Seahorses babies

[little_fish]

I was wondering if any of you talented people would like try raising seahorse fry. My male just delivered this morning, and while i wasnt able to save any from this batch, from what i have read this should now be a monthly thing. Oh joy. I would love to try and raise them myself one day, but at the moment i am unable to do so. So i figured i would offer them up.

So anyone who is interested would have about a month to set up and they delivered around a 100 babies, probably more.

 

[Wicked Color]

This has Ummfish's name all over it.

 

[Ummfish]

I would love to, though I'm not ready for this batch (and can't get down there today). But I can be ready for next time. I certainly have _tons_ of copepods to feed 'em.

What kind of ponies are they (makes a big difference in how you try to raise them)?

 

[little_fish]

Unless you have high desires to try and raise the one i was able to save : ( (it has been a bit of a traumatic morning) you have at least a month until the next batch gets here.

Also, they are h. erectus.

 

[Ummfish]

Yeah, breeding can be kind of that way. Sorry.

But in the ocean they'd have about the same chance. Remember that reef fish populations stay relatively stable over time (if humans aren't around), so on average two of the offspring from all of the larvae that any one pair make in their entire lives survive to adulthood.

If you keep that in mind all the failures don't seem so bad. Yeah, I'll keep telling myself that.

 

[Zooid]

I'd like to try them also

 

[kwws]

You could put me in line also when you have some

 

[little_fish]

Wow, this is awesome to see this sort of response. Ill be happy to give batches out. I guess my only stipulation to giving out batches is i would like to be able to have one of the babies or be paid the cost of one pony, but this will only apply if you successfully raise more than 10. Considering i think a fair price is $60, that guarantees the raiser at least $600. If you dont think this fair, let me know im willing to change this, cuz i know it is expensive to raise any sort of fry. Im just a poor college student pinching pennies and this money will help with the up keep of my tank.

 

[Zooid]

I don't think that asking for one of the babies is too much to ask.
It would be tough to pay $60 for a batch of fry....I don't know how easy these guys are to raise but some seahorses are extremely difficult to raise.

Are these from a dwarf seahorse?

 

[GoldenReef]

I would be interested also. I have a tank that is running and has nothing in it since the wife was thinking about this same thing.
John
In Golden

 

[Ummfish]

Certainly. In fact, far more than one (assuming I'd get any raised). In fact, I keep trying to give some of the clowns to Gale but he won't take any.

Gale: These are erectus, so depending on the type of erectus (northern or southern) they could be really easy or really difficult. Based on the small number of fry, they may just be the easy varieties. The tough ones tend to release 1,000 or so at a time, but the fry are really small and need to be in a kreisel-type container for quite a long time with really small foods.

So, any idea on the age of the adults (might tell us if this was just a small first spawning)? How large were the fry? Did any of the fry hitch?

Thanks!

 

[little_fish]

I was saying you would only pay me if you successfully raise more than 10 (so i would be paid for the 11th seahorse), that way i make sure you get your costs covered for attempting to raise them and hopefully end up with something in your pocket.

The parents are around 5 months old now, and the fry are around a quarter of an inch. And i managed to save two of them and they are now in my pod jar with some cheato. They havent totally hitched yet, but if i remember right they take around 24-48 hrs to begin hitching. If they are with us in the morning i will let you know if they have hitched or not. I would suspect that they are the easy type though, they are from seahorsesource.com. I can call and ask them if you like.

 

[little_fish]

Ok, so list of people who would like to try raising them is below, in order that i will give them out:
Ummfish
Zooids
Kwws
GoldenReef

Anyone else is welcome to add their name, and i will add them to list in order of posting on here. I would plan on one batch a month, and i would like to give the whole batch to just one person at time. That way that person has the best possible chance to raise a few of the best and they can cull them as they see fit. I will contact the next person in line when he delivers for the person in line in front of them, and then i will contact them probably a ton when it looks like things are close.

Anyways, now that i have posted all of this they are of course going to stop breeding . . .

 

[emilyolivia]

I would like to hear more about having seahorse in the home aquarium. What do they require? Which ones are hardest and easiest, aquarium set up and food. About all I know is they need to pretty much be the only type in the tank so they don't starve.

 

[little_fish]

Well, they require at least 18 inches of vertical height. The easiest are definitely the erectus, they are the most common and probably the hardiest. They dont really need to be a tank all by themselves, they just need to be with tank mates that wont compete for food, eat them or bother them (so no open swimming, crazy fish like angels, tanks etc).
They also need lots of things to hitch onto with their tails because they arent very good swimmers. People say that they dont like a lot of flow because they dont swim well, but i find that they really like the faster flow as long as they have something to hang onto.

Also it is SUPER important that you buy captive breed seahorses, not wild caught or tanked raised. The last two are usually very problematic, they arent adjusted to frozen food or tank life. They usually arent very hardy and most often die.

If you are thinking of seahorses please do your research first, they do take some special care. A great place to buy from and ask questions is seahorsesource.com. The owners/breeders are really great, nice knowledgeable people. seahorse.org is another great place to check out. However, hands down the best way to learn about seahorses is to take the FREE seahorse lessons from Pete Giwonja at seahorse.com (you just email him and ask him to send you the lessons. There are 10 and he will answer any questions you have after reading through it. He will also answer any other questions and help you plan your tank. )

Im sure im forgetting lots, but that will give you a start!

 

[Ummfish]

+1 on SeahorseSource. Great people to deal with. +1 also on buying captive-bred. The last seahorses I tried were pen raised in the ocean (H. comes, no real North American captive-breeding) and they came in with what was likely a disease that dad horse would pass on to his babies. Pretty tragic and no fun at all.

 

[Zooid]

Tell you what.....just to make it fair for you. When I try them, if I get 10 to survive, I'll give you back five of them. If I get less than that, I'll give you half of what I get through I just like the idea of trying the little guys. We'll have to see if they like those Apocyclops.

 

[dvenson]

this could be a MBI right as long as they have the pictures.

 

[little_fish]

Thanks Zooid, just make sure that your costs are covered, i dont want anyone going into the hole over them.

And i dont know what you mean by MBI needing pics, but ill provide any that are need although be warned my camera sucks.

Also so here is the skinny on them as of this morning. I managed to save 3 yesterday, one died in the evening but the other two are still alive this morning. they both seemed to have hitched (and i think the one that died did as well, cuz he was buried in the cheato clump) but i think that is what is going to kill them because they are burying themselves in the cheato

 

[Ummfish]

Sounds like they are the easy erectus. Good. If that's the case then we can probably get you up and running to raise your own by next month if you'd like.

They are probably burying in there following food. Probably not the worst thing in the world, unless they get to a place where they can't move (I don't put it past a seahorse).