H. erectus fry 7 weeks old

[wicked secret]

I wanted to share my success with H. erectus fry. This is my first batch of fry and they are doing so well, already eating frozen mysis and frozen brine full time. They are only 1 1/2 inches long but already have saddle markings and some are starting to grow cirri.

They are in a 10 gallon tank with a siliconed divider separating the filter and heater from them. I have two airlines on their side and some yellow zip ties and a small fake plant. I vacuum up any uneaten food and poop daily and replace the water I take out. In the beginning I changed 50% of the water daily but now I do it every other day or so.

I saw there were a few seahorse keepers here and I was hoping someone might have another species that they would be willing to trade. I would love some juvenile H. comes, H. barbouri, or H. reidi.

Here's a http://youtu.be/ihTcPcGPFyM">video</a> of the babies :)

And a couple fuzzy pics.
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[jennm]

Great job! They're adorable!

How many did you start with, and how many have do you have now? (If you know)...

When I was breeding H. reidi, it was a heck of a task to get them to that age/size. That was a long time ago - much more is known about the how-to.

I'd be interested to hear any observations on what works, what doesn't and such.

Jenn

 

[ripped tide]

Very nice!!! When I get my wife's seahorse tank up and going, wanna sell some?

 

[wicked secret]

JennM;715721 wrote: Great job! They're adorable!

How many did you start with, and how many have do you have now? (If you know)...

When I was breeding H. reidi, it was a heck of a task to get them to that age/size. That was a long time ago - much more is known about the how-to.

I'd be interested to hear any observations on what works, what doesn't and such.

Jenn

Hi Jenn

I started with 85 and I have 52 now. I might have a few more but I moved some that weren't growing as fast to the smaller fry tank once the second batch showed up.

I have read that H. erectus are the easiest fry to raise(except for dwarfs) and reidi is one of the hardest. I think it has alot to do with nutrition. I have been enriching the bbs with Dan's Feed(Seahorse Source) and keeping the water clean. I had to play with the airlines and move them around until I had the right flow to keep the fry off the surface and moving around easily.

Seahorse.org has been the best source for info and I would not have any alive at this point if it wasn't for people that are so helpful sharing their own experiences. I'm excited to share and hope that I can help someone just starting out too.

I am going to need help finding homes for all these babies! :help:

Edit:

Ripped Tide;715731 wrote: Very nice!!! When I get my wife's seahorse tank up and going, wanna sell some?

You bet! Give them another 6-8 weeks to grow and you can get "pick of the litter"

 

[KrisDeitz]

Id like two also

 

[ralph atl]

wow, beautiful! great job!

 

[ripped tide]

That will be the perfect time frame so that the tank will be ready. If you wouldn't mind, pm me a price.... I imagine we'll want 6-8. This is a seahorse/pipefish exclusive set up. The tank is 20lx20wx30h.... Pretty much perfect for seahorses. I'll have some gorgonians and a few other NPS corals.

I'll be using an eheim canister(low flow) and a CPR back pack skimmer. Weekly water changes.

 

[jennm]

I'd be interested in buying some from you.

Yep, reidi are a lot less developed than erectus, when they hatch. Lots of heartbreak there when I did it, about 10-11 years ago. Much more is known now.

I did rear some erectus that were given to me right after hatching, and they were easier given that they're benthic, not pelagic like the reidi. Still, it's no easy feat either way. Over feeding, under feeding, surface tension - like you said, getting the bubblers just right... takes a bit of trial and error to get a technique dialed in.

That's a great ratio of survivors - I never did that well!

Jenn

 

[rdnelson]

I think I know the answer to this question but I am going to ask it anyway. Is there a type of SH (FW or SW) that is easier for a begginer? Getting ready to set up a Fluval Chi 5 Gal for my wife in the master bedroom. I am betting she would love a SH tank but I suspect they are extreamly difficult for a begginer. Be brutal, I don't want to kill a bunch of critter but at the same time, I don't want to pass on something cool like that if I can manage it without toooooooo much trouble.

