buffalobunch
New member
I think my seahorse is pregnant. He is about a week and a half pregnant. Any suggestions of what to have prepared for the new arrivals. Anyone on here have any success raising fry?
I think my seahorse is pregnant
- Thread starter buffalobunch
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buffalobunch
New member
Tank raised H. erectus.
ann83
New member
Where did you get them? This is actually a relevant question because I'd like to know if they are northern erectus or southern erectus, since raising the fry is very different for each of these. In the mean time, this is a good article on fry raising http://www.seahorse.org/library/articles/scaleerectus.pdf by Dan Underwood. Also, you can browse fry rearing setups in the propagation and rearing forum on seahorse.org http://forum.seahorse.org/index.php?showforum=9
If you have northern erectus, you are going to want to start a culture of rotifers, and get small strain decapped brine shrimp eggs (you can get these from www.seahorsesource.com). I would put these live foods together now. Northern erectus do not hitch at birth and are pelagic, making them harder to raise (it will be similar to raising Reidi or Kuda - when you are reading through info).
If you have southern erectus, you can start out with baby brine shrimp, so you can skip the rotifers and go straight to starting out hatching decapped brine shrimp eggs (which I would start doing now if you haven't done it before). They do hitch at birth and so they are easier to raise than the northern variety. This is the species that Dan is speaking of in the article.
If you have northern erectus, you are going to want to start a culture of rotifers, and get small strain decapped brine shrimp eggs (you can get these from www.seahorsesource.com). I would put these live foods together now. Northern erectus do not hitch at birth and are pelagic, making them harder to raise (it will be similar to raising Reidi or Kuda - when you are reading through info).
If you have southern erectus, you can start out with baby brine shrimp, so you can skip the rotifers and go straight to starting out hatching decapped brine shrimp eggs (which I would start doing now if you haven't done it before). They do hitch at birth and so they are easier to raise than the northern variety. This is the species that Dan is speaking of in the article.
ann83
New member
Oh, and depending on the temperature you are keeping them at... you're looking at having fry in the next couple days. I'd get on fry-proofing your display today, so that the fry don't all end up sucked up in your filters and skimmer. If you have any swimming fish in the tank or other carnivorous animals, you might want to go ahead and put him in a seperate birthing tank (QT tank?) so that the fry are safer.
buffalobunch
New member
I have a catalina goby and a coral banded shrimp in there with them. The LFS I got them at has no idea if they are northern or southern. I did put sponge socks over filter. should I be concerned with the cb shrimp or goby? The goby is only 1 inch if that.
ann83
New member
I doubt the catalina would be a problem, but I would plan on the CBS going to town on the SH fry (so keep an eye on the tank and pull the fry as soon as you see them born - siphoning with airline tubing or turkey basters are good for this).
Am I to assume you are keeping your tank in the 60's b/c of the catalina... if so, then you may have a few more days to wait for the fry, seahorse gestation is longer at cooler temps (which is a good thing - no worries).
Ask your LFS who they got their seahorse stock from. That should be able to help me figure it out. Otherwise, I'd prep both rotifers and bbs, and then wait and see if the fry hitch at birth or not.
Am I to assume you are keeping your tank in the 60's b/c of the catalina... if so, then you may have a few more days to wait for the fry, seahorse gestation is longer at cooler temps (which is a good thing - no worries).
Ask your LFS who they got their seahorse stock from. That should be able to help me figure it out. Otherwise, I'd prep both rotifers and bbs, and then wait and see if the fry hitch at birth or not.
buffalobunch
New member
the tank temp is at 74 most of the time. The catalina are tank raised too and the LFS that had them keep their tanks at 78-80. The manager of the LFS was at lunch so as soon as he gets back I'll maybe be able to find out where they come from. I still have the 10g tank that I had them in before up and running. It has a damsel in it that I could put in my 120 reef tank. Perhaps I should put him in there. Should I put the female in there too or just him? would seperating them stress him?
ann83
New member
74 is good for the seahorses, I wouldn't go above that for the sake of the seahorses though.
