Breeding Seahorses
- Thread starter old_salt
- Start date
rykna
Active Member
There is a web site that details this. Raising seahorse fry is very hard. Most sites caution pet owners to stay away from trying to raise fry at home. Seahorses can have anywhere from 50 to 3000 fry at a time. I have a small idea of how much work that must be. The dwarf seahorses require live baby brine shrimp, so I have a hatchery brewing new batches every day.
Seahorses when first born require live baby brine shrimp to eat. if they do not eat with in the 1st 48 hours they will die. Unlike dwarf seahorses, the average size horses have to be weened from live food to frozen food.
If you'd like to read more, let me know and I'll send you the link
Seahorses when first born require live baby brine shrimp to eat. if they do not eat with in the 1st 48 hours they will die. Unlike dwarf seahorses, the average size horses have to be weened from live food to frozen food.
If you'd like to read more, let me know and I'll send you the link
M
madisonwi
Guest
I've raised Reidi fry, which are said to be one of the most challenging and I would agree with that. Out of the 30+ fry only 11 survived to maturity. The first 4 days required target feeding every 2-3 hours. If you are not willing to take on that responsibility then only keep a herd of females together. Good Luck.
old_salt
Member
Originally Posted by Rykna
There is a web site that details this. Raising seahorse fry is very hard. Most sites caution pet owners to stay away from trying to raise fry at home. Seahorses can have anywhere from 50 to 3000 fry at a time. I have a small idea of how much work that must be. The dwarf seahorses require live baby brine shrimp, so I have a hatchery brewing new batches every day.
Seahorses when first born require live baby brine shrimp to eat. if they do not eat with in the 1st 48 hours they will die. Unlike dwarf seahorses, the average size horses have to be weened from live food to frozen food.
If you'd like to read more, let me know and I'll send you the link
I think one of my males might be pregnant (that sounds so funny). While the rest were eating this morning he stayed hitched until all the others were done eating (he's normally the first in line). He still ate 6 or 7 mysis and 1/2 a dozen live brine. I can't be positive but it appears to me his pouch is slightly swollen. If he was pregnant, what signs should I look for?
There is a web site that details this. Raising seahorse fry is very hard. Most sites caution pet owners to stay away from trying to raise fry at home. Seahorses can have anywhere from 50 to 3000 fry at a time. I have a small idea of how much work that must be. The dwarf seahorses require live baby brine shrimp, so I have a hatchery brewing new batches every day.
Seahorses when first born require live baby brine shrimp to eat. if they do not eat with in the 1st 48 hours they will die. Unlike dwarf seahorses, the average size horses have to be weened from live food to frozen food.
If you'd like to read more, let me know and I'll send you the link
I think one of my males might be pregnant (that sounds so funny). While the rest were eating this morning he stayed hitched until all the others were done eating (he's normally the first in line). He still ate 6 or 7 mysis and 1/2 a dozen live brine. I can't be positive but it appears to me his pouch is slightly swollen. If he was pregnant, what signs should I look for?
monalisa
Active Member
Originally Posted by Old_Salt
I think one of my males might be pregnant (that sounds so funny). While the rest were eating this morning he stayed hitched until all the others were done eating (he's normally the first in line). He still ate 6 or 7 mysis and 1/2 a dozen live brine. I can't be positive but it appears to me his pouch is slightly swollen. If he was pregnant, what signs should I look for?
That definitely looks like a pregnant male to me. From there, I know very little...I had planned to avoid that situation, but fate had other plans for me apparently. Good luck and let us know what you end up doing. I do have a plan in place, and I sure hope it works.
Lisa
I think one of my males might be pregnant (that sounds so funny). While the rest were eating this morning he stayed hitched until all the others were done eating (he's normally the first in line). He still ate 6 or 7 mysis and 1/2 a dozen live brine. I can't be positive but it appears to me his pouch is slightly swollen. If he was pregnant, what signs should I look for?
