Seahorse Babies!!!!( :

seahorsecu

Member
My male pony, B, just gave birth a few days ago.
They are soooooo darn cute! I love thier little tails! I have put the brood in a net breeder and have lost about half the bunch, as expected. I have been feeding them baby brine. But I havn't seen any of them eat! :thinking: I'm sure they havn't eaten. How do I get them to eat? I am not feeding them the right thing? I need some seahorse fry tips too! (Before all of them die, please.)
 

reefreak29

Active Member
Factor 1:
The first factor is water quality. H reidi fry is very picky when it comes to this, but not as picky as you may think. The most important aspect other than your basics is pathogens. You can have the best water quality possible but if there are parasites eating holes through your fry or bacteria infecting them it doesn't matter. So how do you know if you have parasites? Things to watch for are excessive twitching, grabbing themselves with their tail like they're scratching at something (they usually are) The most effective treatment for the parasites that have attacked the fry is formalin at a quarter or half the recommended dose. The fry tolerate it very well, and it won't hurt them any more than the parasites. Beware however that any invertebrates such as snails, etc. won't like it either and it can actually kill them. Copepods tolerate it well however. Temperature is best around 80F. They do fine at a specific gravity of 1.024. As a point of note you can lower the specific gravity to as low as 1.011. This lower level inhibits some of the bacteria and parasites and lessens the stress on the babies. I lower it over 2 days usually. Lower it gradually so they don't go into shock. And I also raise it gradually for the same reason. Of course there are other factors, but this is an important one. Bacteria can usually be controlled with a slight dose of methylene blue.
Factor 2:
The second factor is food quality. This is where it can get really tough. Brazilian fry is famous for not eating, eating then dying, etc. Unless you have no other options they shouldn't eat baby brine until week 2. There is something about it that clogs them up or gives them some severe problems. The biggest problem is that it just plain isn't nutritious enough for them to develop on. If you must feed them brine your best bet is with very newly hatched, such as under 2 hours old. Decapsulating the cysts will also help as the brine won't use up all their energy reserves breaking out of the cysts. For details on
decapsulating I have the procedure outlined here.
Of course other species can do well on newly hatched artemia, just be sure to enrich it with a HUFA booster prior to feeding. For more on enrichment click here.
Rotifers are the next most common food offered. In order to have a good chance with them you'll need to enrich them first also. It's also a good idea to rinse them before feeding, which is an art in itself.
The absolute best food for reidi fry in our opinion is copepods. Larval or not doesn't matter. I've seen a reidi only a few hours old scarf down a full grown copepod larger than a newly hatched brine shrimp, which only adds to the mystery of brine killing them. Copepods don't need to be enriched, they are naturally high in fats, lipids, and waxy
esters.
I feed our broods twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. They seem to do just fine on this schedule and I believe it's actually beneficial as it gives them time to digest their food.
Factor 3:
The third factor is tank and environment. In the wild H. Reidi fry most likely float amongst the plankton layers. I assume this because they don't hitch until two weeks old when they are developing in our tanks. This presents all sorts of problems. In the ocean there are no glass walls to crash into.
 

rykna

Active Member
You need live baby brine shrimp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here are some threads that I have started.
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=261262
Raising H. erectus fry
By David Mulcahy

[hr]
Feeding Babies:
These comments are based upon my experience raising 42 baby H. erectus from three different broods to adulthood. At this date (June '03) the oldest group is now one year old.
On day one the newborn fry were able to eat newly hatched artemia, baby brine shrimp (bbs). For this reason and because the literature I had read did not indicate a need for rotifers as a first food I did not offer rotifers. Because of my work schedule I was only able to feed twice daily at approximately 12 hour intervals, typically 6-7 am and 6-7 pm. I feel that a third midday feeding would be beneficial but my schedule prevents it. While there are numerous reports that it is necessary to remove uneaten bbs after a short feeding period I did not do this. I kept the fry in "flow through" type nurseries that slowly washed uneaten food out over a period of 1-3 hours. In some cases I left food in with the fry almost constantly, it didn't seem to affect survival rates.
As soon as the fry were large enough to take 24 hour old fortified brine shrimp I stopped feeding the fresh hatch and fed fortified exclusively. This varied somewhat with the size and growth of the fry but in all cases was within one week from birth.
Additionally I offered small amounts of frozen Cyclops-eeze to the fry from the first day. Most simply ignored it but some took it so I continued right up to the completed switch to frozen Hikari mysis.
As the fry grew I began to add newborn lysmata shrimp larvae to the diet. As soon as they were large enough to eat them I fed out as much as I could capture, typically once or twice per week.
At about six weeks many of the fry were large enough to eat fortified adult brine shrimp. I began to add these to the diet as well, all the while continuing with the bbs, Cyclops and shrimp larvae. After a few days of adding the live adult brine shrimp I began to mix in some frozen brine shrimp as well. Many of the fry began to eat the frozen as readily as any of the live foods offered. I always added all of the foods at the same time hoping that they would fall into a sort of "feeding frenzy" and start to eat the frozen even if by accident. This seemed to work. Shortly after a good number of the fry were eating the frozen adult brine shrimp I began to add Hikari frozen mysis shrimp, picking only the smallest ones sorted by hand.
As more and more fry took to the frozen brine and mysis I dialed back on the live bbs accordingly. I always offered the lysmata larvae if I had them. By the end of the eighth week the entire group had been successfully weaned onto the frozen Hikari though I still offered small amounts of the other foods for another two weeks or so. As the fry continued to grow I fed progressively larger Hikari mysis and made the switch to Piscene Energetics mysis shrimp quite easily.
Personally I feel that the addition of the Lysmata shrimp larvae helped greatly with the growth and survival of the fry, despite the fact that they were only given sporadically. I breed two species, Peppermint shrimp and Scarlet Cleaner shrimp. Both are commonly available, inexpensive and breed readily in home aquaria. Unfortunately they are too large for newly born babies. Recently I have begun collecting hermit crab larvae which are smaller and may be of great value. Also I now have a pair of Oscellaris clownfish that are spawning regularly, I have added these larvae to diet as well.
You're going to have your hands full
Keep us updated :happyfish
 

