Seahorse Rearing

[WallysWorld]

After a year of trying different things I have finally got a method down for keeping these little guys alive!! Thanks Greg M., George and Todd G.!!

Here's a video, more to come. Just add the http:// in front of the below link.

s841.photobucket.com/albums/zz337/walnats/?action=view&current=VIDEO0010.mp4

I can't seem to insert a link or image??

 

[mtc1966]

very cool . what are they?

 

[Peka]

Nice... Each person has to find their own way. You can duplicate others setups but what works for one person doesn't always work for another. One suggestion, I did not see a hitch in the tank. H. erectus can hitch from birth. I use gutter guard from home depot at this stage in raising them. They are probably tired from swimming around. You want them to use the energy they get from eating to grow.

 

[WallysWorld]

They are H. erectus (Northern, Short Snout) <<My wording as so many are in disagreement.
Here's a pic of mom, notice the short snout.

As far as the hitching, I have Cheato growing at the bottom. But my guys only hitch at about week 3 or 4. But the cheato is good because it serves 2 purposes - hitching and home for copepods.

I add spuirilina(SP?) one day and isocrysis the next along with a ton of bbs.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Peka]

You have northern erectus which explains the hitching or lack of Good luck with them. Mom is beautiful.

 

[mtc1966]

You have northern erectus which explains the hitching or lack of Good luck with them. Mom is beautiful.

little detail please . how do you tell its northern do they swim more ?

 

[WallysWorld]

I have 4 pairs and they are all like little puppy dogs! They are great! They eat so aggresively, even a 12 week old I have jumps right in with the big boys to grab some frozen mysis.
I learned the hard way that H. Kuda are not as aggressive when it comes to food. A friend gave me a pair of kuda but they were out competed for food and faded away to nothing, very sad :-( I will not put different species in the same tank again!

I've been told these guys are one of the hardest to rear, I agree. But I am hoping my methods will work well with other species. On my list is H. Kuda and H. Ingens. just have to get a few more tanks ;-)

 

[kudagirl]

I had Kudas to

I had Kudas to

Hi, to you all, I have just joined today and read about you not keeping Kudas, Just after christmas last year i set up a seahorse tank,and got two pairs of kudas, all was going well when i got 2pairs of babies all was going well when one by one i lost them all,my lfs could not help as they did not know enough about them,i have now found this site and one called seahorses.org who are helping me start again. I am picking up two pairs ofErectus as they are not as hard as kudas to bring on.
On saying this we have had a bad lot of kudas sent in to the uk, so i have not been the only one to have had a bad start.
Am picking up seahorses next week.

Sue

 

[DanU]

how do you tell its northern do they swim more ?

Having worked with both Northern (from Long Island Sound) and Southern (from Florida) erectus, there are some noticeable differences. We found that the northern have a larger dorsal fin, shorter snout and a more compact body. We also found they did better long term in much cooler waters. The fry from the Northern variety are typically pelagic and more difficult to rear than the Southern variety. The Northern variety also reached sexual maturity in about 3 months as opposed to the Southern which typically takes closer to 4 months for us. We ended dropping the Northern variety because of the market, everyone wanted the Southern because they are easier to rear.

WallysWorld, we find that H. kuda are just as aggressive feeders as the H. erectus. It could be some differences as the H. kuda we have are of the taeniopterus variety as opposed to the Asian imports. The taeniopterus are much larger and hardier IMHO. The fry are on par with Northern erectus, maybe slightly larger and hitch at around the 2 week mark.

You will find the H. ingens to be about the most difficult to rear. Much more so than Northern erectus. The fry are long but very thin. You have to start with very small foods. If you get them to the point where they can take enriched artemia they will take off. Once they are on frozen, they are even more aggressive feeders than H. erectus.

Dan

 

[mtc1966]

thanks Dan

 

[WallysWorld]

Dan, Thanks for the info!

I agree with the differences between the southern and northern H. erectus although some people still question it. Anyway I keep my guys in room temp water so from 69 to 75 deg. One of my pairs I have had for almost two years now. I don't like to keep temps higher even on my reef I keep it at 76. Heat makes things go bad too quickly!
As far as small food that has always been the challenge even with these guys. Roti's seem to be too small and bbs only work after about a week maybe less. A few new borns will take bbs but maybe only 10%. So my biggest break through was figuring out a way to culture different types of copepods. I have three different species of copepods that I can now maintain, lets just say I have them in very large holding tanks!

I would like to talk to you about your Kuda's I am looking for a pair and would also like to know if you could help with Ingen's?

Your down by Vero correct?

Thanks again for sharing!

Hope to speak with you soon,
Walter

 

[DanU]

The cool thing about the Northern Variety, is that they do seem much more active than the Southern Variety.

I agree, some in the scientific community don't like us differentiating between the two. My understanding is DNA shows them the same species but there are clearly some differences based on where they are from. Even in Florida, there are some subtle differences between the east coast, gulf coast and the Keys.

Yep, just south of Vero.

Dan

 

[WallysWorld]

The cool thing about the Northern Variety, is that they do seem much more active than the Southern Variety.
Dan

I agree!! I love my Northerns! They come to the surface an love to be pet or just wrap around your finger, of course we wash our hands first ;-)

They must be different because the one I had was never approached by any of my males and that's never happened with a Northern female.

btw, sent you an email.

 

[andrew5013]

is there another way you can post the link..i am interested in looking at it but can't seem to get it to open. I am currently playing around with raising redi, erectus, and pipefish

 

[WallysWorld]

http://s841.photobucket.com/albums/zz337/walnats/?action=view&current=VIDEO0010.mp4

This seems to have worked.