That definitely looks like a pregnant male to me. From there, I know very little...I had planned to avoid that situation, but fate had other plans for me apparently. Good luck and let us know what you end up doing. I do have a plan in place, and I sure hope it works.
Lisa
nybutterfly03
Member
My ponies had babies 2 yrs ago and did well until dad got sick and I didn't realize it until I did a water change using the water from my main tank and all the fry got sick!
The same illness took out ALL my horses in the mater of days
rykna
Active Member
The System:
The system consists of one 50 gallon, three 40 gallon and five 10 gallon glass aquariums, a plastic tub serves as a filtration sump and there is a 125 gallon acrylic reservoir at the lowest level. The larger tanks are drilled and plumbed with PVC pipe and the ten gallon tanks are connected in series by ‘U’ tubes. The total actual water volume is 300 gallons when the reservoir is full. There are two levels along the main wall and the tall 50 sits off to one side to create an ‘L’ shaped layout. There are three pumps; one for each of the two main rack levels and one for the 50. All water returns to the filter sump where it passes through a 100 micron filter bag. There is a protein skimmer in the sump as well. There is live rock scattered throughout the system and some foam blocks in the sump for bio-filtration. The filter sump has an overflow to the reservoir below, and a small pump returns water to the filter.
Most of the tanks are bare bottom for easy cleaning. There is one ten gallon tank with an undergravel filter and about 2" of aragonite substrate for added biological filtration.
Each tank is siphoned clean twice daily. There is no reason to replace the water since it is automatically replaced from the reservoir. Once a week or so I pump the reservoir dry and fill it with new water. This represents a water change of about 33% every seven to ten days. It is of course necessary to top off the reservoir with fresh water to make up for evaporation. I keep the system at specific gravity of about 1.024.
Lighting consists of a continuous strip of normal output fluorescent fixtures at each level. I use GE Chroma 50 full spectrum lamps which burn 14 hrs. per day. There is a table lamp in the room that provides a brief dawn/dusk simulation, more of a shock buffer really. There are red lamps in the rooms overhead light fixture for working in the room at night.
There are regular aquarium heaters in each tank to maintain the water temperature at a constant 77 degrees F.
The system is devoted strictly to seahorses and very lightly stocked. The only other livestock is a pair of Corythoicthus sp. pipefish and a lone male orchid dottyback who lost his mate several months ago. There is no clean up crew other than an assortment of bristle worms and other small critters that came in with the live rock. The walls of every tank are covered with copepods and there are small mysids throughout the system.
The design is such that it easy to maintain excellent water conditions and very easy to keep clean. The biggest drawback is that all my eggs are literally in one basket. I live in constant fear that I could lose everything if something goes wrong. For this reason I have decided to move some of the juveniles to a tank in another room to reserve as broodstock should anything happen.
The system consists of one 50 gallon, three 40 gallon and five 10 gallon glass aquariums, a plastic tub serves as a filtration sump and there is a 125 gallon acrylic reservoir at the lowest level. The larger tanks are drilled and plumbed with PVC pipe and the ten gallon tanks are connected in series by ‘U’ tubes. The total actual water volume is 300 gallons when the reservoir is full. There are two levels along the main wall and the tall 50 sits off to one side to create an ‘L’ shaped layout. There are three pumps; one for each of the two main rack levels and one for the 50. All water returns to the filter sump where it passes through a 100 micron filter bag. There is a protein skimmer in the sump as well. There is live rock scattered throughout the system and some foam blocks in the sump for bio-filtration. The filter sump has an overflow to the reservoir below, and a small pump returns water to the filter.
Most of the tanks are bare bottom for easy cleaning. There is one ten gallon tank with an undergravel filter and about 2" of aragonite substrate for added biological filtration.
Each tank is siphoned clean twice daily. There is no reason to replace the water since it is automatically replaced from the reservoir. Once a week or so I pump the reservoir dry and fill it with new water. This represents a water change of about 33% every seven to ten days. It is of course necessary to top off the reservoir with fresh water to make up for evaporation. I keep the system at specific gravity of about 1.024.
