Seahorse and Thier Colors

[teresaq]

There are a lot of new seahrse keepers. Just passing on a little tidbit of info, and hope others will add to this.
Fact-SH's change colors. They will change to match thier environment. kinda like camo. when you buy a red or orange horse, it does not mean they will stay that color. some will stay, and others will change.
to keep thier color or change a color-try adding colored decorations and hitches to your tank.
My horses have been yellow and olive green since i bought them, I added a red hitch this week and already i am seeing some orange coloring on them.
Others please add to this your experiances.

 

[rykna]

SEAHORSES (Family: Sygnathidae)
A new era of captive care of seahorses has dawned with the introduction of aquacultured seahorses. The wild-caught seahorses available in the past were notoriously difficult to feed and care for in aquariums. Even the most experienced aquarist had difficulty providing the live foods necessary every day to maintain them. There were also a number of seahorse related diseases that proved very difficult to cure. All of these difficulties have been overcome, and the danger of extinction diminished, with the successful breeding, rearing and frozen-food training of these incredible and lovable creatures.
In nature most seahorses are found in the lagoons and grass flats inside the reef. Because of this environment, seahorses may encounter larger variations in water temperature and salinity. Seahorses may adapt to a wider range of water conditions than the reef fish commonly kept in aquariums.Seahorses are typically raised at a specific gravity of 1.020-1.023 and temperatures range from 75-85 degrees.
The greatest advance in seahorse keeping has been the ability to train the juvenile captive-bred animals to eat frozen mysis shrimp. With few exceptions, wild seahorses would eat only live foods. Now that they can be taught at an early age to accept frozen food, one of the biggest obstacles in caring for them has been overcome. Seahorses should be fed defrosted mysis two or three times a day. As the frozen shrimp are moved around by the current in the tank, the seahorses will respond and chase and eat them. If the food hits the bottom and is trapped by decor, the seahorses may not find it and the decaying shrimp can foul water quality. It is important to set up the seahorse display so that a sweeping current flows across the bottom, and un-eaten food is not trapped.
Seahorses should not be kept with other fish as tankmates. This is due to the fact that they cannot compete with the fast moving fish for food. They are best kept in a small (10-20 gallon) aquarium by themselves. Of course they will need some "Seahorse Trees" such as artificial branching coral, gorgonians, or other objects to latch onto with their prehensile tails.
The common types of parasites and disease usually associated with aquarium fish do not affect seahorses. They are susceptible to a number of diseases specific to seahorses. In wild-caught seahorses the stress of capture, transport and starvation in captivity caused disease and death. The aquacultured seahorse is not exposed to these stressful conditions, and diseases are much less common.
With the right aquarium set-up, proper feeding and care, aquacultured seahorse may live for many years. Average age for many of the tropical seahorses is about 4-6 years. They will reach sexual maturity as early as 4 months, and pairs will readily spawn in aquariums. Seahorse reproduction is well known for having the male give birth to live young. Fertilization actually takes place in the female and then she passes the fertile eggs into the male pouch where they develop for two to four weeks, and are eventually released. Typically 50 to 150 juveniles may be born over the course of many hours.
Raising newborn seahorses presents many difficulties, including the necessity of using large amounts of live food. Unless very well prepared, most hobbyists would not be able to rear the young properly. Sometimes it is better to keep two males or two females in order to avoid the inevitable situation of watching the juveniles perish. The smooth brood pouch present in the male can easily distinguish males from females.
Seahorse may change color with mood, water quality or color of the aquarium background. Colored seahorses may turn black, or vice versa, as they try and match their environment. Changing the aquarium décor, water changes and eliminating stressful conditions may affect the color they display.

 

[teresaq]

nice, but the tank size should be changed. most horses need a min of 29 gal tank depending on species, for breeding the tank should be 3 x the adult length of horse. example. 1 pair of erectis would be comforable in a 29 gal, but 2 pair of kuda could fit.
the temp range should also be changed. it is recommended that horses be kept at 74 degees or less to avoid sickness.
also be aware that some species are cold water horses and would require a chiller to keep them.

 

[v-lioness]

Algae can often grow on the exoskeleton of seahorses, in turn they will change color, this helps to camouflage them.
This is another reason they really should be place in a species only tank, they are slow movers and adding fish such as a Cowfish, even though another slow mover, will probably pick at the algae on the seahorse, which can lead to stress, even death.
My seahorses are constantly covered in algae, even though the tank is not, yet they can release this algae, another thing I have noticed with my horses, when one releases the algae they all follow.
Sorry, I was in a hurry last night .... TeresaQ - Is this what you are looking for, Color changing experiences and the different ways or colors horses change?
Kaye

 

[poniegirl]

My own experience is that tropical species of seahorses can be kept quite happy and healthy in a number of variations of water specifics, as far as temp and SG, depending on the species.
A temp of 77 farenh. is fine, as long as the tank temp doesn't vary. 74 is fine, just keep it at that. Between 74 and 78 for tropical species is OK, just don't allow it to swing.
Same for SG. I like the higher range for seahorses, 1.023 to 1.026. But whatever you keep it at, keep it stable.
And keep the water clean, with water movement that is appropriate for the gallonage. Allow some low movement spots for the horses to rest. Water movement is essential for any aquarium and your seahorses won't blow away. They are actually quite strong, both swimming and hitching.
Feed the seahorse several small meals daily, make it as predictable as you possibly can. Supply live food for supplement. Seahorses have a very special digestive system and proper feeding is very important to their health. That cannot be stressed enough. And they enjoy hunting for their food; if you can, be sure to stock 'pods.
They are social and will bond with each other, whether they are same gender or proven pairs. Don't assume you have to have a male and a female together. As a matter of fact, keeping same gender horses, in my experience, is just as pleasant and less stressful than keeping breeders. Same gender horses will interact and everyone can avoid some heartbreaking events that they may not be prepared for, in trying to raise seahorse fry.

