Interested in taking on the Seahorse.

[itz frank]

Ok so basically my story goes like this. I want to try seahorses out. It was actually the reason i got into the saltwater hobby to begin with but i ended up with a 20 gal clown tank instead. So now 8 months later I've decided to take aim again. Along with Seahorse husbandry, I'd like to be able to support the fry as well in a nursery. My understanding of seahorses has grown quite a bit over the last 2 weeks and I kinda have a grasp for what they need to survive but there are still grey areas.

The tank i'm looking to build will be around 29gal or 20gal tall. I understand that in order for seahorses to breed they have to have approx. 3 times their height to complete their breeding dance. I also understand that WC and some CB seahorses might not take to frozen foods. This would obviously involve either purchasing or hatching brine shrimp or ghost shrimp. Alonst with the brine shrimp would include gut loading the brine with nutrients needed by the sea horses. Seahorses won't take baby brine though so they have to be aged for about a week before they're large enough to be eaten by the sea horses.
What do you feed to the brine to get them to grow/survive/become nutrient full? What do you keep them in since new brine need to be hatched daily. I have a nursery type idea that i found on another site for them to be kept in but what is the norm.
Lastly, what steps are taking to support seahorse fry? Again, i have a nursery blue print i'll be following that will easily keep 6 batches of fry in a 20 long or so, but what other method is used for keeping them? I'd like to minimize the amount of tanks needed to keep them so created one tank as a nursery is most ideal. Baby seahorses will eat freshly hatched brine. I understand that too. But at what ages do you begin stepping up their feedings or what they're being fed? Any info will help. And preferably what methods you use as opposed to leading me to another thread or such. I'd like to find the most realiable working method. Thanx in advance. -Frank.

 

[Fredfish]

Well, so far so good. You seem to have a good handle on what you want to do and what you need.

I would go with the 29g. More room for your horses to roam, more water to dilute what they poop, and more room for additional nutrient processing capacity in the form of macro algae etc.

One small correction. Captive bred horses have been raised on frozen food and will continue to take it readily. Now, all horses have a strong preference for live food and it is possible to turn them to the dark side by putting them in a new home chock full of tasty pods.

Captive raised (wild juvies that are pen raised in situ in the tropics) may be more prone to refusing frozen food.

If you order from someplace like seahorsesource, you can be assured that they will eat frozen.

If they come from an lfs, make sure they are eating frozen before you buy and be careful about giving them access to live foods before you have established them in your tank.

What I have suggested to others is to section off 1/4 -1/3 of the tank, make sure they are eating frozen for a few days in your tank, and then let them roam the rest of the tank. If you are going to set up a feeding station, this will also make it easier to get them used to it.

As for breeding and raising horses, I think this article is the best one I have read. It goes through everything from housing your fry and juvies to what to use for hatching brine.

You may be able to put six batches of newly released fry into a sectioned 20g, but what are you going to do as they grow.

Breeding takes space, and effort, and time, and... You might also try browsing the breeding section here at RC to get an idea of what you are getting into.

 

[Samala]

Brine can be raised on little more than dusty additions of Spirulina or other powdered algaes. To beef them up nutritionally, you would want to gut load with other enrichments: perhaps Chlorella, astaxanthin, selco/selcon, etc.

I agree with Fred. One batch of fry in a 20long would be pushing it as they grow.. they need space and lots of water changes. Keeping up with six batches in that small of an area would mean an almost constant exchange of water. Better to focus on one batch till adulthood if you dont want multiple fry rearing vessels laying all about the house. Then progress to the next batch.

>Sarah

 

[itz frank]

I understand the space concerns but it seems like the percentage of fry that will make it to adulthood through the fry rearing process is low for many kinds of horses. The 29gal was what i was looking towards but I'm still in the developement process -- bigger is always better. I'm thinking of stocking the tank lightly with LR that i currently have. Maybe only 15lbs and then adding a macro algae for them to cling to. Maybe even a gorgonian of some type, not sure. But i don't want to add plastic decor because of algae concerns and they're a pain to clean.
Another point of interest would be what kind of clean up crew to throw in this tank. I'm going to get picture of the nursery i found online, but for the display what is best? How will these fair with crabs? What kind of inverts should be planned to us? What kind of setups have you guys made? What is your stocking list look like? Thanx for the help.

Oh and thank you for the breeding pointers and thread. I'll be reading those tonight after my FMAS Meeting tonight. Miami.

-Frank.

 

[pledosophy]

I think you have a goos start, but a long way to go.

IME brine can not and shoul dnot be used for adult seahorses. It is the food of choice for fry, but not adults.

If you get CB horses try a place like seahorsesource.com or dracomarine.org. Both are aquaculture facilities and raise great horses.

To better outline what you will need for breeding then you will first need to choose a species. Read the link Fred gave you.

Raising fry is quite the adventure, it takes much preperation and a lot of time. You will not be succsessful rasing fry in a single 20g tank. IMO it is better to use multiple 0g tanks. If you don't ahve the room, then don't rasie fry. But once you start you will not be able to let so many of them die because of an improper setup. Then your kitchen will be filled with tanks as well as your dining room. Your wife will get all frustrated that there are 6 hatcheries on the bathroom sink, etc, etc IME.

The taller the tank the better. If you want to raise fry one day go with at least 3x the height of the horse.

Unless you have a sump with rock, or heavy mechanical filtration you will need more rock IME. Seahorses are messy, they need filtration.

Good Luck.