 

[ripped tide]

Captive bred seahorses usually aren't "hard" to take care of, but they generally require a species specific aquarium. Seahorses are not active feeders, and do not like a lot of flow. This makes them a bad choice for the "ideal reef tank" that we are used to keeping. Tank mates generally stress them out and take their food. I don't know if the chi would be a very good aquarium choice (not familiar w/ the tank)

 

[rdnelson]

Thanks Ripped Tide. I know I won't be going reef in the chi because it is very low light LED. I belive, but not sure yet, that they are low flow. Since it is wrapped up and still in the box it is tough to tell. LOL

 

[jennm]

There are no freshwater (FW) seahorses...(if I read your question right).

You could do dwarfs in a 5g but it would involve hatching live baby brine each day (so not so "easy"...)

The larger species prefer a taller tank, versus a longer one.

Jenn

 

[rdnelson]

Thanks Jenn. That is the info I was looking for. No, I don't think I want to try hatching brine on a daily basis. LOL I am not THAT hooked yet. Key word is yet.

 

[bobz]

Any update on these fry?

 

[wicked secret]

Update

The babies are 15 weeks old and doing well. I have a total of 69 right now which is part of the first batch and part of the second. The younger ones are only 17 days behind the oldest but they are much smaller.

All are eating frozen mysis(Ocean Nutrition) which are really small like Hikari mysis. They eat 3-4 times a day. I just separated 20 of the largest ones from the fry tank and put them in a cycled 27 gallon cube. Here's a video of them before I moved them. You can see the size difference in the younger ones. http://youtu.be/-TKlSjBZMBw">http://youtu.be/-TKlSjBZMBw</a>

I have 6 of the 20 with some good cirri growth so far and all have beautiful saddle markings. I don't have any that are changing color at this point but in a tank with live rock and natural macro, they wouldn't likely change to a bright yellow or orange since they try to blend in with the surroundings.

I was worried about the intake being too strong for them since they are only 3 inches right now so I cut some bigger holes in a couple plastic balls and slid them over the intake.

Edit: Update :)

The babies are 15 weeks old and doing well. I have a total of 69 right now which is part of the first batch and part of the second. The younger ones are only 17 days behind the oldest but they are much smaller.

All are eating frozen mysis(Ocean Nutrition) which are really small like Hikari mysis. They eat 3-4 times a day. I just separated 20 of the largest ones from the fry tank and put them in a cycled 27 gallon cube. Here's a video of them before I moved them. You can see the size difference in the younger ones. [IMG]http://youtu.be/-TKlSjBZMBw">http://youtu.be/-TKlSjBZMBw</a>

I have 6 of the 20 with some good cirri growth so far and all have beautiful saddle markings. I don't have any that are changing color at this point but in a tank with live rock and natural macro, they wouldn't likely change to a bright yellow or orange since they try to blend in with the surroundings.

I was worried about the intake being too strong for them since they are only 3 inches right now so I cut some bigger holes in a couple plastic balls and slid them over the intake.

I'm happy with the progress so far but I would like them to be closer to 4 inches before selling them. A few more weeks should do it, they eat like...horses! :D
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[bobz]

Great update! They look very healthy. I had to parse out my ponies that I had raised when I started traveling again. It takes a ton of work to feed and keep clean the rearing tanks so great job!

 

[redstang]

Any opinions on whether biocubes make good SH tanks? Wife and daughter expressed some interest in that possibility when I upgrade.

 

[wicked secret]

There's a pinned thread about biocubes on seahorse.org if you want to check it out.

http://forum.seahorse.org/index.php?showtopic=34647">http://forum.seahorse.org/index.php?showtopic=34647</a>

I hope it's ok to post a link to another forum! :unsure:

With adjustments, I think it would work for one pair.

 

[sprinklerman500]

They look great!Very good job.

 

[wicked secret]

I've got a couple boys dancing together!