Lighting consists of a continuous strip of normal output fluorescent fixtures at each level. I use GE Chroma 50 full spectrum lamps which burn 14 hrs. per day. There is a table lamp in the room that provides a brief dawn/dusk simulation, more of a shock buffer really. There are red lamps in the rooms overhead light fixture for working in the room at night.
There are regular aquarium heaters in each tank to maintain the water temperature at a constant 77 degrees F.
The system is devoted strictly to seahorses and very lightly stocked. The only other livestock is a pair of Corythoicthus sp. pipefish and a lone male orchid dottyback who lost his mate several months ago. There is no clean up crew other than an assortment of bristle worms and other small critters that came in with the live rock. The walls of every tank are covered with copepods and there are small mysids throughout the system.
The design is such that it easy to maintain excellent water conditions and very easy to keep clean. The biggest drawback is that all my eggs are literally in one basket. I live in constant fear that I could lose everything if something goes wrong. For this reason I have decided to move some of the juveniles to a tank in another room to reserve as broodstock should anything happen.
rykna
Active Member
The Nursery:
Prior to breeding seahorses I was working with two shrimp species, L. amboinensis and L. wurdmani. I was constantly trying different ideas to concentrate the larvae and food while still allowing a flow of fresh, clean water through the nursery. When I began with the seahorses I learned about the "classic" fishbowl nursery and over time modified it to fit into my system. I use plastic bowls that are easy to drill. There is an airline connected about half way up one side that creates the circular flow which keeps fry and prey in suspension and prevents them from congregating at the surface. This is the usual set up. To this I added a water intake at the top and opposite side of the bowl. Water enters the bowl via a siphon line from another tank at a higher level and creates a current that is in sync with the direction of flow produced by the air. At the back of the bowl I drill a 2" hole that is covered with 500 micron mesh screen. This allows water to exit the bowl carrying away detritus and uneaten food. The whole thing is immersed into one of the lower aquariums and held at the desired level by a plastic clamp, although I have built shelves out of eggcrate that work just as well. You can see one in operation at the right hand side of the photo above. Depending upon the rate of flow and the amount fed, this usually gives the fry about an hour to eat before the last of the baby brine shrimp used as food are flushed from the nursery. This design provides a constant flow of clean water to pass through the nursery and eliminates the need to siphon out uneaten live food. Detritus and dead bbs will settle to the bottom where they are easily siphoned out with a length of rigid airline and some flexible tubing. The one thing I don’t like is that the fishbowls have an uneven bottom with a ridge running around the perimeter. Fry can be hard to see in there and may be sucked up accidentally. I recently purchased some polyester casting resin and plan to pour a ½" layer of this into the bottom of the bowl which should create a nice flat surface and make it easier (and safer) to clean.
This nursery works very well for my erectus fry as they tend not to snick air at the surface and spend much of their time lower in the water column. Another design that might be better for those fry that have a long pelagic stage is total submersion which creates a nursery that does not allow the fry to reach the surface. For this I made an acrylic cube with large screened holes for water flow. The cube is 8 X 8 X 8" and sits nicely in a ten gallon tank. No airline is added but a small powerhead placed in the tank (not inside the nursery) ensures plenty of flow through the cube. There is a 1" tube that extends above the water surface for feeding or adding fry and a small hole in the lid for inserting a cleaning siphon. These are plugged with cotton filter floss when not in use. The lid is hinged for easy cleaning between broods. This "shark cage" is more difficult to maintain than the fishbowls so I don’t use it for erectus anymore, but it stands ready for that load of reidi that I’m sure I’ll run across sooner or later!
