seahorse not eating

[leslee5050]

I have an H Comes sh. I have had her for about a month. I am keeping a constant supply of copepods in there, and about once every couple of weeks I put in live brine. I also feed the tank mysis daily. I turn off the tank every night when I put in the food. I have yet to see her eat. I drop the mysis right in front of her, and she just watches it float on by. I know she has to be eating something, because, as I said, I have had her since April 29, 2010. Any suggestions as to how I can get her to eat?

 

[rayjay]

Put her in a bare bottom quarantine tank and count the mysis you add each feeding and see how many are left after an hour.
Your she may end up being a he.
Comes especially come to the continent so small they can't be sexed for quite some time afterward.
They also have a reputation for being difficult to maintain for long term because of how they are bred.

 

[PghFishNerd]

It's not good to expect a seahorse to survive solely on pods in the tank. Putting the food in when the lights go out is probably doing nothing but polluting your tank, so pods most likely are the only things of any value she's getting. The combination of fouled water and the lack of real food could trigger a hunger strike. When seahorses don't eat for 4 or 5 days, their digestive systems can totally stop working. I would do as RayJay said as well as check your water parameters. You may also want to soak the mysis in some GarlicGuard if you're having a hard time getting her to eat.

 

[rayjay]

I think leslee was saying the tank was turned off, not the lights, so I assumed it was pumps/power heads turned off.

 

[PghFishNerd]

I think leslee was saying the tank was turned off, not the lights, so I assumed it was pumps/power heads turned off.

Oh okay good. I was gonna say... I don't really get the point of that, lol. woops

 

[TamiW]

The first thing I would do is get some live mysis shrimp from seahorse source or sach's aquaculture.

My experience with H. comes is that they are really not fond of live brine, either. Some take it, many don't. Brine shrimp is an entirely unnatural food, and it must be that they just don't recognize it as food. Keep trying it, but don't be surprise if it doesn't eat it.

With the male H. comes I got about a year ago, the mysis had to drift right RIGHT in front of his face. Also, I recommend Hakari mysis in the cubes if you can get it, its much smaller than other brands and their flat packs, and H. comes have very small snouts.

It's also entirely possible she hasn't eaten. If she was well fed before you got her, she can live a long time without food, but it usually causes irreversible damage before death. Same with being chronically underfed. I would try to address this as soon as possible so as to not get to that point if you're not there already.

 

[lucycat]

comes are technically a nocturnal species and can be a bit reluctant to feed sometimes.put the seahorse in a bare bottomed tank and feed it only frozen mysis counting how many pieces you put in go back after half an hour and count how many pieces are left then remove uneaten food,the other way is keep it in its own tank and use a feeding bowl so you can see what its eating.we find this is a good way to feed comes as the adapt to bowl feeeding very quickly.

 

[leslee5050]

h comes seahorse

h comes seahorse

Thanks to all for your help and information. Believe it or not, the last couple of days I have seen her go after the frozen mysis, which makes me very happy. I do have the frozen hikari mysis, that is what I am using. She has been in my tank now since April 29, and my friend that I got her from had her for about a month before that. I will try to get some live mysis from Seahorse Source. I did try the live brine, as I mentioned, but she wasn't interested. But I am glad to see she is going after something, other than pods. Now, how does one tell if it is a she or a he. I say she, because I want her to be, but I really don't know. But as for active, she zips all over the tank, and every morning I get up, she is in a different place. She did lose the little sirri, not sure I spelled that right, on the top of her head and back. Does this happen a lot, and is it ok? Also, I am interested in getting another sh. Are certain kinds compatible with others, or does it matter. Also, can you recommend a place to purchase some?