rykna

Active Member
This info is from the same web site
Equipment
2.5 gal acylic tank with holes drilled near top for overflow
10 gal glass tank
shelving borders for unfinished shelves
plastic craft mesh used for needlepoint
knee high nylons
Hagen AquaClear 210 powerhead with filter attachment
1/2 inch tubing attached to output of 210 powerhead to overflow 2.5gal intermitently into 10gal sump
clip on adjustable 40watt lamp
100watt Ebo Jager submersible heater
airpump/flow adjuster/airline tubing
The 2.5gal is set inside the 10gal. The 2.5 is filled to just under the overflow holes that were drilled just under the top of the tank. The 10 gal is filled to just below the overflow holes in the 2.5 gal. The AquaClear 210 powerhead with filter attachment and the heater are in the 10 gal. There is a tube running from the powerheads output and at intervals is placed in the 2.5 gal's overflow area. The overflow area is seperated by shelving finishes to act as a track to hold the plastic canvas mesh in place. The mesh is cut to the width and height of the tank. I put nylon over the plastic mesh as the fry are so tiny. Craft Mesh was siliconed upright and a plastic plant cut up and stuck in the canvas holes for hitching. The clip on light is adjusted so that the light is directed towards the bottom of tank as opposed to overhead. It was explained to me that the fry are attracted to the light as well as the bbs so to keep the babies from staying at the surface lighting should not be overhead. The airline tubing with no airstone is in with the babies. The airflow is adjusted to make very big, slow bubbles. Temp is kept at 75 degrees.
Well, I must say it's been a hell of a week. The fry are doing well. They have doubled in size already. I had a loss of about 10 this first week. Mostly the smallest ones. I have been feeding them bbs every few hours and clearing out the remaining bbs with the use of the overflow and powerhead. I have been doing 2 mini water changes daily (taking the new water from parent's tank). Syphoning up their droppings usually takes about 5-10% of their water out.
 

seahorsecu

Member
Originally Posted by reefreak29
Factor 1:
The first factor is water quality. H reidi fry is very picky when it comes to this, but not as picky as you may think. The most important aspect other than your basics is pathogens. You can have the best water quality possible but if there are parasites eating holes through your fry or bacteria infecting them it doesn't matter. So how do you know if you have parasites? Things to watch for are excessive twitching, grabbing themselves with their tail like they're scratching at something (they usually are) The most effective treatment for the parasites that have attacked the fry is formalin at a quarter or half the recommended dose. The fry tolerate it very well, and it won't hurt them any more than the parasites. Beware however that any invertebrates such as snails, etc. won't like it either and it can actually kill them. Copepods tolerate it well however. Temperature is best around 80F. They do fine at a specific gravity of 1.024. As a point of note you can lower the specific gravity to as low as 1.011. This lower level inhibits some of the bacteria and parasites and lessens the stress on the babies. I lower it over 2 days usually. Lower it gradually so they don't go into shock. And I also raise it gradually for the same reason. Of course there are other factors, but this is an important one. Bacteria can usually be controlled with a slight dose of methylene blue.
Factor 2:
The second factor is food quality. This is where it can get really tough. Brazilian fry is famous for not eating, eating then dying, etc. Unless you have no other options they shouldn't eat baby brine until week 2. There is something about it that clogs them up or gives them some severe problems. The biggest problem is that it just plain isn't nutritious enough for them to develop on. If you must feed them brine your best bet is with very newly hatched, such as under 2 hours old. Decapsulating the cysts will also help as the brine won't use up all their energy reserves breaking out of the cysts. For details on
decapsulating I have the procedure outlined here.
Of course other species can do well on newly hatched artemia, just be sure to enrich it with a HUFA booster prior to feeding. For more on enrichment click here.
Rotifers are the next most common food offered. In order to have a good chance with them you'll need to enrich them first also. It's also a good idea to rinse them before feeding, which is an art in itself.
The absolute best food for reidi fry in our opinion is copepods. Larval or not doesn't matter. I've seen a reidi only a few hours old scarf down a full grown copepod larger than a newly hatched brine shrimp, which only adds to the mystery of brine killing them. Copepods don't need to be enriched, they are naturally high in fats, lipids, and waxy
esters.
I feed our broods twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. They seem to do just fine on this schedule and I believe it's actually beneficial as it gives them time to digest their food.
Factor 3:
The third factor is tank and environment. In the wild H. Reidi fry most likely float amongst the plankton layers. I assume this because they don't hitch until two weeks old when they are developing in our tanks. This presents all sorts of problems. In the ocean there are no glass walls to crash into.
Thanks how often do a pair of horses breed
 

