Wild Seahorses @ J&L??!!

[BCOrchidGuy]

Beverly, please correct me if I'm wrong but buying a CB seahorse doesn't guarantee that they'll eat frozen when they arrive. Shipping can turn them off eating frozen food and in some cases they will starve to death before they go back on frozen.
Just wanted to let folks know, even CB Seahorses aren't all that easy. Dwarf or pygmy seahorses will eat and do well on enriched brineshrimp but they HAVE to be enriched.

Beverly? anything to add or correct?

Doug

[Beverly]

Originally Posted by BCOrchidGuy

Beverly, please correct me if I'm wrong but buying a CB seahorse doesn't guarantee that they'll eat frozen when they arrive. Shipping can turn them off eating frozen food and in some cases they will starve to death before they go back on frozen.
Just wanted to let folks know, even CB Seahorses aren't all that easy. Dwarf or pygmy seahorses will eat and do well on enriched brineshrimp but they HAVE to be enriched.

Hmmm..... Interesting topic, Doug. Long answer follows:

None of my CB H. whitei ever starved after arrival, though they were certainly in a different environment in my tank than they were at Seanic. My 28g was set up with 25-30 lbs LR, 3" sandbed, lots of macroalgae for hitching. There were pods for the SHs to hunt in that rich natural environment.

At Seanic, their SH tanks are like those at a lfs, with a bit of LR, a few places for hitching, probably a bare bottom, and no places for pods to populate for hunting.

When my new SHs arrived, they went back to their instinctive hunting way of life because of the more natural environment. Broadcast feeding the tank the way Seanic did it was not successful for me because the mysis would float to all the hidden places in the tank where the CBs would never be able to find no matter how long they hunted.

When I realized this feeding method wasn't working very well, I began to spot feed each horse to make sure they ate. It was a PITA to spot feed 4 SHs, so I did more reading. The idea of the feeding station was mentioned in a few posts, so I decided to set one up and train my SHs to know there was a consistent place in the tank where they would always find food.

Training consisted of removing each SH from its original hitching spot and allowing it to hitch to the MANY hitching places around the feeder. I then added the mysis to the feeder. One SH might have taken a mysis, but the others ignored them at first. I gently blew the mysis around in the feeder to catch their attention, at which time more would eat.

Took about a week for them to know the feeding clues and for them to all go to the feeder on their own when they were ready to eat. But they did not balk at the idea of eating dead food. They were already accustomed to doing so, unlike WC.

Only a rare few WCs catch onto eating frozen fairly soon after arriving in a new tank. From what I read at sh.org, it is ALWAYS prudent to be prepared with an unending supply of live food in the event dead food is never accepted. More WC NEVER accept dead food than accept it.

I have also read about the training methods of getting WC to eat dead food, but it almost always involves starting out with live food and a feeding station. The WCs are removed from their hitching spots and placed at the feeding station where live food goes into the feeder. Once they learn where the good live food is, the dead food is fed along with the live food. Most often none of the dead food is eaten. Days later, the live food is injured in such a way that they do not move much but can still move. Dead food is continued to be added to the feeder. At this point some WCs may try the dead food, but many do not. This injured live food mixed with dead food can go on for some time before the WCs ever try the dead food. From what I have read, some people try to trick the WCs some days by only putting in dead food instead of a mix of injured live and dead. Some WCs make the transition, some not. The process is long, frustrating and not always successful.

So, in short, I have not had experience with CBs dying of starvation, though I have read that some folks at sh.org, mostly American SH keepers with different suppliers than those up here, have had some difficulty in getting some of their CBs eating. I am not sure if these SH keepers had tried spot feeding or training their CBs to eat from a feeder. Another factor in new SHs not eating down south could be the CBs didn't make the trip from OR or other American CB SH dealers very well. Some American CB SH suppliers do not have very good reputations, at least according to the complaints I read.

HTH.

[EmilyB]

Have seahorse keepers tried the garlic on the food thing....

My pipefish went NUTS, I fed him some leftover "tang" mysis. Now he sniffs out the regular mysis as BORING....

[naesco]

Originally Posted by nickb

While people working in the industry undoubtedly know far more than most of the rest of us about the process of acquiring stock, etc., nearly all of them are in the business to make profit. That isn't bad, but it can influence one's approach to conservation, etc. There are many instances of 'industry knows best' leading to major environmental problems (think about many whale species, cod stocks). I am not saying this is the situation with sea horses (I don't have the knowledge to say that). I am suggesting that people's opinions should be judged on the facts used to support them, not on the stength of conviction or on 'being in the know'.

I've been researching the possibility of starting a seahorse tank. Every site I have read says the same thing: buy only captive bred sea horses. This is to reduce the demand on the wild population. But also becuase of their better record in aquaria (something which should be taken into account). There is a role for WC seahorse for the experts and breeders but I have trouble seeing them being sold to neebies. As such, I share the concerns about a major Canadian aquarium vendor selling WC seahorse without provide clear disclaimers, etc.

Sites of potential interest would include:

http://www.seahorse.org/
http://www.syngnathid.org/
http://www.saseahorse.com/

I don't think anyone on this board would disagree with anything you have posted here.
Very well put,
thank you

[BCOrchidGuy]

I tried garlic, with no luck.

Doug

[Beverly]

Yup, use a drop of Garlic Xtreme along with Kent Zoe to soak the PE mysis I feed my SHs.

My feeding station page with details of foods, nutritional supplements, training method, and other info:

http://www.lostmymarblz.com/hh-feeders-bw-whitei.htm

Feeding Station Gallery with lots of feeding station and feeding ideas:

http://www.lostmymarblz.com/hh-feeding-stations.htm

Great site Beverly!