Looking For Captive-Bred Seahorses
 

Hello,
I am setting up a seahorse tank, and am looking for a reliable source for captive bred seahorses in Western Canada (Calgary if possible). I am wanting tropical varieties, born and raised in tanks, that are eating frozen food. I have gotten some good advice already on here but wanted to put the question out to everyone in case anyone has a new idea!!
Any input is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Claire

J&L Aquatics often has them listed on their New & Noteworthy page. I think there were some listed just a couple weeks ago. Try giving them a call or email, and maybe they can help you out. I know they have a local breeder there.

+1 on J&l, thats where I got mine, very nice and eating like horses :biggrin:

Thank you for your input! I have sent an inquiry to J&L...

Aquatic Addictions in Abbotsford BC has a beautiful captive bred bright orange seahorse. It eats frozen food. They had a few but only have one left. It's $150 bucks though... I know they ship in BC so I'm guessing you'd be able to order from them if you wanted to.

be vary carefull getting a SH from a store as they are on a system with other fish, the ones at J&L look OK, dont get the kudas there net raised and would have parasites for sure, i got some from big als on boxing day and they are doing realy bad, no matter ware you get them they should be treated for internal parasites, wich is vary hard to do unless you can get live adult brine shrimp, iam waiting on some cathader tubeing to force feed my last SH some food and meds and hope he lives, iam not trying to discurage you after haveing SHs i love them but it sucks to watch them die even when there eating frozen,

BTW mine were the cheep net pen raised ones not CB so iam not saying anything against J&Ls or other stores captive bred SH if thats what they are

I also got a seahorse on boxing day from the richmond big als store, I am unsure if he has parisites or not however he's swimming around with my pipefish eating frozen brine and gut packed mysis. I also feed baby brine that I hatch every 2 days and everyone seems happy.

nanoreefer did you watch the seahorse before buying I sat there for almost half an hour watching all of them picking the best colour and obviously the one that ate.....

I'm sorry but I would not get seahorses from J&L shipped. In fact I would not get any horses shipped to you unless the company itself specializes in captive bred and they can back it up. Horses don't ship that well in the first place. You want to SEE them eating, unless you trust where you are buying the from implicitly. I would not get any livestock personally from big als, especially not horses the reliability and trust in the chain with regards to delicate shippers is poor. Ocean city can get them certified wild caught, and they did mention the other day they would show you appropriate paperwork, but again its a trust issue. Are they told the truth at their end?
Your best bet in alberta now is to find someone who deals with ora farms, directly or indirectly. They can and will provide proof of captive bred. I prefer Red coral to any store in Calgary personally, everyone there is great etc. I don't know if Kevin can get them in so I can't speak for him. Might be worth a try. I bought al my horses certified, but I checked with friends and the only supplier they are left with that they trust is in the states (besides Ora) and they have someone bring them up across the border themselves. Trust me when it comes to horses they are as good and careful as you can get.

Key Equine: Sorry i looked into it and could not find anyone with any reliability anymore. But again, i've never talked to Kev at RC about horses.
My sources are looking into one more place, I will let you know.
You could always take your chances when you see some local, but make sure they are eating. But...you never know. :(

I agree with you on the shipping part it's risky....

I wasn't planning on getting seahorses from BA's aswell however my freind works there and every few days I popped in I got him to feed them. I also took the fattest active looking one.

There was a guy selling his own captive bred seahorses on here last year that goes by the name seahorse canada maybe try to look him up on the members list.

I actually found his last post unfortunately he's in vancouver.....http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=42926

[/quote]There was a guy selling his own captive bred seahorses on here last year that goes by the name seahorse canada maybe try to look him up on the members list. I actually found his last post unfortunately he's in vancouver.....http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=42926[/quote]

I sent this contact info to Key Equine already, too. Seahorsecanada is where I got my captive bred seahorses from in September - my husband and I drove to Vancouver to pick them up :) I'm not crazy - it's only 12 hours each way!! LOL

There was a guy selling his own captive bred seahorses on here last year that goes by the name seahorse canada maybe try to look him up on the members list. I actually found his last post unfortunately he's in vancouver.....http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=42926[/quote]

I sent this contact info to Key Equine already, too. Seahorsecanada is where I got my captive bred seahorses from in September - my husband and I drove to Vancouver to pick them up :) I'm not crazy - it's only 12 hours each way!! LOL[/quote]
How are they doing?

They're doing great! Extra great - they are going forth and multiplying :P I am separating the 2 females from the 3 males this weekend (I hope). I started cycling a new tank for this awhile ago, but I'm already too late...I've had one batch of babies already (which didn't live - I'm not set up to raise them), and another batch coming any day now... I've got a separate post in here (Calgary Region) stating babies are up for grabs for anyone set up to raise them...

Driving to get them really paid off - I saw they really were captive bred, I didn't worry about them stressing during shipping, I got to see his set up, got to see them eat frozen, and even got to see a batch of 1 day old babies! Certainly worth the drive :)

Thank you all for your input! I agree with the comments about Red Coral Aquariums, that is were I have gotten all my supplies so far, and Kevin and Doug are both so friendly and informative. I will discuss it with Kevin next time I'm in.
If I was to order the seahorses from Ocean Rider in Hawaii (my #1 pick of seahorse farms because I have been there and know exactly what I'd be getting), I would have to drive down into the States to pick them up. Does anyone know how it would work to get them across the border by car? Do I pretty much have to smuggle them? That would make me nervous...

There are two options, declare them or don't :)

If you can get them ordered in from said place in hawaii from a store that might be an option? I've had friends who've ordered there and are happy and unhappy. But that is simply due to shipping. One pair made it the other did not, which i will reiterate was not the shippers fault...not at all. Just simply bad luck. Personally I have brought livestock over the border without being caught. I also purchased a dog from idaho..a Kelpie and did not declare him, din't look into it either. You can always say they were a gift :) But i am not sure of the import rules on horses, which is why I used a canadian supplier, again who no longer exists. Maybe you will luck out and someone will want to sell theirs :)

If i remember right seahorses are on cites since around 2004-05 ?

so on second thought, i would not cross the border with them :)

There was a guy...on aquariumpros....Aaron ? i think who had CB Horses....but i never really looked into it.

Yes, seahorses require a cities permit.

its illegal to bring them accross the border withought a cites permit wich is next to impossible to get let alone for a couple SHs, i was thinking of getting some from down there but too nervus to bring them back, i thought of getting a bunch of dwarfs and putting them in a water bottle or something:mrgreen:

Yeah, that sounds a bit too risky for me... I'll have to continue researching Canadian sources. Thanks everyone for your advice!

J&L has captive raised H. reidi and H. angustus from Australia right now (H. kuda as well but aren't doing as well). The H. barbouri from the same Australian shipment did not do as well. The reidi and angustus are doing great, eating like pigs, have not lost one yet, and have been in store nearly 2 months. Many babies from the reidis. I have kept seahorses for years, and these two species look to be quite healthy, so if you are considering ordering them I would not hesitate. They have been put on separate tank systems although the odd w/c fish gets put on the same system.

The angustus are smaller but very colorful, and suprisingly have not lost any of thier bright orange or yellow color (I thought they would change like the reidi usually do, but so far they are still vibrant). :)

;)
-Diana