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by reefreak29
lol so much info
Well, it's the least I can do after all the help every gave for Romeo

Let's keep these little fry swimming :happyfish
 

seahorsecu

Member
Originally Posted by Rykna
You need live baby brine shrimp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here are some threads that I have started.
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=261262
Raising H. erectus fry
By David Mulcahy

[hr]
Feeding Babies:
These comments are based upon my experience raising 42 baby H. erectus from three different broods to adulthood. At this date (June '03) the oldest group is now one year old.
On day one the newborn fry were able to eat newly hatched artemia, baby brine shrimp (bbs). For this reason and because the literature I had read did not indicate a need for rotifers as a first food I did not offer rotifers. Because of my work schedule I was only able to feed twice daily at approximately 12 hour intervals, typically 6-7 am and 6-7 pm. I feel that a third midday feeding would be beneficial but my schedule prevents it. While there are numerous reports that it is necessary to remove uneaten bbs after a short feeding period I did not do this. I kept the fry in "flow through" type nurseries that slowly washed uneaten food out over a period of 1-3 hours. In some cases I left food in with the fry almost constantly, it didn't seem to affect survival rates.
As soon as the fry were large enough to take 24 hour old fortified brine shrimp I stopped feeding the fresh hatch and fed fortified exclusively. This varied somewhat with the size and growth of the fry but in all cases was within one week from birth.
Additionally I offered small amounts of frozen Cyclops-eeze to the fry from the first day. Most simply ignored it but some took it so I continued right up to the completed switch to frozen Hikari mysis.
As the fry grew I began to add newborn lysmata shrimp larvae to the diet. As soon as they were large enough to eat them I fed out as much as I could capture, typically once or twice per week.
At about six weeks many of the fry were large enough to eat fortified adult brine shrimp. I began to add these to the diet as well, all the while continuing with the bbs, Cyclops and shrimp larvae. After a few days of adding the live adult brine shrimp I began to mix in some frozen brine shrimp as well. Many of the fry began to eat the frozen as readily as any of the live foods offered. I always added all of the foods at the same time hoping that they would fall into a sort of "feeding frenzy" and start to eat the frozen even if by accident. This seemed to work. Shortly after a good number of the fry were eating the frozen adult brine shrimp I began to add Hikari frozen mysis shrimp, picking only the smallest ones sorted by hand.
As more and more fry took to the frozen brine and mysis I dialed back on the live bbs accordingly. I always offered the lysmata larvae if I had them. By the end of the eighth week the entire group had been successfully weaned onto the frozen Hikari though I still offered small amounts of the other foods for another two weeks or so. As the fry continued to grow I fed progressively larger Hikari mysis and made the switch to Piscene Energetics mysis shrimp quite easily.
Personally I feel that the addition of the Lysmata shrimp larvae helped greatly with the growth and survival of the fry, despite the fact that they were only given sporadically. I breed two species, Peppermint shrimp and Scarlet Cleaner shrimp. Both are commonly available, inexpensive and breed readily in home aquaria. Unfortunately they are too large for newly born babies. Recently I have begun collecting hermit crab larvae which are smaller and may be of great value. Also I now have a pair of Oscellaris clownfish that are spawning regularly, I have added these larvae to diet as well.
You're going to have your hands full
Keep us updated :happyfish
oh I will!
 

seahorsecu

Member

Originally Posted by Rykna
Well, it's the least I can do after all the help every gave for Romeo

Let's keep these little fry swimming :happyfish
sounds like one time-consuming plan!
 

seahorsecu

Member
Originally Posted by autofreak44
lets see some pix!
srry i cant help you with you feeding question
i have some but they are on my cell i don kno how 2 transfer them 2 my comp
 

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by Seahorsecu
i have some but they are on my cell i don kno how 2 transfer them 2 my comp
you have to email them to youself
there should be a option on the menu
 
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