Is it really worth getting from breeder?

[kg4izw]

I am almost ready to get my seahorses and have been talking to the LFS in town and to Seahorsesourse as well.
I can get a H. Reidi for $90. from my LFS who gets them from ORA.
or
I can get a H. Reidi pair from seahorsesourse or draco for $160-180.
Is it worth double the price to get them from the breeder?
I have read MANY threads on the troubles associated with WC horses and will stay away from them, but I am just not convinced that I should get only two for what it costs me to get 4.
This has become one of the most difficult decisions I have made in many months.

 

[Duddly01]

Am I reading this wrong? Sounds like the same, one Reidi for $90 or a pair (2) for $180.

I would only order horses from a respected breeder like seahorsesource or DracoMarine. This may not be the case here but I have heard ORA has a habit of getting pen-bred species from Asia and not necessarily raising them inhouse.

Vertually all of the Kelloggi and Kuda currently available have an extremely bad track record on survival, even for the best experts out there. The cheap pen bred horses are selling for much cheaper and driving some breeders out of the hobby. Regretably as with much of the issues with consumer goods coming out of Asia lately this is even evident in our hobby as well and you can't exactly recall a seahorse or other marine fish.

 

[kg4izw]

OOPS!
I can get two Reidi from the LFS for $90
or
I can get two Reidi from breeder for $180

 

[ann83]

Some of the Reidi coming out of ORA have been bred by ORA in house, and some of the Reidi coming out of ORA have been imported from other sources in Asia where they have been net-pen raised in the ocean (so they have the same problems as WC seahorses). There is no way to know which seahorses are being shipped to your LFS; additionally, if your LFS has previously gotten the imported ones from ORA or received WC or TR from a wholesaler, then future seahorses going into those tanks, CB or not, will be exposed to those same pathogens when put in the LFS system so you will have some of the same problems.
The only way that you are ensured healthy seahorses without parasites and other pathogen and feeding issues is to get them from a trusted aquaculture facility like seahorse source. If you choose to get your seahorses from your LFS, be prepared with live shrimp, fenbendizole, metronidizole, praziquantal, neomycin, triple sulfa, and diamox. You will definately need to treat the seahorses for parasites in a bare bottom quarantine tank for 6 weeks with the fenbendizole, metronidizole and praziquantal (which will require the use of both live brine shrimp and larger live shrimp like ghost/glass/mysis, etc.). You may also have to treat secondary infections using lots of neomycin and triple sulfa and/or diamox, which may also require tube feeding the seahorses. And, the seahorses may not come in entirely trained to frozen foods; which means that they may never eat frozen (see $20 a week in live foods for the rest of their lives), or that you will have to spend $20 a week on live foods until you can train them to frozen yourself.
The bottom line is, it will be more expensive to get seahorses that have been raised in the ocean, than to get ones that have been aquacultured; and the only way to know that you are getting aquacultured seahorses is to buy them from a facility that only sells aquacultured seahorses; which is just not a guarantee you can get at this point from ORA, but it is a guarantee you can get from Seahorse Source, Draco Marine, and New York Seahorse.

 

[kg4izw]

**sigh**
I guess you are right.
I am just going to have to pay the extra money and avoid later troubles.

 

[sixfins]

I would tend to agree with ann, but how long has your LFS had them? and are they eating frozen foods there? I wouldn't take their (LFS) word for it I would want to see it. Sometimes LFS's down here will get them in and have them for very long periods (3-4mo. or longer), so you would be able to see any disease issues.

 

[gatorolsen]

another vote from buying CB from a breeder

there are many hobbyists out there who have prices lower than the ones you were looking at

shipping is always a large part of the expense - check for a local RC or saltwater group - maybe someone would want to share your order

I purchases my CB erectus from someone who was in the same state as I where I had the option of following up one some of his stock from previous sales and could have checked out his set up in home if I had wanted. I was reassured that he had tons of posting on a forum I checked the postings and saw that he was often answering questions and giving newbies advice - not just plugging his sh stock.

I found that I had very personal follow-up to a few questions that I had and it was a very positive experience for me

Gatorolsen

 

[pledosophy]

Here is a quote from ORA

We DO import Seahorses from Sri Lanka, at this time it is only the H. Reidi species, and they are farm raised in Ponds.

The Seahorses that we do Aquaculture here on site are; H. Comes, H.Barbouri, & H. Brevecept, & The Dwarfs.

So the Reidi would be net pen raised and come with all the problems asscoiated.

Cheaper in the long run to get from a breeder IMO

 

[kg4izw]

Got it.
I ordered two female Reidi from Seahorsesource last Friday to the tune of $160.00. They will arrive THIS Friday.
Wish me luck.

 

[hydroid]

Did you get them?

Six months from now, you will still have fat happy horses that eat well.

I didn't heed the warnings (which were stated less) a few years ago. I not only got pen raised, I eventually mixed them with horses from another breeder. I easily spent $90 in meds, hospital tanks, etc. and countless hours nursing sick horses, fixing stuck triggers, treating for ectoparasites, etc.

That was a $90 well spent my friend.

 

[pledosophy]

Good Luck!

As long as we're sharing stories about mistakes, before I knew better I got a pair of WC Reidi's. Cost me around $20 a week to feed them live food. Kept them for a bit over 5 years, so 5 grand later just on foods, I recommend CB.

Have my CB order in myself from a real breeder. So excited.

 

[TPFKAAATS]

So, how are these fish doing?

 

[Swanwillow]

hmm, heres another horror story about net-pen raised horses.
they were on E-bay, 20 bucks each. Shoulda known when they got hear with no heat packs that they weren't up to par. Fine, get more info from the guy..
They lived for 6 months.

 

[LisaD]

On net pen raised - a lot depends on how they were handled in transit and at the LFS, and if they appear healthy and are eating frozen mysis. Net pen raised is not necessarily bad.

I prefer to buy from direct from a reputable supplier/breeder such as Dan from Seahorsesource, but would also consider my LFS if they knew how to handle seahorses, and if I could observe the animals for at least a few weeks at the LFS.

 

[waxy]

I always wanted a seahorse, but I was told they are very hard to keep.

I was looking at the dwarf seahorses, but they are just way too small, something in my tank could eat it up when its tail is curled around a piece of rock or something.

 

[peacetypes6]

too bad draco is no more