seahorse color

[Allmost]

Hello,
so I bought 2 pairs of Orange seahorses (brazillian ones) about 3 months back.

they changed color in my tank, and after alot of work, they turned fully yellow for the past month.

last 1 week, I notice some got their orange color back in some parts, but not fully orange yet, was happy with it till last night, I started thinking, maybe the orange spots are some sort of infections ? how would I be able to tell ?

any help is highly appreciated as I'm fairy new into seahorses.

thanks.

 

[lucycat]

Hello,
so I bought 2 pairs of Orange seahorses (brazillian ones) about 3 months back.

they changed color in my tank, and after alot of work, they turned fully yellow for the past month.

last 1 week, I notice some got their orange color back in some parts, but not fully orange yet, was happy with it till last night, I started thinking, maybe the orange spots are some sort of infections ? how would I be able to tell ?

any help is highly appreciated as I'm fairy new into seahorses.

thanks.

seahorses are the chamleons of the sea and can change colour very easily .add colour to their tank if you want them orange add orange plants likewise if you want yellow add yellow plants,in england they have been feeding colour suppliments to the seahorse food and it does work at keeping their colours.there is no illness with orange spots that i know of ,its white spots that people are more worried about

 

[Allmost]

seahorses are the chamleons of the sea and can change colour very easily .add colour to their tank if you want them orange add orange plants likewise if you want yellow add yellow plants,in england they have been feeding colour suppliments to the seahorse food and it does work at keeping their colours.there is no illness with orange spots that i know of ,its white spots that people are more worried about

okay thanks alot

I am aware of the color change, and TRYING to add carotenoids to their food, only source of such thing for me is carrot though lol,

as long as its not an infection, then I'm doing the food enrichment right

 

[rayjay]

There is no tried an true way to get seahorses to maintain their colour.
Of the five red/orange I have, one turned yellow when he was caught in the rear part of the overflow up against the baffling for a long period of time.
It regained a hint of orange now but hasen't returned to colour.
The barebottom tank is painted orange and red on the bottom and has red and orange predominant decor, but that will be no guarantee for me.
If you have rock in the display tank, the seahorses are more prone to change colour then.
Yohan from Aquamarine International replied in my query on how to maintain the yellow, orange and red of seahorses he sells, saying: "Its best to have the temperature at 28-30C and the tank deco with nice yellow or orange and no black or brown in it. This has been the most effective to our knowledge."
Unfortunately we don't have the sophisticated systems Yohan works with in breeding these coloured reidi and we will experience too many problems at that temperature range.
These are a few pics of the newest tank housing these five red/orange and one lemon yellow reidi. (I guess now you would say 4 O/R and 2 yellow)
NEWEST TANK SET UP
ORANGE REIDI
1 RED AND 1 LEMON YELLOW REIDI

 

[Allmost]

There is no tried an true way to get seahorses to maintain their colour.
Of the five red/orange I have, one turned yellow when he was caught in the rear part of the overflow up against the baffling for a long period of time.
It regained a hint of orange now but hasen't returned to colour.
The barebottom tank is painted orange and red on the bottom and has red and orange predominant decor, but that will be no guarantee for me.
If you have rock in the display tank, the seahorses are more prone to change colour then.
Yohan from Aquamarine International replied in my query on how to maintain the yellow, orange and red of seahorses he sells, saying: "Its best to have the temperature at 28-30C and the tank deco with nice yellow or orange and no black or brown in it. This has been the most effective to our knowledge."
Unfortunately we don't have the sophisticated systems Yohan works with in breeding these coloured reidi and we will experience too many problems at that temperature range.
These are a few pics of the newest tank housing these five red/orange and one lemon yellow reidi. (I guess now you would say 4 O/R and 2 yellow)
NEWEST TANK SET UP
ORANGE REIDI
1 RED AND 1 LEMON YELLOW REIDI

thank you sir

your tanks and horses look amazing.

most of the colors I have in the seahorse tank are white, Black, blue and yellow and only 2 red seafans, I will be adding a couple of tree sponges if I can get my hands on them soon. they lost their color when I first got them, but ever since I started enriching their food, they got the yellow back (which is fine with me ) I'm just glad those new orange batches arent parasites nor infections.

but I have another question to ask you please


right now, I only feed my seahorses once a day, Frozen mysis soaked in Selcon, is this enough food ? I feed them as much as they would eat (3-4 pieces each) and then drop some more, and if they dont eat it I take it out before turning the pumps back on. is this okay ? should I feed them twice a day ? any advice ? seahorse tank lights come on at 12 noon and go off at 12 am. I leave home fro work at 8 am and come back at 8 PM, and feed them when I get back, should I feed them before I leave to work as well ?

