11 weeks and 9 weeks
- Thread starter teresaq
- Start date
teresaq
Active Member
Yes all 8 of the 11 week olds are eatting frozen. they are over the starving hurdle. lol you just never know though. 4 more weeks and the ones I am keeping will join my male. Hopefully they will start showing gender by then. I want to keep three females and two males for my own herd
T
T
novahobbies
Well-Known Member
Mini-cirri!!!
teresaq
Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by novahobbies http:///forum/thread/384809/11-weeks-and-9-weeks#post_3372601
Mini-cirri!!!
Yah, a couple have cirri starting. I hope it grows more, but I know it will all go away as they grow. lol
Originally Posted by novahobbies http:///forum/thread/384809/11-weeks-and-9-weeks#post_3372601
Mini-cirri!!!
Yah, a couple have cirri starting. I hope it grows more, but I know it will all go away as they grow. lol
meowzer
Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by TeresaQ http:///forum/thread/384809/11-weeks-and-9-weeks#post_3372691
Yah, a couple have cirri starting. I hope it grows more, but I know it will all go away as they grow. lol
What do you mean it goes away? they don't keep the cirri??
Originally Posted by TeresaQ http:///forum/thread/384809/11-weeks-and-9-weeks#post_3372691
Yah, a couple have cirri starting. I hope it grows more, but I know it will all go away as they grow. lol
What do you mean it goes away? they don't keep the cirri??
novahobbies
Well-Known Member
They really are awesome. I'm so impressed with the job you've done.......I don't know if I'll have the will to try raising again when it comes time. The Reidi fry were really beyond my scope of abilities when my kiddies were producing. I know Erectus fry are supposedly "easier," but I take that with a large grain of salt as well.
flower
Well-Known Member
Hey T,
Is there some type of coral or something we can put in our tanks to promote cirri growth? Nova's little horse had tons of cirri and now almost nothing, so I know it goes away. If it's camouflage maybe we can promote it to grow. I know color is affected by surroundings too.
novahobbies
Well-Known Member
I don't know for sure, but I think it may be a combination of environmental, nutrition, and stress conditions. For instance, my girl was a wild caught Florida horse. Most likely she was taken from an area with a lot of Sargassum....her cirri and initial coloration looked a LOT like sargassum weed. While I was deworming her she lost most of her cirri...she was in a bare tank with very few decorations and relatively low-nutrition food. When she was introduced to the main tank and finally switched over to mysis (higher protein and HUFAs) she gained SOME of her cirri back, but they went away again to some degree after a few more weeks. Now that I've introduced a good portion of caulerpa macroalgae in the tank, she's hanging out in the macros all day long, and her cirri are getting a little longer around her head again.
All this is interesting, but I wonder if the longer cirri may also be a stress response. I'm merely guessing, but since there are no predators in the tank, is it possible that some metabolic process is inhibited, thereby keeping the cirri from growing? Stress hormones can do interesting things without our immediate knowledge, so it's worth a thought. Then again, it could be much simpler. Perhaps I'm just not providing something she needs to keep the cirri growing.
We know for a fact that a lot of the dwarf and pygmy seahorses are specifically evolved to emulate certain types of coral and gorgonia. There was a fantastic CORAL article about pygmies a few months back with some beautiful pictures of tiny seahorses that looked just like the gorgonian they were hitched too. It stands to reason that the cirri are part of a camo response, but I really wonder if it also depends on whether or not the horses think (on an instinctive level of course) that they NEED the cirri.
All this is interesting, but I wonder if the longer cirri may also be a stress response. I'm merely guessing, but since there are no predators in the tank, is it possible that some metabolic process is inhibited, thereby keeping the cirri from growing? Stress hormones can do interesting things without our immediate knowledge, so it's worth a thought. Then again, it could be much simpler. Perhaps I'm just not providing something she needs to keep the cirri growing.
