Tips on raising fry?

[Paul B]

to keep seahorses in my reef with the other fish I had to partition off a side of the tank for them or the fish would eat all of their food. The pipefish only eat new born brine shrimp so the rest of the fish don't eat many of those because they are to small for them to see except for the mandarins.
This picture was taken in my reef, the female is transfering the eggs to the male. I collected these two in the sea.

 

[vlangel]

Today's changes. All are settled in their new abode. Dawn, I counted ten but there could be a couple in the caulerpa I coundn't see. They are in a one gallon tank with caulerpa, cheato and one rock from my fuge. All I can see are eating. They are also learning to catch a stalk with their tail. It's really funny because they miss most of the time. This guy got hooked and just keeps streching to eat!!!

Awesome pic Jesse! I am glad that they settled in well for you. I meant to give you a dozen but I could have miscounted. Mine are eating well and their little bellies were pinkish brown, (I guess from being full of bb). This morning a couple are scratching which has me worried. I am thinking of maybe just treating them in rid ich for 5 minutes., it contains for Malin which I read is helpful.

 

[vlangel]

to keep seahorses in my reef with the other fish I had to partition off a side of the tank for them or the fish would eat all of their food. The pipefish only eat new born brine shrimp so the rest of the fish don't eat many of those because they are to small for them to see except for the mandarins.
This picture was taken in my reef, the female is transfering the eggs to the male. I collected these two in the sea.

That makes sense, especially with them needing fed twice a day. A partition probably detracted somewhat from the overall beau to of your tank.

 

[Paul B]

It was a little of a pain as I had to move all the rocks and it made the rest of the tank smaller.

 

[Misled]

Today's shots. No real changes. The goldish areas around the eyes is gone now. Everyone's still eating and hanging around.

 

[vlangel]

Today's shots. No real changes. The goldish areas around the eyes is gone now. Everyone's still eating and hanging around.

I love your pictures. They look great. How many times are you feeding them. I try to feed 5 times a day but I almost killed them with kindness today. My guess is I put the bb in too dense and maybe the oxygen got depleted because I looked and they all looked dead. I hurrI'd up and added the aqua lifter line bringing in system water and flushing out nursery water. Thank goodness they revived. I will be much more careful from now on.

 

[redhorse]

WOW! What kind of camera are you using to get these awesome picture...

 

[Misled]

I'm feeding 4 times a day, about every 4 hours. Need to do a good sized water change tomorrow. I'm noticing the bubbles from the airline aren't dissipating very fast.

The camera is a Nikon D300 and the lens is a Sigma 50mm macro. The pics will get better if they make it to the 5 gallon I've got waiting. Right now the tank is cheep acrylic and not very good to shoot through.

 

[vlangel]

My baby seahorses have gotten much more coordinated and now can swim and hitch where they choose. They hunt the bb very effectively so that they only need to be given about 30 minutes to eat. In 5 days I am amazed how much they have grown!

 

[Misled]

Hey Dawn. Guys are about a week old so I figured I'd update. Best I can tell, I've lost one. These guys are pigs. I did cut back to three times a day feeding, though they are getting the same amount as when I was feeding four times. I've turned up the air to get more water moving. They are swimming really well. They move against the current and like to ride the bubbles to the top.

 

[vlangel]

Hey Dawn. Guys are about a week old so I figured I'd update. Best I can tell, I've lost one. These guys are pigs. I did cut back to three times a day feeding, though they are getting the same amount as when I was feeding four times. I've turned up the air to get more water moving. They are swimming really well. They move against the current and like to ride the bubbles to the top.

Thanks Jesse, I have been wondering how they are. Sounds pretty much like mine. They can clean up the bb in a short amount of time since they have become such good swimmers and hunters. I was wondering, do you use decapsulated bb eggs or the regular? I ordered decapsulated because my last 2 hatches were not as good and I was worried the little seahorses would ingest the shells from unmatched eggs. Fortunately I didn't throw out prior hatches, I put them in a 5g with food and an air stone in hopes of growing them out. Now I am glad I have them. They are a little bigger and enriched with Dan's feed, Selcon and Phytofeast so they should be nourishing until my decapsulated bb arrives Thursday.

 

[Misled]

Mine are decapsulated. I'm also using Dan's and Phyto. Also cyclopeze in a powder form sometimes. I have been mixing in frozen bb. They are taking it well. That's one of the reasons I've upped the air. It keeps things floating in the water column. It also keeps the little guys swimming. I back it off some at night and they hitch up right away.

 

[vlangel]

Mine are decapsulated. I'm also using Dan's and Phyto. Also cyclopeze in a powder form sometimes. I have been mixing in frozen bb. They are taking it well. That's one of the reasons I've upped the air. It keeps things floating in the water column. It also keeps the little guys swimming. I back it off some at night and they hitch up right away.

I forgot but I also use cyclopese too. I had wondered about frozen bb. I have some so I will try that too.
Why are you feeding 3 times a day, convenience or bioload? I feed 5 times but I am home all day anyhow. They just got their last meal shortly after 9 and now they are all hitched up for the night and it's lights out.

 

[Misled]

I was doing four, but the excess seemed to sit too long. Mine are in a little tank and I'm already doing a 50% water change every other day. I'm more worried about infections now and will most likely stay where I'm at for a couple more weeks. I've got a five gallon waiting. I'll be able to get some filtering on that.

 

[vlangel]

Yes, bacterial infection are my biggest concern as well. Jesse, are you using a probiotic in the water? I use sanolife-mic F and you can get that from seahorse source. It's a powDer that you mix with tank water and add daily and a little goes a long way. I only use half a teaspoon in my whole system.

 

[Misled]

I'm not, but I'll look into it. Trouble is, the guys are in a pretty tiny tank and I'd hate to over dio it.

 

[vlangel]

I'm not, but I'll look into it. Trouble is, the guys are in a pretty tiny tank and I'd hate to over dio it.

Yes, In such a small tank correct dosage could definitely be a problem.

 

[dwalker]

You really can't overdose the probiotic. Of course dumping the entire bag in your tank would be bad! If you are enriching live food, you can feed the Sanolife to them, it is more effective if the seahorses eat it anyway.

 

[vlangel]

Ok, I have been lighting the bottom and middle of the nursery tank to keep the fry from going to the surface and swallowing air. They are now 8 days old and seem well oriented so when is it advisable to move the light overhead?

 

[fishies7]

I can tell that I have a LOT to learn! My little guys are six days old, but I only have maybe 6 left (out of around 150 I started with!) I am really having a hard time keeping up with offering newly hatched BB. Any ideas for a staged approach to raising the brine shrimp? Also, how old must they be to introduce Cyclops-eeze? Thanks, and CONGRATS to all of you who have pulled off this complicated process successfully!