Question for Van-area seahorse keepers

[Diana]

Hey guys,

I was wondering if anyone picked up any of those red/orange/yellow H. erectus that J&L was selling several months ago. They have a new batch in, and they are just so tempting but I am really against the purchase of wild-caught seahorses. If anyone bought some from the ealier shipment:

How are they doing? Have you taught them to eat frozen? Have they bred for you? If so, have you been able to raise any of the fry?

The new shipment isnt looking the greatest, they have some injuries and its a gamble whether they will learn to eat frozen or not. And again- they are wild caught.

If anyone purchased any or knows of anyone who did I would love to be in contact.

Thanks

-Diana W.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Those "erectus" were actually reidis if I remember correctly. Eventually, someone at J&L did change the sign, after a couple of us mentioned the species differences (ie. the colourful ones tend to be reidis, whereas erectus & kudas tend to be mainly black and pale yellow).

Anthony

[Diana]

Ah.... with this new info I'm even less inclined to get them, since we all know of my troubles with raising reidi fry. Also I already have reidis. However, I am still interested knowing if anyone purchased these guys and have been able to raise the fry.


-Diana

[Raf]

I guess not....

funny though they seem to be selling well at JnL.....

[wheatleyb7]

Hi,

I ordered a couple of the seahorses from J&L last week (I live in Kamloops). I had them shipped up and they arrived on Saturday. The yellow one looked great and is still okay, although I have yet to see it eat frozen food. The orange arrived looking quite bad, it had a couple of flesh wounds and didn't have a lot of color. I was a little ****ed that they sent one that looked like that. Anyway it was dead by noon on Sunday ($160 down the drain). I have a couple of Kudas and I was looking for some color to add to my tank. When I phoned J&L about the seahorses I was worried when I found out that they were wild caught. But when I was told that they don't get colored captive bred in I figured I would take the chance. Anyways, I just wanted you to know my story. Do you happen to know any other place to get colored seahorses?

[Synthesis]

How about we leave them in the ocean?.

[Diana]

You CAN get colored captive bred seahorses, just look at http://www.oceanrider.com. They are a pretty penny though, which is why stores dont buy from them. Also, its a PITA to get them across the border. I looked at this shipment of seahorses at J&L a day or two after they came in and I noticed flesh wounds on almost all of the orange/red ones. The yellow ones looked good, but they tend not to keep thier color.

I am disappointed that J&L would keep bringing in wild caught seahorses, even though they are very beautiful. I told them to try and get some captive raised in.... even if they are more drab looking. Unfortunately, stores still care more about making money than the well being of a species. Alas, I will do my part to attempt to raise the fry of my captive raised ponies, and bring some locally-bred ponies to the stores. *crosses fingers*


-Diana

[WWWD]

Originally Posted by Synthesis

How about we leave them in the ocean?.

I guess you could say the same thing about any of the fish, corals or inverts we buy from aquarium shops then hey?

[wheatleyb7]

Thanks Diana. I have checked out Oceanrider and the seahorses do look great. Its too bad no one will bring them into Canada. I would be willing to pay more money if you got quality captive bred seahorses.

[BCOrchidGuy]

There is or was a seahorse breeder/importer in the praries, I think Bev told me about them. There is a site seahorse.org that's worth checking out. I think it's important to note that even captive bred seahorses can go off eating frozen when they are shipped. I'd treat a seahorse like a mandarin, lots of pods and don't forget, lots more pods. If you are lucky enough to get seahorses that eat frozen they are wonderful and when you see a batch of babies it's something you just can't describe.

Doug

Edit, I just looked it up and Seanic.ca is the ONLY supplier of captive bred seahorses in Canada.

Edit again, looks like they have gone bottoms up, the site is for appliances. Sorry.