We know for a fact that a lot of the dwarf and pygmy seahorses are specifically evolved to emulate certain types of coral and gorgonia. There was a fantastic CORAL article about pygmies a few months back with some beautiful pictures of tiny seahorses that looked just like the gorgonian they were hitched too. It stands to reason that the cirri are part of a camo response, but I really wonder if it also depends on whether or not the horses think (on an instinctive level of course) that they NEED the cirri.
flower
Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by novahobbies http:///forum/thread/384809/11-weeks-and-9-weeks#post_3373113
I don't know for sure, but I think it may be a combination of environmental, nutrition, and stress conditions. For instance, my girl was a wild caught Florida horse. Most likely she was taken from an area with a lot of Sargassum....her cirri and initial coloration looked a LOT like sargassum weed. While I was deworming her she lost most of her cirri...she was in a bare tank with very few decorations and relatively low-nutrition food. When she was introduced to the main tank and finally switched over to mysis (higher protein and HUFAs) she gained SOME of her cirri back, but they went away again to some degree after a few more weeks. Now that I've introduced a good portion of caulerpa macroalgae in the tank, she's hanging out in the macros all day long, and her cirri are getting a little longer around her head again.
All this is interesting, but I wonder if the longer cirri may also be a stress response. I'm merely guessing, but since there are no predators in the tank, is it possible that some metabolic process is inhibited, thereby keeping the cirri from growing? Stress hormones can do interesting things without our immediate knowledge, so it's worth a thought. Then again, it could be much simpler. Perhaps I'm just not providing something she needs to keep the cirri growing.
We know for a fact that a lot of the dwarf and pygmy seahorses are specifically evolved to emulate certain types of coral and gorgonia. There was a fantastic CORAL article about pygmies a few months back with some beautiful pictures of tiny seahorses that looked just like the gorgonian they were hitched too. It stands to reason that the cirri are part of a camo response, but I really wonder if it also depends on whether or not the horses think (on an instinctive level of course) that they NEED the cirri.
In all fairness...Don't they understand WE need them to have cirri because it makes them look cool.
However, the horses Meowzer got from SWF has cirri, mine have none. All were in a bare bottom tank and raised up never knowing the natural environment they came from. Did SWF make them feel afraid??? HHHMMM If that were the case my fat mug every morning should have my horses just covered in it.
Originally Posted by novahobbies http:///forum/thread/384809/11-weeks-and-9-weeks#post_3373113
I don't know for sure, but I think it may be a combination of environmental, nutrition, and stress conditions. For instance, my girl was a wild caught Florida horse. Most likely she was taken from an area with a lot of Sargassum....her cirri and initial coloration looked a LOT like sargassum weed. While I was deworming her she lost most of her cirri...she was in a bare tank with very few decorations and relatively low-nutrition food. When she was introduced to the main tank and finally switched over to mysis (higher protein and HUFAs) she gained SOME of her cirri back, but they went away again to some degree after a few more weeks. Now that I've introduced a good portion of caulerpa macroalgae in the tank, she's hanging out in the macros all day long, and her cirri are getting a little longer around her head again.
All this is interesting, but I wonder if the longer cirri may also be a stress response. I'm merely guessing, but since there are no predators in the tank, is it possible that some metabolic process is inhibited, thereby keeping the cirri from growing? Stress hormones can do interesting things without our immediate knowledge, so it's worth a thought. Then again, it could be much simpler. Perhaps I'm just not providing something she needs to keep the cirri growing.
We know for a fact that a lot of the dwarf and pygmy seahorses are specifically evolved to emulate certain types of coral and gorgonia. There was a fantastic CORAL article about pygmies a few months back with some beautiful pictures of tiny seahorses that looked just like the gorgonian they were hitched too. It stands to reason that the cirri are part of a camo response, but I really wonder if it also depends on whether or not the horses think (on an instinctive level of course) that they NEED the cirri.
In all fairness...Don't they understand WE need them to have cirri because it makes them look cool.
However, the horses Meowzer got from SWF has cirri, mine have none. All were in a bare bottom tank and raised up never knowing the natural environment they came from. Did SWF make them feel afraid??? HHHMMM If that were the case my fat mug every morning should have my horses just covered in it.