What am I doing wrong?

[Lenen]

First of all, sorry if my english is bad "“ its been a long time since I was typing in english"¦

I have a couple of questions regarding my seahorse tank. Hope someone can answer them for me, not so many people in Norway have seahorses, so I really need your help!

First some information about the tank:
AM Chromis (166liters) with slow water movement, live rock, lots of macroalges and a few soft corals.
In the tank I have:
2 h. reidi (not captive ones, I introduced the seahorses in june 2009)
1 mandarin
2 Lysmata debelius
2 sea stars, not the aggressive ones, don't remember the names in latin.


My water parameters are fine, the temperature is around 25 degrees Celsius
I feed the seahorses twice or three times a day.
I don't have my hands in the tank, unless it is really necessary.

So my question is, why won't they breed? What am I doing wrong?
In the morning I see that they are dancing together, sometimes the male changes colour.

Two weeks ago my male seahorse got a big belly, so I thought he was pregnant. A week later, he was back to normal. I think he might have got gas bubble disease?

 

[ReefNutPA]

With the exception of the temperature (25C) being a bit too high, you aren't doing anything wrong. Some hobbyists have seahorses for months or a year or more without them breeding.

I have some seahorses that are 2 years old that haven't ever reproduced. All you can do is give them the best foods possible, and a comfortable tank - the rest is up to them and nature.

I dont think your seahorse has gas bubble disease, so relax! If they had gas bubble disease they would be floating at the top and not be able to swim. Most likely the male filled his pouch with water - which is what you saw and it makes them appear pregnant. It's all part of the mating ritual.

Just relax and enjoy your seahorses.

Tom

 

[wilfx]

I was under the impression that they needed a tall tank. We just started a seahorse tank, Reidi's. I guess we got lucky. We have eggs already.

 

[namxas]

I was under the impression that they needed a tall tank. We just started a seahorse tank, Reidi's. I guess we got lucky. We have eggs already.

it's easier for them to breed in a tall tank, especially for novice pairs, but not absolutely necessary. the extra height insures that the SH can get those last few coital spins completed so the egg transfer can be made sucessfully.

just a FYI, with the exception of H. comes, reidi are about the hardest SH fry to raise, so don't feel bad/discouraged if it takes awhile for you to find your technique.

 

[rayjay]

Some people miss the birthing as it normally occurs quite early in the day, depending on what your lighting schedule is.
If you don't get them within a short time they may be getting chewed up in power heads, filters and by other tank mates.

 

[Lenen]

Thanks for all the answers!

@ ReefNutPA: Then I will get the temperature down a bit and relax.

@ wilfix & namxas: The tank is 55cm high, I was under the impression that it would be high enough?

@rayjay: The light starts at 07.00 and it gets dark around 20.30.

Will two shrimps and one mandarin be able to eat all of the fry before I get home from work, around 16.00? The shrimps have some problems with moving all over the tank because of the macroalges. I tried to "œseahorseproof" all of the equipment with stockings, but it might not be enough.


Anyway "“ I`m really not that stressed about it. I don't mind if they don't breed, I was just starting to be a bit worried that I might not give them the proper care they deserved since most of my Norwegians friends are expecting them to start breeding. They are constantly asking me about it (a bit annoying actually).

 

[rayjay]

Yes, the fry are extremely small and it would be no problem at all for them to get eaten up.
It's also possible that you just haven't seen them because of their size and colour. I can put live brine shrimp in a tank and see them a lot better than the Reidi fry I've been raising.
I'm assuming the parents are still relatively young and if so, the batch may only have been one or two hundred, possibly even less.
For lights on at 7 I would expect a possible birthing to occur in the 4 to 6 am range.
In my experience, the Reidi fry keep coming about every 14 to 16 days, so at least if you don't see the egg transfer, you can at least get an approximation of birth time by watching when the pouch appears to empty.
Then start watching about 13 days later.

 

[namxas]

rayjay is right on. we've had reidi eat their fry. which was fine because we don't rear them.

as far as tank height goes, the rule of thumb is 3x the uncurled height of the SH.

 

[Elysia]

Do you have both actinics and daylights lighting your seahorse tank? If so, do the daylights or the actinics come on at 7am? I only ever had one brood of reidi fry, but they started to come in the am while only the actinics were on (which is when the pair did their morning "get aquainted" dance) and continued through out the am.

As Greg mentioned, reidi aren't the easiest seahorses to raise, so tell your friends (in a good natured way) to back off or the seahorse community will have to send our seahorse loving friend from Sweden to Norway to have a talk with them!