 

[rayjay]

Please, I'm just a hobbyist, no sir, just Ray or rayjay thanks.
Personally I don't think the mysis needs enrichment, and I especially don't like selco type products in my tanks as it contributes to water quality issues over time.
You will have more trouble than most with water quality issues as your tank is not up to recommendations by the knowledgeable hobbyists on the "org" for stocking 2 pairs of reidis.
Seahorses normally feed throughout the day as they have no stomach as such, only a digestive tract. (like tangs for instance) and IMO once a day is not enough.
I feed three times a day with the frozen.
Once or twice a week I feed gut loaded live adult brine.
Gut loaded live mysids would be better but all I have is brine so that makes do.
As for lighting, all you need in the way of lighting is just sufficient light to serve your corals you have in there. Seahorses are quite content to be in just ambient lighting and don't need overhead lighting just for themselves.

 

[Allmost]

lol thank you Ray I trust your answers more than any "org" website now, specially since you have a more open minded about this hobby as well

makes sense about Selcon, as with frozen most of it would probably just stick to the outside shell of the mysis and wash of in the tank. I will go for 2 times a day feeding now on, and stop enriching, see how it goes, as in the last couple months I havent noticed much growth on the seahorses.

as of stocking, I really am sure they have enough room to swim, and its connected to my reef system which runs really low on nutrition. I kinda feel like the no3 out of this tank is helping my SPS in the other tank too

thanks again

 

[rayjay]

Well good luck with your set up.
Some people have found that a seahorse tank connected to a reef tank eventually degrades the reef tank because of the high nutrients produced by seahorse tanks due to their selective feeding habits.
I personally had problems keeping my seahorses at reefing temperatures because of bacterial infections that would develop over time.
As for the "org", there is only one as far as seahorses go and that is most complete source of seahorse information for hobbyists available. It is my main source of information.
The people there are much more knowledgeable than I, and in fact, I'm looking for help there at the moment because of problems with horses in two of my tanks.
Tank size is not for swimming room as most seahorses, especially when they become adults, don't do a lot of swimming.
Minimum volumes are recommended to aid in water quality, which due to the previously mentioned eating habits, can degrade over time causing the problems.
As for open minded, most people would say that I'm anything but.
If you read MY THOUGHTS ON SEAHORSE KEEPING you will understand why they think that.
p.s. the links at the bottom of my page are extremely informative for seahorse keepers

 

[Allmost]

Well good luck with your set up.
Some people have found that a seahorse tank connected to a reef tank eventually degrades the reef tank because of the high nutrients produced by seahorse tanks due to their selective feeding habits.
I personally had problems keeping my seahorses at reefing temperatures because of bacterial infections that would develop over time.
As for the "org", there is only one as far as seahorses go and that is most complete source of seahorse information for hobbyists available. It is my main source of information.
The people there are much more knowledgeable than I, and in fact, I'm looking for help there at the moment because of problems with horses in two of my tanks.
Tank size is not for swimming room as most seahorses, especially when they become adults, don't do a lot of swimming.
Minimum volumes are recommended to aid in water quality, which due to the previously mentioned eating habits, can degrade over time causing the problems.
As for open minded, most people would say that I'm anything but.
If you read MY THOUGHTS ON SEAHORSE KEEPING you will understand why they think that.
p.s. the links at the bottom of my page are extremely informative for seahorse keepers

temperature, I cant argue , as it makes sense

my reef is on Zeovit, and I have 2 DSB in the system, so I can use the extra nutrition to keep the animals in the sand bed happy I test the water daily, max no3 Ive seen was 1 PPM after 2 weeks of no water change, but I religiously change water weekly.

thanks for the links, I will be busy reading, just cant get enough of learning.

 

[rayjay]

The problem isn't nitrates for seahorses, it's trapped and unseen, uneaten decayed food that fuels the bacteria such as vibriosis.