Two adult seahorses in a 10 gallon is a heck of a bioload... Even having him spend a few days in a 10 could be stressful on him, that is awefully small. I don't know that that would be appropriate to do until you have more experience with predicting when he will deliver, so that his time in there is minimized. If you do chose to move him, only move him, not both... seahorses can handle being solitary.
The fry will need a seperate container, bare bottom.
Two adult seahorses in a 10 gallon is a heck of a bioload... Even having him spend a few days in a 10 could be stressful on him, that is awefully small. I don't know that that would be appropriate to do until you have more experience with predicting when he will deliver, so that his time in there is minimized. If you do chose to move him, only move him, not both... seahorses can handle being solitary.
The fry will need a seperate container, bare bottom.
buffalobunch
New member
The seahorses are from here
http://www.dracomarine.org/
After looking through pictures though, I might have H. reidi instead of H. erectus. If they are erectus, they are northern. Here is a pic of my babes. What do you think? erectus or reidi
http://www.dracomarine.org/
After looking through pictures though, I might have H. reidi instead of H. erectus. If they are erectus, they are northern. Here is a pic of my babes. What do you think? erectus or reidi
ann83
New member
When I was looking through your gallery, I saw one that I thought had an erectus coronet, and one that I thought had a reidi coronet. If you could get closeup side-view images of them, especially of their heads, that would help a bunch. From that pic, I'm thinking they are both erectus. And yes, more than likely northern erectus if they came from Jorge (he has only recently started working with southerns, and they are still a special request from him). The good news is, raising northern erectus and raising reidi is about the same, so you don't need the I.D. to do your research on raising them (do a search for "Reidi" and for "Northern Erectus" in the propagation and rearing forum that I linked to you earlier). The bad news is, you probably won't raise any of the fry to adulthood, or even juvie-hood your first couple tries. Good luck.
buffalobunch
New member
I am figuring on none of them surviving. But.... I have to try. The refugium is packed with ampipods, copepods and live brine shrimp. I also have a 5g tank that is a qt for new coral frags and it has nothing in it. The floor is just crawling with critters. I also have a 20g qt for fish that has nothing in it right now either. I am sure it will be quite a learning experience with lots of ups and downs.
buffalobunch
New member
that would be fine for the coral qt tank. Hubby is building an acrylic frag tank for me. This one is still up because people here in the valley have had aefw and monti nudis. We have a display refugium that we have been working on and were going to tear down that tank when it's done anyway. I was just going to store it for a hospital tank. why are the amphipods dangerous to fry?
Hey Donielle, I have some panacur here if you need some soon. The guy at Seahorsesource .com is great. It takes about 24 hours to hatch BBS. Bajabum probably would have roti stew for you.
Let me know if you need anything. I live far but closer than waiting for your order to come in. Give me a call if need to.
They will be very tiny but ohhhh so cute.
Ann83- Are the fry as tiny as the Dwarf fry are?
Let me know if you need anything. I live far but closer than waiting for your order to come in. Give me a call if need to.
They will be very tiny but ohhhh so cute.
Ann83- Are the fry as tiny as the Dwarf fry are?
buffalobunch
New member
Thanks Cynthia. Baja is going to Mexico diving this weekend. So hopefully he'll bring cultures to start up a batch of stew. I can always get stew from ATR and AT. I have a brine shrimp hatchery kit as well. I will probably be giving you a call!!
buffalobunch
New member
what is the panacur used for? I see it is used in cats and dogs as a dewormer. Do you soak their food in it to boost their immune system or fight internal parasites?
ann83
New member
With fry and dwarf seahorses you actually treat the tank with panacur. It removes hydroids (which can easily kill them). The downside is that panacur will also leach out of the tank and any decorations, rock, etc. for years to come, killing most inverts and corals. You can reduce the likelihood of hydroids by using freshly mixed water, not using any equipment from an established tank, using decapped brine eggs, and rinsing all foods thoroughly before adding them to the tank, but hydroids will still probably get in eventually, and you will have to deal with it.
