Which species of Seahorse has Non-pelagic fry?

[Lev F.]

Hello everyone,

I have kept horses for about a year. I would now like to try my hand at breeding some in about 5-6 months. H. Zosterae aren't available here for some reason, so all I've got at hand (Captive-Bred) is H. Reidi, H. Kuda, and sometimes H. erectus. I have yet to see H. barbouri or H. comes, although i'd really like to.

I'd like to start with something that doesn't have pelagic fry, so that I can get used to it. Something that has a medium price range (to breed) I'm talking a breeding medium price range, like ($100-300) because I already have baby octopus, and those are REALLY expensive!

Thanks in Advance,
Lev.

 

[ann83]

Erectus fry are the easiest to raise. They have benthic (not pelagic) fry. I have yet to raise fry, and I keep Reidi, so I don't know the price of raising Erectus fry, but from what I hear it is not cheap. Check out the propagation and rearing forum onLinky removed, please feel free to share your experience on Reef Central (if you have any), however linking to another board is not permitted. You should be able to find cost estimates there as well as advice on setups and fry feeding, etc.

Edit: If you do find H.Comes, they will more than likely be wild caught and require extra special attention to keep alive, much less breed.

 

[vipjd39]

actually some Erectus do have pelagic fry.... there are two types of Erectus.. Northern and Southern ... the northern erectus do not hitch at birth (pelagic) but the southern erectus fry do hitch at birth (benthic)..... just thought i'd clarify
HTH