Mixing wild and captive bred

[nothingfishy]

I currently have 4 captive bred from seahorse source. A friend of mine placed a wholesale order for fish, and was given 2 wild erectus"s. I know they probably have parasites, but if I quarantine them for say 4 months using copper and prazi, would they then be safe to put in with cb?

I think it would work, after all even dan from seahorse source has to acquire wild ones in order to breed. I am sure there is some sort of process to make them safe.

Thanks

 

[rayjay]

I feel sure that Dan wouldn't mix them.
He would use the wild's as breeding stock and not intermix them with any others.
I don't think I would even mix in the first offspring of the wild's, but possibly the next generation might be OK.
You must have a pretty large tank to be considering this.

 

[nothingfishy]

Will not be doing this. Thought about it, not worth the risk, especially considering the chance of vibrio.

 

[rayjay]

Actually, the vibrio, IME, hasn't anything to do with where the seahorses come from.
It is a nasty bacteria that is always present in our tanks, but when husbandry isn't sufficient these nasties feed off hidden detritus in the tank, creating large beds of it that have a nasty habit of causing infections in seahorses, especially if the temperatures are above 74°F.
The mixing of seahorses from different sources exposes each to pathogens that they haven't grown up with that sometimes can cause their demise.
Some people have succeeded in doing it but most, like myself, have had big problems with it.

 

[nothingfishy]

Ok so the bacteria is a concern wild or captive. That shouldn't matter .

In speaking with dan, he said he would observe them for a few months, and see if they show anything. In my case I can actively treat, with cupramine , prazi, tank transfer etc etc.

My friendnhas these two wild caught a, I don't want to see them die, so I suppose I could set up a 30 gallon qt, and treat and observe for a few months.

 

[rayjay]

I'd suggest not using cupramine without doing some research on it.
Somewhere in my mind is that I've come across info at some point in the last dozen years or so that seahorses have problem with copper treatments.