Prior to breeding seahorses I was working with two shrimp species, L. amboinensis and L. wurdmani. I was constantly trying different ideas to concentrate the larvae and food while still allowing a flow of fresh, clean water through the nursery. When I began with the seahorses I learned about the "classic" fishbowl nursery and over time modified it to fit into my system. I use plastic bowls that are easy to drill. There is an airline connected about half way up one side that creates the circular flow which keeps fry and prey in suspension and prevents them from congregating at the surface. This is the usual set up. To this I added a water intake at the top and opposite side of the bowl. Water enters the bowl via a siphon line from another tank at a higher level and creates a current that is in sync with the direction of flow produced by the air. At the back of the bowl I drill a 2" hole that is covered with 500 micron mesh screen. This allows water to exit the bowl carrying away detritus and uneaten food. The whole thing is immersed into one of the lower aquariums and held at the desired level by a plastic clamp, although I have built shelves out of eggcrate that work just as well. You can see one in operation at the right hand side of the photo above. Depending upon the rate of flow and the amount fed, this usually gives the fry about an hour to eat before the last of the baby brine shrimp used as food are flushed from the nursery. This design provides a constant flow of clean water to pass through the nursery and eliminates the need to siphon out uneaten live food. Detritus and dead bbs will settle to the bottom where they are easily siphoned out with a length of rigid airline and some flexible tubing. The one thing I don’t like is that the fishbowls have an uneven bottom with a ridge running around the perimeter. Fry can be hard to see in there and may be sucked up accidentally. I recently purchased some polyester casting resin and plan to pour a ½" layer of this into the bottom of the bowl which should create a nice flat surface and make it easier (and safer) to clean.
This nursery works very well for my erectus fry as they tend not to snick air at the surface and spend much of their time lower in the water column. Another design that might be better for those fry that have a long pelagic stage is total submersion which creates a nursery that does not allow the fry to reach the surface. For this I made an acrylic cube with large screened holes for water flow. The cube is 8 X 8 X 8" and sits nicely in a ten gallon tank. No airline is added but a small powerhead placed in the tank (not inside the nursery) ensures plenty of flow through the cube. There is a 1" tube that extends above the water surface for feeding or adding fry and a small hole in the lid for inserting a cleaning siphon. These are plugged with cotton filter floss when not in use. The lid is hinged for easy cleaning between broods. This "shark cage" is more difficult to maintain than the fishbowls so I don’t use it for erectus anymore, but it stands ready for that load of reidi that I’m sure I’ll run across sooner or later!
rykna
Active Member
Another design that should work equally well for pelagic fry is Liisa Coit's "critter keeper" nursery. I know first hand that she has had good success with it. I believe you can find it in her photo album on photoisland.com.
Husbandry:
This is a well covered subject and I am certainly no expert so I will simply share with you my practices. I siphon detritus from each tank twice daily just before feeding. I wipe the bare bottoms clean when they need it and occasionally clean the front glass. I rarely clean the back or sides as they are covered with ‘pods and I feel that a moderate growth of algae is probably good for the system.
As previously mentioned, water changes are accomplished by the daily removal of water from cleaning and regular replenishment of the reservoir tank.
I feed all the seahorses twice daily at roughly 6–7 a.m. and 6–7 p.m. I would like to feed the fry more frequently but sadly, I have to work for a living so that is not possible. I culture and fortify bbs (artemia) as outlined in The Plankton Culture Manual and use both Selcon and LiquidLife as enrichment products. As soon as possible (about 8 weeks) I get the fry started on Hikari mysis but continue adding the bbs for several more weeks. As the fry grow I make the switch to PE mysis and that is what I feed the juveniles and adults.
Conclusion:
The above information is not the result of any long term effort or continued success. My horses just began breeding last June and I have only reared three broods. There was a fourth, actually the first brood, but I lost that to "operator error" if you know what I mean. I have been fortunate in that I have not had to deal with disease or any other disasters thus far, I’m sure there are still many hard lessons ahead. I wish I could say that this is THE way to go but only time will tell. At this point I have a 21% survival rate from the three broods at three, four and five months. That’s 42 happy, healthy and frisky seahorses! I now have another 275 fry and will try my best to bring them through.
By
David Mulcahy
Husbandry:
This is a well covered subject and I am certainly no expert so I will simply share with you my practices. I siphon detritus from each tank twice daily just before feeding. I wipe the bare bottoms clean when they need it and occasionally clean the front glass. I rarely clean the back or sides as they are covered with ‘pods and I feel that a moderate growth of algae is probably good for the system.
