A journal of an attempt to raise Seahorse Babies

[Diana]

Try visiting www.seahorse.org and have a look at some people's reidi setups. I cannot offer any great advice since I have been trying to raise reidi fry for a while now with no luck. The longest I've had one live is 2 weeks. My ponies give birth to over 200 fry every 2 weeks, and its disheartening to flush them but I just dont have the time for them right now.

With reidis its extremely important to keep them away from the surface of the water. That is the reason why the airline tubing is in there, to keep em down near the bottom. So the positioning of the tubing is critical- it needs to create a circular flow pushing the fry quickly back down to the bottom if they happen to catch a ride to the top. Obviously the airline helps with airation, but IMO preventing them from snicking air is the biggest challenge.

How can you tell if they snick air? Its quite easy. You'll see a shiny little bubble in thier 'throat' area. I'd say 80% of my fry have air bubbles by the time I see them in the morning (they are usually always born at night). If you have difficulty seeing the air bubble then try shining a light on them to make sure they do or dont.

I think on seahorse.org its the general consensus that a "kriesel" setup works the best. You'll need a plastic fishbowl. I have yet to try this setup, but once I get some time I will give it a go.

Anywhoo, I'm not sure if it helped, but it would be fantastic if you had succsess with your fry. I cant wait to be able to raise the little tykes. Reidis are definately one of the hardest species to raise... I'm looking into adding another species that have fry that might be a little easier.

-Diana