LFS called, some seahorses came in, do I want them?

[Ben34105]

I've had a SH tank cycling since December. It has LR, LS, cheato, a purple flame fish, a small goby, pep shrimp, small hermit crab and a pipefish.

I told the LFS to call when some SH come in. Well today they called and said they just got 2 small seahorses in from Miami. They called them brazillians and said they are yellow and red. Supposedly they are tank raised and eat frozen mysis. Here's the kicker, they are $150 a piece!

I told them I'd stop by on Friday to check them out. I've been spending a lot of time reading here, but am still a noob and these will be my first SH. What questions do I need to ask? I know the description is vague, but does anyone know what kind they are?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[rayjay]

Brazilian designation would normally be H. reidi. but many stores sell horses under improper designations.
Tank raised MIGHT mean only that they have been raised in cement tanks, but still using ocean water. Then the only advantage over wildcaught is that they are usually trained to eat frozen mysis.
The only way to know for sure is to know the breeding source.
$150 is a lot of money for reidi as here in Canada, the most a reidi sourced from Seahorse Sanctuary in Australia has sold for is $129, and they are large enough to be sexed.
Check out SeahorseSource and SeahorseCorral for choices that are a true captive bred at better pricing.

 

[whipit]

thats where I plan to purchase mine seahorsesourse here is a good site I found for info
http://www.seahorse.org/ always buy CB.

 

[namxas]

at $150 a pop, i suspect the SH are the big WC reidi that one sees from time to time, OR they may indeed be true CB from a breeder and the LFS is selling them at roughly 300% of cost. ask them what their source is, and they should be able to tell you at least that much.

as of now, the cost of CB reidi from a breeder is about $65 each, but LFS may get a slight break. SH cost a lot in time and money to rear to marketable size.

 

[Ben34105]

Ok, I called the LFS back to see what their formal name is. They looked up the invoice and are Hippocampus erectus. What can you guys tell me about these?

 

[Octoshark]

$150 each is insane, especially not even knowing the source and age of the horses. You might be paying $150 for a horse at the end of its lifespan.

http://www.seahorsesource.com/erectus.html (trusted source)

 

[Elysia]

I don't know any breeder who would call their erectus "Brazilians." And $150 for an erectus in the States -- in FL especially -- is way too much. I would pass. You can get true captive bred erectus from Seahorse Source -- located in FL.

 

[gtstylez87]

hippocampus erectus are pretty easy to keep as long as their eating. the price is really high. i have worked in pet shops and he could be doing one of two things. either he thinks you really want them and you will pay that much. or he payed a lot for them. hippocampus erectus go for about 30 to 50 dollars whole sale depending where and who he got them from. i know the whole saler we buy from sells them for 30 and we would have to sell them for around 70 to 80 dollars and those are yellows and red. and that for captive bred SH. wild caught are cheeper because they cost less to get and they have a low survival rate even in the care of an experienced aquarist. we get them in sometime and i have to give them a lot of dewormers and anit-paraisitic medicines to clean them up. when we got them in if we got 20 one or two would die but we know how to care for them and could feed them 5 to 8 time a day. seahorsesource.com is a great site to get them from and abby is a really nice lady and will answer any questions you have.

 

[Ben34105]

I asked where he got them from and he told me a supplier from Miami near the airport. That's all the more he'd say. He told me if I came in on the weekend he'll cut me a deal. How much of a deal, I don't know.

What does shipping typically cost for something like this? I know over nighting something is not cheap.

 

[namxas]

dood...i'd really try and find out if he got them from a wholesaler or breeder (he should be able to tell you that much, and if not...*no sale buzzer*), but i agree...$150 for erectus is absolutely nuts.

you'd do better, AND probably get better stock from Dan at SH source, as mentioned. give him a shout, you won't be sorry you spoke with them if nothing else.

also, Beth (Peka here on RC) usually has really pretty erectus, but i'm not sure what she's up to in terms of breeding. i know she was working on reidi...

 

[Ben34105]

I can see him stopping at a red light in Miami during the night and someone running up to his window asking if he wants to buy a seahorse. lol.

 

[Octoshark]

What does shipping typically cost for something like this? I know over nighting something is not cheap.

Overnight shipping, depending upon the locations and other factors, is usually around $30-50. Since you are in Florida, I would assume shipping from SeahourseSource.com (which is in Florida) would be leaning to the lower of around $30, but you can email them and ask for a quote.

So 2 horses from an unknown source at your LFS for $300. Or 2 healthy horses from a trusted source, plus shipping for MUCH less than $300.

 

[TeresaQ]

Wow, what store in Naples (Im in Cape Coral) I would take everyones advise and call either seahorse source (on the other coast) or Seahorse Corral - in riverview close to tampa.
I got mine there and they are much cheaper
T