As previously mentioned, water changes are accomplished by the daily removal of water from cleaning and regular replenishment of the reservoir tank.
I feed all the seahorses twice daily at roughly 6–7 a.m. and 6–7 p.m. I would like to feed the fry more frequently but sadly, I have to work for a living so that is not possible. I culture and fortify bbs (artemia) as outlined in The Plankton Culture Manual and use both Selcon and LiquidLife as enrichment products. As soon as possible (about 8 weeks) I get the fry started on Hikari mysis but continue adding the bbs for several more weeks. As the fry grow I make the switch to PE mysis and that is what I feed the juveniles and adults.
Conclusion:
The above information is not the result of any long term effort or continued success. My horses just began breeding last June and I have only reared three broods. There was a fourth, actually the first brood, but I lost that to "operator error" if you know what I mean. I have been fortunate in that I have not had to deal with disease or any other disasters thus far, I’m sure there are still many hard lessons ahead. I wish I could say that this is THE way to go but only time will tell. At this point I have a 21% survival rate from the three broods at three, four and five months. That’s 42 happy, healthy and frisky seahorses! I now have another 275 fry and will try my best to bring them through.
By
David Mulcahy
rykna
Active Member
From another site:
Preparations before birth
During the second week of pregnancy it is advisable to take some precautions to be prepared for the expected fry:
Keep the newborn seahorse babies tank ready with complete accessories, fill it with water from the main tank and test the technique. The breeding of zooplankton should be in full progress.
Towards the end of second week there should be an inspection of the seahorse tank several times in the early morning (starting at 6 a.m.). The birth of the fry usually happens at this time. Do not transfer pregnant males into a separate smaller tank. This unnecessarily produces additional stress to the animals.
If you expect the birth to happen in the next hours, stop the flow pumps or reduce the current and switch off ******** protein skimmers and filters. If Powerhead pumps with filter basket are used, a filter cartridge should be removed in any case.
Catch the seahorse babies out of the water with a cup or glass but don´t use a fishnet or something similar (brine shrimp net). It is discussed, whether the babies swallow air when the are catched with a net. In any case the use of a net causes additional stress.
Watch out for additional babies after the first wave. Sometimes they are born 1 or 2 days later than the main fry.
Feeding the babies will be succesful by using one of the three methods mentioned in detail on this website. Please note the following rule: If the babies eat the zooplankton of plankton-method 1, this fodder is the best guarantee for good raising success. Sometimes however the complete fry refuses to eat this kind of plankton, probably because of its really slight movement. Second best is the mixed "hopping and swimming" plankton (plankton-method 2). The poorest success will be in using the brine shrimp-method, especially if you try to raise babies of H. reidi.
Preparations before birth
During the second week of pregnancy it is advisable to take some precautions to be prepared for the expected fry:
Keep the newborn seahorse babies tank ready with complete accessories, fill it with water from the main tank and test the technique. The breeding of zooplankton should be in full progress.
Towards the end of second week there should be an inspection of the seahorse tank several times in the early morning (starting at 6 a.m.). The birth of the fry usually happens at this time. Do not transfer pregnant males into a separate smaller tank. This unnecessarily produces additional stress to the animals.
If you expect the birth to happen in the next hours, stop the flow pumps or reduce the current and switch off ******** protein skimmers and filters. If Powerhead pumps with filter basket are used, a filter cartridge should be removed in any case.
Catch the seahorse babies out of the water with a cup or glass but don´t use a fishnet or something similar (brine shrimp net). It is discussed, whether the babies swallow air when the are catched with a net. In any case the use of a net causes additional stress.
Watch out for additional babies after the first wave. Sometimes they are born 1 or 2 days later than the main fry.
