Vietnamese worth buying?

[reefpimp#1]

$30 for small vietnamese. They said they've had it three weeks and its eating frozen brine. Whorth a buy? heard good and bad about these.

 

[Kataro]

I dont know much about the actual seahorse itself... but all I know is... 10 american dollars will get you a dozen seahorse and a dozen pipefish + a bottle of wine in vietnam =)

 

[reefpimp#1]

aaaaaaaaaa oooook. thanks? :/

 

[namxas]

Generally speaking, many of the SH coming out of SE Asia haven't been worth the money. However, from what a very reliable source (also a SH breeder) tells me, there is one supplier from Vietnam that actually has decent quality SH.

BTW, there's no such thing as a "Vietnamese SH"...there is no common name like that, so you'd need to know the binomial name.

 

[reefpimp#1]

ok thanks. i dont know the binomial name but i figured u would understand

 

[namxas]

I'd have to guess either H. kuda or H. cf kelloggi. The "kelloggi" tend to have a worse survival rate.

 

[nanafish]

I'd like to know what their true name is other than Vietnamese. They could end being some tigertail. Please keep up posted. It would be nice if you could get a picture of them and post it here. If they turn out to be something other than h.kuda/ et al, it could be a really nice find. In fact I'd be interested in some.

 

[reefpimp#1]

Ok, did find out they are H. Kelloggi. Mine were babies less than an inch but they are eating well growing and doing good. The LFS just got two mediums in at same price only $30 a piece. I thought about getting them but decided to wait. Probably get a pair or Redi's from SS if anything happens to mine. I here Kelloggi's are sensative and a little harder to keep
They also get almost 12" tall!

 

[LisaD]

I may have misunderstood your post, but I wouldn't advise mixing species such as reidi and kelloggi in your tank. One of the greatest sources of risk for disease and mortality I've observed (IME) is putting "symptomless carriers" with long term captives... There was some real data collected by a pathologist on a seahorse site that supports the idea that some species tend to carry infection that does not kill them, and which quickly kills non-resistant or non-tolerant species.

BTW, years ago, I bought some "black seahorses" from the Marine Center (no longer in business, I think). Of the three I bought, which came as young adults, two survived about five years. I don't know what these were for sure, but I am pretty sure they were among the first net pen raised seahorses in the trade. They kind of looked like dark colored reidi, but maybe were kuda (which can be a catchall, anyway).

Domestic captive bred (raised in a tank from fry) and bought from the breeder is best. In general, net pen raised (in the ocean) is better than wild caught. Treat net pen raised like wild species, with proper QT, possible prophylactic meds (i.e. for intestinal parasites). Domestic captive bred seahorses are likely to be healthy, acclimated to aquarium conditions, not highly starved/stressed, recognize frozen food. Can't expect the same with WC or net pen raised. The import process also adds a lot of stress, many wholesalers have no idea how to handle seahorses.