starting a seahorse tank?

[fishymann]

alright thank you ann. I'm pretty sure im going to go no heaters once the weather is more steady (like all high 70s outside type of deel). I did get the seahorses i was scared because they were delivered at 910am and its about high 70s low 80s here so i got home as fast as i could (a little after 2) and they are floating, i will do a slow acclimation. THEY ARE SMALL will post pictures

 

[fishymann]

They're happily swimming around in the bucket im using to acclimate them in theyve already perched onto the tubing im using to do the drip
lots of pictures later

 

[KUDA]

Glad to hear they are alright.

 

[fishymann]

they are extremely active which is a good sign i would think

Still in the bag (floating)

In the bucket sort of a top shot

Another one

And a little video of them swimming around and perching on eachother

I defintly can tell why they always tell you to not just have one .

 

[fishymann]

i think i might of gotten a male and a female instead of two females :\. one seems to sort of have a flat belly the other seems to have a much rounder (more pouch looking). Once they'r in the tank i'll be able to tell better and get a good picture for ID.

 

[KUDA]

They look great!!!

 

[KUDA]

BTW, how's your scooter blenny doing? Is he still eating well? Mine is still alive and doing great.

 

[panmanmatt]

They look great Mike. Glad to see they made it ok. About how big would you say they are?

Definitely post some more pics. A side profile would help tell the sexes. BTW, did Jorge say if these were the northern erectus or southern? Last I talked to him he was only working with northern but hoped to get back into the southerns.

 

[fishymann]

i was wrong, they are both females . Scooter blenny is perfectly happy and will eat any frozen food i send his way. The one seahorse is perched on some red grape algae the other on some red kelp algae, sadly the red kelp is farther from the glass so its hard to get clean pictures.
seahorse1

seahorse 2

seahorse 1

seahorse 2

seahorse 1

seahorse 2

hehe and while all this was going on my baby snail was cleaning

Jorge didnt specify but im sure if i asked he wouldn't have any problem letting me know, any specific reason it would matter? THey're about on the small side of 3 inches.

 

[panmanmatt]

Fantastic looking horses. Jorge does have some top notch stock.

The only major differnces are the temp ranges and the fact that the northern fry are a lot smaller and don't hitch at birth. The northerns seem to be more active in the cooler waters and will slow down once temps get into the mid 70's.

 

[fishymann]

well tank is borderline 74 right now (put in a frozen bottle of water to bring it down a bit) and they seem to be active. i'll email him and find out though, he is amazing and so is his seahorses.

 

[panmanmatt]

74 is fine for them. I've had mine at that temp with no problems. I was just saying that the northerns will remain active at the cooler tewmps where as the southerns tend to get sluggish below 70-72.

 

[fishymann]

He said they'r northen heres the exact email

"Mike,
It is nice to hear from you and know that the seahorses arrived well. I just
hanged the phone with FEDEX, they were trying to close the case. Good to
hear that the seahorses are doing well I will call them back and tell them
that everything was ok.
The H erectus we sent are from Broodstock from Long Island NY, so they are
northern strain. However here at our facility they are acclimated to higher
temperatures. We keep our Northern H erectus between 76-78 F. Even if many
people discuss in forums many things that contradict my experience I do not
have any problems keeping our H erectus from Long Island in water at 78F.
They are the same species anyway, only adapted to different environments.
Please let me know if you have more questions, I will be happy to help.
Best regards
Jorge

Jorge A. Gomezjurado"

I LOVE SEAHORSES haha i am so excited.

 

[panmanmatt]

That's what I thought. NO big deal, I happen to like the northerns a little more myself. I know he keeps his at higher temps, but you also have to remember that his system is a lot larger than what most keep in their homes. Which in turn means better filtration and larger volume of wter to help dillute any problems that may arise.

I'd stick with the temps you had planned on.

 

[fishymann]

yea im going to do my best to keep it at and under 74. I fed tonight, one ate about 2 mysis i'm not sure if the other one did or not. I'm still unsure if one is a male or not :\ one has a bigger belly area just cant tell if its a pouch. tomorow once they'r swimming around more i'll see if i can get a better more defined picture. I think im going to pick up a maxijet 400 or 600 next time at tropiquarium and point it at the top of the water to keep water movement up there to keep things from settling on the surface.

The one on the right is the one im not sure if its male or not

the other one has a much flatter belly
good view of their texture

hanging out before feeding

 

[panmanmatt]

Looks to me like you indeed do have a pair. But I will wait until you get some other pics befoe I make a final decision.

They are fantastic looking horses. Now I may have to go get some myself.

 

[fishymann]

=\ oh well, i'm just happy they arrived a live. jorge didnt ship them out himself he said some one else did, the message that i wanted to females may of just never gotten passed a long. should i be a little more watching for parasites and stuff since hes a male?

 

[fishymann]

Okay, so last night i put them ona piece of bent acrylic rod (those last few pictures thats what they'r on) when i wanted to feed them. I took them off what they were hitched onto (some algaes) and brought them over to it, they hitched... THEY'RE STILL ON IT. is this okay? they both move (the male (well who i think is a male) moves around a lot more than the female but they move up and down the rod even go upside down, but haven't come off of it.

 

[ann83]

As long as they are able to hitch okay, then they're okay. Probably just a little scared and overwhelmed. I'd hold off on handling them. Target feed instead, and lead them with the dropper to the feeding station if you are trying to train them to one.

Worrying about every little thing they do is pretty normal for a new seahorse keeper. Its all those scary emergency threads you read to get prepared. Welcome to seahorses.

Oh, and one thought... how is the flow? Is it blowing them around? B/c they also could be staying hitched b/c the current is too much for them to swim easily.

 

[fishymann]

Well sure enough as soon as i went back downstairs they were swimming around . They ate a few mysis each this morning. The flow seems good, i have the returns shooting against the back wall so it breaks it up a little more, i'll see how it goes.

I'm almost positive i have a pair guess doesn't really matter.