 

[rykna]

Written and illustrated by Clare Driscoll
In order to determine the --- and species of a seahorse, it's important to know the something about seahorse anatomy. The following illustrations and descriptions will help you learn the basics of the external anatomy of seahorses.
Part 1 Orientation
Figure 1 shows the areas of a seahorse and the terms used to describe them. The front view of a seahorse, looking into its face or belly, is the ventral orientation. The view from behind the seahorse is its dorsal orientation. The side view, used here in the illustrations, is referred to as the lateral orientation. The lower parts, or the lower section of any parts, are called the posterior, and the upper parts, the anterior.
Part 2 Sections and Measurements
The sections of a seahorse are the head, trunk and tail. The length of a specimen is measured from the first trunk ring to the tip of the tail, or the combined trunk and tail lengths. The head is measured from the tip of the snout to just before the first trunk ring. Snout measurement is made from the tip of the snout to the gill opening.
The depth of the chest is measured from the superior trunk ridge to the keel.
Part 3 Parts of the Body
Trunk rings, one of the features used to determine the species of the seahorse, are counted from the first (the uppermost ring seen from the dorsal view) to the ring immediately above the anal fin.
Trunk ridges are the vertical spines running down the back of the seahorse from trunk to tip of tail (the superior trunk ridge), the spine running down each side of the seahorse trunk (the lateral trunk ridge), and the spine running along each side of the keel from neck to anal fin (the inferior trunk ridge).
The seahorse's means of propulsion are its pectoral fin, located just behind the gill opening, and its dorsal fin, which joins the trunk at the tail.
Tail rings are counted from the ring just below the anal fin to the ring before the tip of the tail.
Part 4 Parts of the Head
Features of the head are illustrated at the right. The coronet can be low and fairly smooth, on some species, to tall with pronounced points on others. Eye, nose, and cheek spines also differ in length from species to species, and within a species, from specimen to specimen.
All seahorses have independently orbital eyes, and a pair of pectoral fins immediately behind the gill opening.
Some species of seahorses have spindly appendages, called cirri, in the area of the facial spines and trunk ridges.
Part 5 Sexual Characteristics
The external anatomy of female and male seahorses differ, a characteristic that is called sexual dimorphism. On the female seahorse, the lower abdomen joins the tail at a sharp angle and her anal fin is often higher and slightly larger.
On males, a brood pouch is found beneath the anal fin, and when empty, tapers gradually to the tail. During courting or when pregnant, the pouch is very pronounced and protruding. It features a vertical opening into which the female deposits her eggs, and from which fry emerge after gestation.

 

[rykna]

I have not been able to find much about the color changing abilites of seahorses....but found alot of other neat stuff.

 

[judib]

Great post Teresa
Seahorses generally change color for a lot of different reasons, not the least of which is happiness, stress, etc. They'll change in an instant for their mate or if frightened. What I generally tell people is that a seahorse is going to be whatever color it wants to be, love it for what it is. I have a horse that goes from black and white to deep brick red with black spots on occasion and another that stays bright yellow all the time. The only constant that Ive noticed is deepening of color if not turning black if stressed by something.
There are a lot of tank mates that are considered suitable for seahorses but proper quarantine procedures must be followed to ensure the safety of all the animals.
I tend to keep all of mine in seahorse only tanks just because thats what I prefer.

 

[teresaq]

thanks judib. I am learning everything i can and trying to help others.
Teresa aka chinamom

 

[alyssia]

I would love for mine to change to black-it has always been yellow since I got it. I've thought about getting black sand to see if it would change to camo itself.

 

[rykna]

One thing I did find out that is very cool(totally unrealated) RO water is 39 cents a gallon at our grocery store!!!!!

 

[bronco300]

BOY its hard to keep up with these seahorse threads popping up all over the place with no central location...HINT HINT....NUDGE SHOVE!

if you look at pictures of my dwarf seahorses you can see i started out with pretty dark colorations on them..and when put in mine, most turned a real light color...as of late i added a blue and redish fake plant type item...and some have changed to a nice pink and a bit darker coloration

 

[rykna]

Originally Posted by Bronco300
BOY its hard to keep up with these seahorse threads popping up all over the place with no central location...HINT HINT....NUDGE SHOVE!

if you look at pictures of my dwarf seahorses you can see i started out with pretty dark colorations on them..and when put in mine, most turned a real light color...as of late i added a blue and redish fake plant type item...and some have changed to a nice pink and a bit darker coloration

:cheer: No dought!!!!!
Quoted from Dr. Seuss's "Hortons Hears a Who"
"This cried the Mayor, "is your town's darkest hour!
The time for all Whos who have blood that is red
To come to the aid of their of their country!" he said.
"We've GOT to make noises in greater amounts!
So, open you mouth, lad! For every voice counts!"