How true is it ......

TandN

New member
I have a local breeding seahorses and i was interested in setting up a tank for a pair but wanted nice ones. He said all seahorses change colors to there surroundings. Now i heard this before but though certain ones do this. How true is his statement ?
TIA
 
based on my experience with Reidis, Comes, and Erectus, all do this :)

I got my reidis as red, they are yellow now .. Erectus and Comes were both black, now yellow as well ... good feeding is the key IMHO, high proteins and carotenoids.
 
The biggest problem is trying to influence the colour you want. I've tried making them go red by placing red decor and painting the bottom, ends, and back of the tank red and still that didn't work.
What I've had most success with in keeping the colour they had when they were purchased is to paint the bottom etc...... sky blue instead of the red, and they have maintained some of the colours but others still changed to yellow/beige or black/brown.
I just imported a lot of H. erectus and they came in basic black/brown to light beige, some showing white/grey bands, but in the non painted tank with red/pinkish decor they have a little bit of colour now after just 2 weeks since I picked them up at the airport.

er1.jpg


er3.jpg


er4.jpg
 
I know I am an exception, but none of my seahorses have ever changed color from the time of purchase to the time of death. Remained the same through many tanks. One seahorse was in 5 or 6 different tanks and was always the same color.

JME
 
Interesting...... You would think in this time of day we would have solid proof f what causes them to change colors and how to do so
 
They typically change color to match there environment. Put up a red backround with red chains for hitches you'll have red horses. Same with Yellow.

Just never been into that myself.
 
I know I am an exception, but none of my seahorses have ever changed color from the time of purchase to the time of death. Remained the same through many tanks. One seahorse was in 5 or 6 different tanks and was always the same color.

JME

They typically change color to match there environment. Put up a red backround with red chains for hitches you'll have red horses. Same with Yellow.

Just never been into that myself.


why did they die ? nutrition deficiencies ? that's why they never changed color.
as Ray stated above, your second statement is incorrect ...
 
The biggest problem is trying to influence the colour you want. I've tried making them go red by placing red decor and painting the bottom, ends, and back of the tank red and still that didn't work.
What I've had most success with in keeping the colour they had when they were purchased is to paint the bottom etc...... sky blue instead of the red, and they have maintained some of the colours but others still changed to yellow/beige or black/brown.
I just imported a lot of H. erectus and they came in basic black/brown to light beige, some showing white/grey bands, but in the non painted tank with red/pinkish decor they have a little bit of colour now after just 2 weeks since I picked them up at the airport.

er1.jpg


er3.jpg


er4.jpg

Ahhh !Ray, so those were your seahorses ??!!! I think I got a couple form the same batch :D

I was too late and could only pick up 4 males ... but they are all yellow now :D and the pattern is white ... very nice species.

you already know why I "think" seahorses change color .. higher/normal temp, which in turn means more food intake, higher methabolism and ... of course I can be wrong. what temp do you keep yours at ?
 
They typically change color to match there environment. Put up a red backround with red chains for hitches you'll have red horses. Same with Yellow.

Just never been into that myself.

Tried that with my tank painted on the bare bottom panel, back and ends with red and orange hitching and they lost their red and orange colour and became dark brown/black and tan/yellows.
Same horses now in tank with sky blue paint on all glass except front panel, and same coloured hitches, some have regained SOME of their colour.
 
If you picked up some of the erectus shipment then you most likely got females as there was about 2 1/2 times as many females as males there.
As for tank temperatures, I started with temperatures of 80° back some years ago when I got started, but no colours were ever evident.
After having many problems with survival, I went to the suggested temperature range on the org of 68° to 74° by taking out my heaters and letting the tanks sit at the room temperatures running 69° to 73°.
With my reidi that are showing some colour now, I boosted the temperature to 78° for 18 weeks and there was no difference in them at that point.
I did end up with tail rot on one of the seahorses though. Fortunately after treatment she is OK now.
 
so rayjay your saying background yet temparture changes the background. I am planing a SH tank in the furute maybe 6 months I have 3 friends that have had theres for 5+ years in there reef tanks with tunzes in them and there ll doing great any of you guys have success with this ? Im waiting to finish m research before i get them I dont like buying things to have them die due to lack of knowledge
 
Thanks Ray :) glad she is okay :)

for some reason, Ken only had males, Im hoping for another shipment soon ? :p lol

or Ill wait tilll you breed them :) haha
 
so rayjay your saying background yet temparture changes the background.
Temperature hasn't made any difference in the background I painted on my tanks.
I am planing a SH tank in the furute maybe 6 months I have 3 friends that have had theres for 5+ years in there reef tanks with tunzes in them and there ll doing great
Being successful in a reef tank you need to ask them what the secret is.
I know of many who tried and failed, me included.
 
so rayjay your saying background yet temparture changes the background. I am planing a SH tank in the furute maybe 6 months I have 3 friends that have had theres for 5+ years in there reef tanks with tunzes in them and there ll doing great any of you guys have success with this ? Im waiting to finish m research before i get them I dont like buying things to have them die due to lack of knowledge

what kind of tunze and what corals ?

Ive had reidis for past 2.5 years in a soft coral tank, connected to a SPS tank, with 2xmaxijet 1200 power heads [30G is the tank size] with no ISsues ...

but I feed in a bowl, and remove uneaten food religiously ...
 
There are corals other than soft corals that can be put in with seahorses.
I used to have candy cane, ricordia, branching hydnaphora and gorgonians.
I'm sure there are more but I'm too lazy to check out the page.
 
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