Feeding the babies will be succesful by using one of the three methods mentioned in detail on this website. Please note the following rule: If the babies eat the zooplankton of plankton-method 1, this fodder is the best guarantee for good raising success. Sometimes however the complete fry refuses to eat this kind of plankton, probably because of its really slight movement. Second best is the mixed "hopping and swimming" plankton (plankton-method 2). The poorest success will be in using the brine shrimp-method, especially if you try to raise babies of H. reidi.
rykna
Active Member
The plankton-method 1
Living zooplankton is the best way to get your fry through the first critical days of their life. You should start feeding plankton at the latest beginning the second day after birth. Approx. 2-3 weeks later you should add freshly hatched brine shrimp. Then the ponies eating brine shrimp - identifiable by an orange coloured excrement - are transferred to a separate tank. Ponies refusing the brine shrimp are fed with plankton as long as they accept the new food.
Breeding zooplankton is relatively expensive in time and labour, since you have to set up several small tanks. It is necessary to feed the plankton 1 or 2 times a day and to clean the plankton tanks regular. You don´t need "green water" (phytoplankton) to feed your zooplankton, because you can use for example PREIS Microplan with the same efficiency.
Please note that it takes some time until their will be enough plankton for your babies if you just started a new culture (about 10 days). But if you observed the mating of your seahorses, the babies will be born at least 2 weeks later, therefore this period is sufficient to get a new culture running.
I counted the daily amount of plankton a ponie eats (h.reidi): 1.500 - 3.500 particles of plankton at a lighting period of 12 hours! You can estimate your plankton stock bei measuring the particles in a small volume and calculating the total volume. If you´re in danger to run out of planktonl, it´s better to feed only the ponies eating a lot and regularly. In case of exact observation a quite different talent of the young horses is to be detected regarding their eating technique: Some are genuine professionals, while others miss their target nearly each time they try to get the food.
Living zooplankton is the best way to get your fry through the first critical days of their life. You should start feeding plankton at the latest beginning the second day after birth. Approx. 2-3 weeks later you should add freshly hatched brine shrimp. Then the ponies eating brine shrimp - identifiable by an orange coloured excrement - are transferred to a separate tank. Ponies refusing the brine shrimp are fed with plankton as long as they accept the new food.
Breeding zooplankton is relatively expensive in time and labour, since you have to set up several small tanks. It is necessary to feed the plankton 1 or 2 times a day and to clean the plankton tanks regular. You don´t need "green water" (phytoplankton) to feed your zooplankton, because you can use for example PREIS Microplan with the same efficiency.
Please note that it takes some time until their will be enough plankton for your babies if you just started a new culture (about 10 days). But if you observed the mating of your seahorses, the babies will be born at least 2 weeks later, therefore this period is sufficient to get a new culture running.
I counted the daily amount of plankton a ponie eats (h.reidi): 1.500 - 3.500 particles of plankton at a lighting period of 12 hours! You can estimate your plankton stock bei measuring the particles in a small volume and calculating the total volume. If you´re in danger to run out of planktonl, it´s better to feed only the ponies eating a lot and regularly. In case of exact observation a quite different talent of the young horses is to be detected regarding their eating technique: Some are genuine professionals, while others miss their target nearly each time they try to get the food.
rykna
Active Member
The plankton-method 2
The cheapest and easiest method: Simply fill a small tank (2-5 gallon) with water from the main tank and put this tank into a warm place directly behind a window. You don´t need any technical equipment. The plankton-culture will start automatically and within some days or weeks an interesting plankton-mix develops in such a tank. A feeding of this planktons is not necessary, the occasional gift of PREIS Microplan (only a few drops!) however quite works promoting. Don´t forget to replace evaporated water by osmosis water.
If seahorse babies are born, just put some of them directly into the plankton-tank. Although the water quality is not outstanding, the ponies will develop well. After the critical first 7-10 days you transfer the ponies into a separate tank then feeding freshly hatched brine shrimp. Don´t put too many ponies into the plankton-tank, the small beasts have an enormous appetite!
