccessfully to raise several batches earlier this year. over the spring and summer I just left them in the system. To my surprise, I now have two 4 month old juveniles that survived on their own. I am now trying to wean them onto frozen food.

Fred
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8119507#post8119507 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Fredfish
I wouldn't worry too much sugartooth.

My horses have been pumping out fry every 16-25 days for the last year without a problem.

Fred
Click to expand...
Fred, I have not had another batch of fry since the first over a year ago. What am I doing wrong? I was all prepared for another batch with 2 grow out tanks and a nursery and nothing!. Can't figure it out.
Sue
 
Nonna, I don't know what to say here. My tank and refugium are both large for the number of horses I keep so they get lots of live food, but other than that I do nothing special.

Can you start a separate thread with some info on your tank and horses? Are you seeing pair behavior? Have you noticed them trying to mate? etc...

Edit: Just a thought, Is it possible your horses have fry but you aren't finding them because of the macro algae in your tank?

Fred
 
Can a male look VERY pregnant still go through courtship behaviors and harass the female?
I swear mine is ready to give birth again, but won't leave the female alone!
 
I talked with Pete at OR and he said that he had no idea why my horses are not having fry. I did explain that my alkalinity was high and that I was having a hard time getting it down ( he told me to lay off the two part alk/cal) but that he did not think that had an affect on the horses mating. I did buy another female from OR so I have two females and three males. The only one that I have seen making advances is the first horse I bought from OR that had the first fry. I lost his mate and had three offspring survive and introduced them in to the tank. Everybody told me that was a mistake but Pete told me that one or two generations was not going to hurt. I don't think that I am missing seeing the fry, if they have had any because I did them see the first time. I do not have that much macro in the tank to miss seeing them and they did swim closer to the top that first time. Besides, the males never look pregnant.
Sue
 
sugartooth. I can't say I have seen this in my horses. The male and female seem to 'connect' regularly, but I do not see attempts at breeding when the male is pregnant.

I do see my males puff up their pouches during courship though.

Nonna. You've got me stumped! How is your tank height compared to the size of your horses?

Fred
 
There are MANY hobbyists with pairs of seahorses that never breed. It's not that unusual IMO. Some pairs I had bred regularly, others never bred in two years.

Tom
 
That is what I am thinking about my horses. I can't find anything wrong with their environment,(other than nitrates) and from what I gather that is not a factor in breeding, they are healthy, they eat well. They interact, but do not mate. I am okay with that it is just that I would like for it to happen now and then sometimes. :rollface:
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8211621#post8211621 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Brock Fluharty
I had a pair of H. capensis that never bred, but then I found out that they were asexual, right Tom?;)
Click to expand...


smart arse :lol:

Tom
 
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