New Seahorses!!!

pettyhoe

pettyhoe

Member
I have always wanted sea horses, but didn't think I would get them, but they got a shipment in and my g/f really wanted them. I don't have much in my tank now so I figured I would just make it a pony tank. I've read a lot about them in the past and got a relatively hardy species so I'm hoping this works out well. I guess its time to become a sea horse expert. I'm pretty sure these are hippocampus kuda.
Hope you enjoy!



 
pettyhoe

pettyhoe

Member
any advice would be helpful, I have been feeding twice a day by taking them out into a seperate pitcher of tank water and squirting frozen mysis and brine shrimp mix. They eat well, but when I put them back, I'm afraid I'm dumping too much food back into the tank.
 
flpriest

flpriest

Member
You got some beautiful ponies Hoe! feeding them twice a day is a good idea. IMO I would leave them in the tank when you feed them though. Sounds like they are eating well. I have 5 and I feed them 1 block of prepared frozen mysis a day, and so far all is well for me. I think taking them out of the tank to feed them would unduely stress them. But then again... every tank is a little different. Good luck!
And have fun IMO is the most exciting sector of SWF... Keeping Seahorses! :cheer:
 
monalisa

monalisa

Active Member
You've got some beautiful ponies there...I really wish I could advise you, but I'm still researching myself. I agree with flpriest...set up a "feeding station" in the tank where the horses will get used to finding food. The pitcher thing will probably cause undue stress.
Where did you get the horses from? I ask this, since you aren't sure of the species?? Best of luck...I can't WAIT to get mine, it'll be a while yet though.
Lisa :happyfish
 
torno

torno

Member
They are beautiful horses. I second leaving them in the tank when you feed them, it's probably causing unneccessary stress. But I do feel your pain on the food going everywhere. When I first got mine, I was almost positive I was poisioning the tank with unneccessarily large amounts of shrimp just to get them to snick a few out of the water column. What you need to train them to do is eat from a feeding station.
I use the large, clear tubing from an Under Gravel Filter. Get some sort of a dish in the tank, (I used a shell flipped hollow side up), and position the tube into it. It should be long enough to come from out of the water, down into the dish. Then, you can simply pour the mysis down into the tube, without it spreading throughout the water column, and they'll land in a neat little pile in the dish. Trust me, it takes practice, lol.
Eventually, your horses will catch onto this and will go right to the dish the second you open the lid. They're smarter than they look
.
I hope I was of some help.
Good Luck!
 
pettyhoe

pettyhoe

Member
I have heard of that but havent quite gotten the idea of what the setup entails. Another problem is that my cleaner skunk shrimp is quite social, and a bandit when it comes to shrimp in the aquarium. I have two of them, and he will actually take the feeder shrimp out of the discs mouth. So I'm afraid that the horses wont get enough, because the cleaners just hold it all in their claws like greedy old men.
Thank you all for your compliments, they are cute buggers.
as for MonaLisa, I got them at my LFS, I live in Lubbock, TX. The owner said he was pretty sure they were kuda, but wasn't 100% sure. He has always been very intelligent and has never tried to push anything on me before, so I trust them up there.
 
torno

torno

Member
It's really not as difficult as it sounds, and over the years I've had to deal with "bandit" shrimp, peppermint, heck my royal gramma was THE worst. I would chase him away with the tube, he'd hide in the rock, and within seconds would be back at the dish. It does make things a lot easier, I hope you consider trying it.
 
pettyhoe

pettyhoe

Member
I'm definately going to try it, for I do not want to harrass my horses any more than I have to. Is there a place you know of to go to read about exactly how to do it or figures and such. Sorry I am a physics major and a stickler for directions. I'm sure I could try it a few different ways, but I would much rather hear it from experience.
 
torno

torno

Member
IF you haven't already been there, seahorse.org is an absolute MUST. You'll find just about everything you need to know, and the people there are very friendly and helpful. I recommend joining.
 
monalisa

monalisa

Active Member
There are also a couple of really good threads going on here, one by Rykna, who has one (maybe 2 by now) kudas, and another by Bronco, who has some dwarf ponies. Both threads are very informative. I know that there are a number of other members here that have seahorses, hopefully they'll chime in here and give you a hand.
Good luck with your horses. Keep us posted on your progress.
Lisa :happyfish
 
pettyhoe

pettyhoe

Member
Back from the LFS, I got an amazing deal on a beautiful sponge as well as a few other frags, some candy cane with a type of xenia i think attached to it, as well as I think blastomus? I don't remember the correct name, but very pretty stuff. I needed some more things for the ponies to latch on to and check out. They are eating very well and seem happy.
I'll post some pictures later today, I have to charge my batteries, and they should be better considering I just figured out the photobucket thing.
 
monalisa

monalisa

Active Member
Originally Posted by PettyHoe
Back from the LFS, I got an amazing deal on a beautiful sponge as well as a few other frags, some candy cane with a type of xenia i think attached to it, as well as I think blastomus? I don't remember the correct name, but very pretty stuff. I needed some more things for the ponies to latch on to and check out. They are eating very well and seem happy.
I'll post some pictures later today, I have to charge my batteries, and they should be better considering I just figured out the photobucket thing.

Ugh, I'm so jealous. I can't wait to get my horses!! Have you thought of perhaps putting in a gorgonian for the horses to hitch on? I actually have one at the moment, but it's in my reef waiting for the sh tank to mature a bit. I also bought a really cool piece at my lfs and I have it in the sh tank now, it's a rather large piece of coral skeleton...I'll post a pic of it, if I can find it.
Post more pics of those horses. Do you know if you have male, female, or 2 of the same?
Lisa :happyfish
 
pettyhoe

pettyhoe

Member
Here are some pictures from today... I recieved my rock of xenia from my friend, looks great, but it hasn't fully opened up yet. Hope you enjoy the pictures.




 
pettyhoe

pettyhoe

Member
Originally Posted by MonaLisa
Have you thought of perhaps putting in a gorgonian for the horses to hitch on?
Post more pics of those horses. Do you know if you have male, female, or 2 of the same?
Lisa :happyfish
All three of the horses are male, that's all they had. I wanted to buy a nice size gorgonian today at the lfs, but it was sickly and not doing so well.. so I bought that good looking sponge instead. I got a great deal on it too.. it has a different sponge at the bottom and it was only 20 bucks!
 
monalisa

monalisa

Active Member
Originally Posted by PettyHoe
All three of the horses are male, that's all they had. I wanted to buy a nice size gorgonian today at the lfs, but it was sickly and not doing so well.. so I bought that good looking sponge instead. I got a great deal on it too.. it has a different sponge at the bottom and it was only 20 bucks!
Wow, again, very cool. Here's a pic of that coral rock that I found a few weeks ago. I thought it would make a great hitching station...I hope. The piece is about 13" high by about 8-9" at the widest. I just really liked it.
Lisa :happyfish
 
pettyhoe

pettyhoe

Member
I have been looking for something a lot like that, your ponies are going to love that thing, and you don't have to worry about feeding it!
 
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