Another solution: Fill water from the main tank into a special newborn child tank and put the ponies into the little tank. Then catch plankton with a special net or a syringe in the planton-tank and feed it to the babies. The water in the baby-tank will be of a much better quality than in the example above.
If you exspect a lot of seahorse babies, just set up several of the plankton-tanks at a time. Under normal circumstances 20-30 horses can be fed with the plankton of a 2 gallon tank for the first critical days of their life.
The cheapest and easiest method: Simply fill a small tank (2-5 gallon) with water from the main tank and put this tank into a warm place directly behind a window. You don´t need any technical equipment. The plankton-culture will start automatically and within some days or weeks an interesting plankton-mix develops in such a tank. A feeding of this planktons is not necessary, the occasional gift of PREIS Microplan (only a few drops!) however quite works promoting. Don´t forget to replace evaporated water by osmosis water.
If seahorse babies are born, just put some of them directly into the plankton-tank. Although the water quality is not outstanding, the ponies will develop well. After the critical first 7-10 days you transfer the ponies into a separate tank then feeding freshly hatched brine shrimp. Don´t put too many ponies into the plankton-tank, the small beasts have an enormous appetite!
Another solution: Fill water from the main tank into a special newborn child tank and put the ponies into the little tank. Then catch plankton with a special net or a syringe in the planton-tank and feed it to the babies. The water in the baby-tank will be of a much better quality than in the example above.
If you exspect a lot of seahorse babies, just set up several of the plankton-tanks at a time. Under normal circumstances 20-30 horses can be fed with the plankton of a 2 gallon tank for the first critical days of their life.
rykna
Active Member
The brine shrimp method
This raising method is not as efficient as the plankton-methods, however it is economically, easy and can be initialized without special preparations. You can start immediately if there are suddenly newborn seahorses in your tank.
First of all: Choose the best quality of brine shrimp eggs available.
Then daily 3-5 cultures are set up in a way, that the following day the brine shrimp hatch at suitable feeding times (for example every 3-5 hours from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.). My brine shrimp eggs for example need 18 hours to hatch.
Important: You have to feed the freshly hatched brine shrimp within two hours! In the first days of their life baby seahorses are not able to digest older brine shrimp - if they eat it, they will die. I tested it with the fry of Brazilian seahorses (h. reidi) - if the problem is the same in other species I don´t know. Therefore you have to get all of the non-eaten brine shrimp out of the tank, if the two hours are over (little filter or syringe).
If the ponies survive day 6 or 7, also older brine shrimp can be fed, however I would rather wait some days.
This raising method is not as efficient as the plankton-methods, however it is economically, easy and can be initialized without special preparations. You can start immediately if there are suddenly newborn seahorses in your tank.
First of all: Choose the best quality of brine shrimp eggs available.
Then daily 3-5 cultures are set up in a way, that the following day the brine shrimp hatch at suitable feeding times (for example every 3-5 hours from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.). My brine shrimp eggs for example need 18 hours to hatch.
Important: You have to feed the freshly hatched brine shrimp within two hours! In the first days of their life baby seahorses are not able to digest older brine shrimp - if they eat it, they will die. I tested it with the fry of Brazilian seahorses (h. reidi) - if the problem is the same in other species I don´t know. Therefore you have to get all of the non-eaten brine shrimp out of the tank, if the two hours are over (little filter or syringe).
If the ponies survive day 6 or 7, also older brine shrimp can be fed, however I would rather wait some days.
rykna
Active Member
Breeding hints
The special newborn horses tank accommodates the ponies during the first weeks of their life. In week 3 or 4 - depending on the size of the young seahorses - they are transferred to the raising tank. Details of the two tank types you´ll find here. For the avoidance of unnecessary losses of seahorse babies some important precautions are to be taken in both tank types:
1. The lower opening of ******** protein skimmers (for example Sander Piccolo or Aqua Medic Miniflotor) should be protected by a wide-meshed net against seahorses getting into it.
2. Mini flow pumps have to be secured by either a protective basket (if necessary additional wide-meshed net around the basket) or a filter sponge to prevent an aspiration of the little seahorses.
