Do seahorses dance?

[tracymace1229]

Hi,
We got 4 horses almost a month ago. The LFS did not know what they were....they were listed as 'medi seahorses' ????
anyways 2 are larger and 2 are smaller. I think they are 2 reidi and 2 erectus or all 4 are reidi and the 2 smaller ones just are juvies.
anyhow....the 1 larger definately has a pouch. He quickly lost his metallic black color and the pigment is mostly a pale or dull cream color. Was concerned about this at first...but maybe it might be due to tank environment colorations?
All 4 are aggressive feeders....at least from what Ive read. They eat frozen Mysis, Enriched Brine, live brine {well just the one time I tried it}, frozen plankton and live ghost shrimp. None of them touched the Tigger Pods though.{maybe too small for them}
The 'female' of the larger set {if it is a female...they were not sold as a mated pair...I just picked out the best eaters!!} She looks different and Im thinking she is a she.
About her.: After feeding...'she' will swim to the open upper half of the tank and dart all over the tank. She will sometimes do backflips and swim upside down for a sec or two. I don't think she is bloated...at first I thought this was a mating dance. We have noticed this maybe 6 to 10 times since we got her. Is this a concern?
thanks

 

[reefnutpa]

Originally Posted by tracymace1229
http:///forum/post/3165356
Hi,
After feeding...'she' will swim to the open upper half of the tank and dart all over the tank. She will sometimes do backflips and swim upside down for a sec or two. Is this a concern?
I'd be concerned, not normal at all. If your LFS didn't know what species they were to properly label them, I'll assume they are not captive bred... and I'd treat them as WC.
Tom

 

[salty_sam]

Hello there, I used to keep seahorses and care for them on a daily basis at the store i work at, anyway the first thing I can recoment would be to make sure your flow rate is verry mild, if you have adjustable powerheads turn them to a low setting
somthing i observe in low flow seahorse tanks is small amounts of algae growth on the seahorses they will do all sorts of things to remove it (or anything else that may be on them) they do flips wipe themselves with there tails, travel to a place with water movment and many other things
seahorses do a sort of dance when they breed (but it takes 2 to tango) and they lock on to eachother with there tails
keep a close eye on water conditions because they will do al sorts of strange things when they become distressed or sick
and other times it just looks like they are enjoying life
if none of these things seem to be whats happening with your horses let me know and i can recomed some other ideas ( I have all sorts of books and tools at work) let me know and we can keep your animals healthy and happy!
also try to post some pictures for classification