Quote:
Originally Posted by
Flower http:///t/393924/tank-is-cycling-for-dwarves#post_3506013
Hi, I keep Kuda and Potbelly seahorses (in different tanks), all captive bred and all eat frozen mysis shrimp. I never got the dwarf seahorses because they ONLY eat NEWLY hatched baby brine shrimp, and copepods (tiny food)
Are you sure he is selling dwarf seashorses (AKA: Zosterae)? Absolutely make sure you actually watch them eat before you purchase them if he claims they will eat frozen mysis. I purchased my Kuda from a very reputable place called seahorse source, and they only sell captive bred seahorses eating frozen foods...EXCEPT for the zosterae (dwarf) horses, along with a huge warning posted that they ONLY eat live baby brine shrimp, and you would need to have a breeding station for them. I don't understand why they would not have their drawf seahorse trained for frozen if were possible....Live food is the only reason I don't keep dwarf seahorses.
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Flower,
Check out this post/article I found...
Feeding
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Prepare a plan for keeping your seahorses fed a healthy, nutritionally sound diet. Dwarf seahorses thrive best on live food. While one of the most common diets suggested for dwarf seahorses is brine shrimp, it does not provide sufficient or complete ont-variant: normal; text-transform: none !important; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; text-decoration: underline !important; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 204, 0); border-top-style: none; border-top-color: transparent; border-right-style: none; border-right-color: transparent; border-left-style: none; border-left-color: transparent; ">nutrition
. As a result, it always needs to be supplemented with other types of food. Copepods, red shrimp, mysis shrimp and glass shrimp offer significantly higher nutrition than brine shrimp and are more suitable options.
When fresh, live food is not readily available, many dwarf seahorses can be trained to eat frozen mysis shrimp. (So it's not COMPLETELY inconceivable....)
Read more:
Care Guide for Dwarf Seahorses | eHow.com top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); ">http://www.ehow.com/way_5907745_care-guide-dwarf-seahorses.html#ixzz2Gdmv3O9t
And this...
Hi LisaD & swan,
The frozen foods are:
Cyclop-eeze
hikari brand frozen mysis
Artemia-hatched and grown out at home
Vary the enrichments
My method is the same as training juvies of other species onto frozen.
Patience is the key. Start when they are most hungry(a.m.) and start mixing in frozen with the live food. Each day, lessen the live foods and increase the frozen foods, making sure all of the horses are getting plenty to eat. Keep feeding out more frozen and less live until they are only getting frozen. It's important to observe them during feeding times to make certain how all are progressing.
I think it's important to also feed live treats once a week as most of us do weekly for other species.
Also, obviously, make certain the foods are appropriate in size. Don't over feed. The live foods can vary, newly hatched artemia(under 12 hours old), copepods,etc.
Many people like to raise the zosterae fry w/ the adults but the fry need live foods for a period of time(as all fry do), so I found it best to raise them seperately until trained to frozen and then they can be moved into the main tank with the adults.
If not seperated, some adults can and do revert back to only wanting live foods,ime.
It's important to always purchase cb horses. Some wc will never accept frozen foods and some will.
HTH
The horses I'm getting are Zosterae, and have been RAISED to only eat frozen. The owner of the "herd" started a long time ago, and once he got all of his original dwarfs converted, ONLY feeds frozen. Of course, I will have to purchase the exact kind they are used to, but where we both purchase from the same LFS it won't be a problem.
I have faith in my LFS...they are like friends to me, and have NEVER steered me wrong. (I purchase FW supplies from them and have for awhile.) They sell SW and FW fish, as well as a small variety of birds. I have an established relationship with everyone in this family-owned shop, and have faith in their honesty, as well as their dedication to ensuring EVERY creature that leaves their shop will have the BEST possible care. (I once saw them refuse to sell to one family because they had doubts about this.)
I assure you I'm ready to go another route if it becomes necessary and won't jeopardize the health of my new babies in any way, and I know that's your biggest concern.
As I have said I REALLY appreciate you looking out for me (you have been SO very kind), but I'd like to ask that we just agree to disagree here and let this go.
