breeding hippocampus erectus seahorses - or basic rearing baby seahorse info please!!

fishygurl

Active Member
Hi, ive read a lot about seahorses for a couple years, since ive always wanted seahorses, and i was wondering what type of set up, food, etc would be needed to raise baby seahorses (still probably have a long ways for that, but knowing ahead of time is best right?)
I would be housing probably 4 seahorses in a 29 gallon bio cube, i would be able to get 10 gallon, or 5 gallons, for housing the babies and the food needed.
I have a 10 gallon hexagon which i would like to use for raising them, so what else would i need as far as filtration and stuff.
What type of food, and how often, etc.
Basically i just want info on how to raise the baby seahorses.
____________________________________________________
Also i am about to set up a 40 breeder tank which i plan on breeding red hawaiian shrimp, which i have read are extremely nutritious (they pretty much just eat algae and spirulina, and stuff like that), and they get about the size of a dime.
But anywho i guess they are really nutritious for seahorses and other delicate fish.
So i would feed my big seahorses a couple of these maybe every week or every other week, depending on how many i have. Also i would feed the babies, if they will be able to eat this size of food?
Anyways please send me links, or type some info on raising seahorse set ups, and timelines, and maybe pics? etc.
Thanks in advance!!!
 

teresaq

Active Member
Hi, you will probably get more answers in the seahorse section. There are a few threads going right now on breeding.
I would pm a mod and ask them to move this
TeresaQ
I will start here
a 29 gal will house 1 pair of erectus. The taller the tank the better for thier breeding dance. I have a video of the dance in the seahorse forum. Tank should be somewhere close to 21 inches tall.
fry - depending on how many they have, a ten gal may be a little small. you may have to split the brood into two tanks.
the only filteration you need is a sponge filter. Though some people use a 15 gal tall with a sump.
I will write more in a bit
TeresaQ
 

teresaq

Active Member
Northern fry are Pelagic-dont hitch at birth
Southern fry are Benthic-hitch at birth
Which erectus are you planning on getting?? southern are the easier of the two.
Southern fry take newly hatched bbs at birth.
parents should be fed frozen mysis
T
 

fishygurl

Active Member
umm i was thinking about "sunburst hippocampus erectus" If that tells if they are southern or northern? If not how do you know the difference?
Im fine with just getting one pair, but what about reidi seahorses? Could i get 2 pairs, or would the 20 inch tall tank be better for those?
Which seahorse do you think would do best (or does it not matter) between the h. erectus or reidi?
 

teresaq

Active Member
Reidi are the hardest to raise.
Are you looking at the sunburst just for the color?? I have seen multi colors for home breeders that are a third the price. Remember horses change colors-they usually change to blend into thier environment
 

fishygurl

Active Member
Or should i just not get the 29 bio cube and get a different tank? I would like it to be around 30 gallons... so maybe just a taller one?
 

fishygurl

Active Member
Ya i was looking for the yellow-orange tone. So could they change dramatically like turn into black or brown seahorses?
 

fishygurl

Active Member
Originally Posted by TeresaQ
http:///forum/post/2948855
Reidi are the hardest to raise.
Are you looking at the sunburst just for the color?? I have seen multi colors for home breeders that are a third the price. Remember horses change colors-they usually change to blend into thier environment
What do you mean multi colors? Like pintos? I REALLY like those! If thats what you are talking about.
 

teresaq

Active Member
no like yellow with frosting, burgandy, dark orange like mine, greenish
Lots of colors. and yes they can change to black or brown
T
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
I have to agree with Theresa here. Biocubes are so-so. Besides, for the same amount of money, you can get a "regular" tank with all the trimmings and have more gallonage and water height to work with. As for coloration, if you add a number of hitching posts tha are close to the colors you want to see in your horses, chances are they will start to blend in. Remember that seahorses are prey animals in the wild; they blend in for camoflage. Granted, they usually have a 'base' color, but even my black H. erectus lightens up when she spends too much time in the macroalgae.
 

fishygurl

Active Member
Originally Posted by novahobbies
http:///forum/post/2949233
I have to agree with Theresa here. Biocubes are so-so. Besides, for the same amount of money, you can get a "regular" tank with all the trimmings and have more gallonage and water height to work with. As for coloration, if you add a number of hitching posts tha are close to the colors you want to see in your horses, chances are they will start to blend in. Remember that seahorses are prey animals in the wild; they blend in for camoflage. Granted, they usually have a 'base' color, but even my black H. erectus lightens up when she spends too much time in the macroalgae.
That is so cool i never really knew seahorses could change coloration so much! i just thought they could get lighter/darker but staying the same color. Not change a completely different color! So they must be kind of like frogfish in that way?
 
Top