chuckdallas
Tank Tinkerer
I bought a Brazilian wild seahorse from LFS in Miami about 4 weeks ago. Everything has been fine for the last 4 weeks. He's in a 10 gallon tank with a mandarinfish, some palys, a small rock of zoas and a ricordea and about 5 lbs of live rock on top of an inch of live sand. The tank ran empty (except the rock and sand) as a "Recovery Room" for 2-3 months before he went in.
He won't eat the brine shrimp I feed the Mandarinfish, so we have been buying freshwater "Ghost" or "Glass" shrimp from the LFS. Sometimes when I order 20-30 shrimp, I get the larger ones (3/4 inch or larger) mixed in with some smaller ones. He won't eat anything larger than the live shrimp that are 1/2 inch or smaller. I haven't found anything else he'll eat. I've thrown Dr. G's rotifers and copepods in the tank but haven't ever seen him eat those (as if I could tell).
I went away on vacation and we ran out of the smaller shrimp. The daughter scooped up any shrimp she saw and dumped them in the tank, so I don't know how long the seahorse has gone without a smaller bite to eat. We returned from vacation on Sunday and went to the LFS that night, but they only had one or 2 smaller ones left. I placed those in the tank but he didn't eat those on Monday. On Tuesday night, I got 40 new shrimp of all sizes and placed 2 in last night. He didn't eat those. Most mornings, before I go to work, I turn on the light and dump 2-3 smaller shrimp in and he usually makes a move toward them. Sometimes I poke the shrimp with a clear plastic rod to get them on the same side of the tank as the seahorse. He's not a big fan of the plastic rod and usually turns away from it. Today, I dumped 3-4 small shrimp in. He seems lifeless, doesn't react to my plastic pipe in his way and didn't make a move toward the glass shrimp.
If he hasn't eaten in 2-3 days, he may be too weak to eat or he may have injured his mouth trying to eat a larger shrimp while we were gone, as a amateur seahorse expert told me. She was a "BIG" seahorse fan and frequented the LFS where I got him. My 22 yr old daughter doesn't care about the aquaria hobby, as much as I do, so in her haste to rush to work or go on a date, she may have skipped a feeding (or 2) or not looked for the smaller shrimp, as they are difficult to see sometimes.
Is there a vet for seahorse? (Just kidding). I can't "pump" shrimp food into him. What can I do? Please help.
He won't eat the brine shrimp I feed the Mandarinfish, so we have been buying freshwater "Ghost" or "Glass" shrimp from the LFS. Sometimes when I order 20-30 shrimp, I get the larger ones (3/4 inch or larger) mixed in with some smaller ones. He won't eat anything larger than the live shrimp that are 1/2 inch or smaller. I haven't found anything else he'll eat. I've thrown Dr. G's rotifers and copepods in the tank but haven't ever seen him eat those (as if I could tell).
I went away on vacation and we ran out of the smaller shrimp. The daughter scooped up any shrimp she saw and dumped them in the tank, so I don't know how long the seahorse has gone without a smaller bite to eat. We returned from vacation on Sunday and went to the LFS that night, but they only had one or 2 smaller ones left. I placed those in the tank but he didn't eat those on Monday. On Tuesday night, I got 40 new shrimp of all sizes and placed 2 in last night. He didn't eat those. Most mornings, before I go to work, I turn on the light and dump 2-3 smaller shrimp in and he usually makes a move toward them. Sometimes I poke the shrimp with a clear plastic rod to get them on the same side of the tank as the seahorse. He's not a big fan of the plastic rod and usually turns away from it. Today, I dumped 3-4 small shrimp in. He seems lifeless, doesn't react to my plastic pipe in his way and didn't make a move toward the glass shrimp.
If he hasn't eaten in 2-3 days, he may be too weak to eat or he may have injured his mouth trying to eat a larger shrimp while we were gone, as a amateur seahorse expert told me. She was a "BIG" seahorse fan and frequented the LFS where I got him. My 22 yr old daughter doesn't care about the aquaria hobby, as much as I do, so in her haste to rush to work or go on a date, she may have skipped a feeding (or 2) or not looked for the smaller shrimp, as they are difficult to see sometimes.
Is there a vet for seahorse? (Just kidding). I can't "pump" shrimp food into him. What can I do? Please help.