3. No live rock in these tanks unless you´re absolutely sure no bristle worms and crustaceans are inside.
4. Gravel is dispensable in the first weeks for two reasons: On the one hand you can control digestion of plankton (white) or brine shrimp (orange or brown) more easily. On the other hand the excrements of the ponies could be sucked off better than in a tank with gravel, therefore water quality remains longer in a good condition.
5. Don´t bring in Caulerpa early. These algae sometimes secrete a milky liquid, which sticks on the baby horses killing them. Besides often finest alga fibers keep on growing at Caulerpa, in which the small seahorses can get caught.
6. Finally check the tanks for small hydroids since they reproduce extremely fast catching a lot of plakton or brine shrimp out of the water.
The special newborn horses tank accommodates the ponies during the first weeks of their life. In week 3 or 4 - depending on the size of the young seahorses - they are transferred to the raising tank. Details of the two tank types you´ll find here. For the avoidance of unnecessary losses of seahorse babies some important precautions are to be taken in both tank types:
1. The lower opening of ******** protein skimmers (for example Sander Piccolo or Aqua Medic Miniflotor) should be protected by a wide-meshed net against seahorses getting into it.
2. Mini flow pumps have to be secured by either a protective basket (if necessary additional wide-meshed net around the basket) or a filter sponge to prevent an aspiration of the little seahorses.
3. No live rock in these tanks unless you´re absolutely sure no bristle worms and crustaceans are inside.
4. Gravel is dispensable in the first weeks for two reasons: On the one hand you can control digestion of plankton (white) or brine shrimp (orange or brown) more easily. On the other hand the excrements of the ponies could be sucked off better than in a tank with gravel, therefore water quality remains longer in a good condition.
5. Don´t bring in Caulerpa early. These algae sometimes secrete a milky liquid, which sticks on the baby horses killing them. Besides often finest alga fibers keep on growing at Caulerpa, in which the small seahorses can get caught.
6. Finally check the tanks for small hydroids since they reproduce extremely fast catching a lot of plakton or brine shrimp out of the water.
rykna
Active Member
Newborn seahorse babies tank
* 12 x 8 x 8 inch = 2.5 gallon or
16 x 10 x 10 inch = 6 gallon
* 30W fluorescent white light (for several baby tanks), daylight, 10 hours/day
* slow flow of air bubbles
* no heaters (separate room with constant temperature of 25 °C)
Decoration
* nothing or with a few week old babies a plastic grate
Animals
* new born seahorse babies up to the age of
approx. 4 weeks
Raising tank
* 32 x 14 x 10 cm = 17 gallon
* protein skimmer Sander Piccolo
* mini flow pump Sicce with basket
* 15W fluorescent white light (daylight), 10 hours/day
* 15W fluorescent blue light, 10 hours/day
* heater 50W
Decoration
* no live rock!!! (too dangerous for the ponies because of bristle worms and other creatures)
* 0.1 inch very fine gravel
* a few macroalgae (Caulerpa)
Animals
* ponies week 3 or 4 (depending upon growth)
* 12 x 8 x 8 inch = 2.5 gallon or
16 x 10 x 10 inch = 6 gallon
* 30W fluorescent white light (for several baby tanks), daylight, 10 hours/day
* slow flow of air bubbles
* no heaters (separate room with constant temperature of 25 °C)
Decoration
* nothing or with a few week old babies a plastic grate
Animals
* new born seahorse babies up to the age of
approx. 4 weeks
Raising tank
* 32 x 14 x 10 cm = 17 gallon
* protein skimmer Sander Piccolo
* mini flow pump Sicce with basket
* 15W fluorescent white light (daylight), 10 hours/day
* 15W fluorescent blue light, 10 hours/day
* heater 50W
Decoration
* no live rock!!! (too dangerous for the ponies because of bristle worms and other creatures)
* 0.1 inch very fine gravel
* a few macroalgae (Caulerpa)
Animals
* ponies week 3 or 4 (depending upon growth)