Look what I found when I got up today

[yveterinarian]

Thought I'd share an update.  Of my original babies, there are 4 left.  Yesterday, Jack presented me with just over 600 babies.  I have included a link to a video that I took of these babies and towards the end of the video, they are near their father so you can get an idea of their size.  The PBS pipe is 1" across.

Here is the link if interested:  http://s1058.photobucket.com/albums/t417/yveterinarian/Seahorse%20tank/?action=view&current=MOV03799.mp4

 

[teebone110]

Holy sea-horses!

 

[yveterinarian]

He, He , thanks  ;D.
Now we have to see how many make it to maturity.  My fingers are crossed.

 

[spyd]

That is awesome man!!! Congrats.

 

[BIGSHOW]

Amazing Yvette. 

Thanks for sharing.

 

[STUEYHAWKINS]

WOW thats amazing... I love to see domestic breeding being sucessful.

is your friend given them back to you when they are more mature or how do we buy some of your babies.


what is a good habbitate to raise or house sea horses?

Stu

 

[yveterinarian]

Hi Stu

So far Ray hasn't been very successful with these babies and there are only 4 left out of all the ones I sent over there.  I don't know about him, but I consider them to be his because of all the work and effort he has to put into them to raise them.  I do know he is going to give me back one if they make it to maturity.  As for the rest, I'm sure he will be selling them once he gets "the magic formula" to raise them well.  My male is busy making more babies so one day it will work for us. We are getting some probiotics (reputed to be an extremely good product to improve water quality and strengthen their immune system) from the States that we are going to use to help condition the adults so the babies will be stronger and it is being shipped right now.  I can't wait to see how it works.

I just found out that SeaU Marine is going to be getting some more H. Erectus in soon if you are wishing some sooner than ours may be ready.
You can put yourself on a list to be notified when they come in.
If you do wish to get into the Hobby, I strongly recommend that you go onto Seahorse.org to learn everything you can before you get them.
In order to keep 1 pair of H. Erectus, you need to have a 30 gallon tank, minimum.  For each subsequent pair you need another 15 gallons.  Seahorses are very messy eaters and foul the water quickly so a good protein skimmer and lots of filtration (natural or mechanical) is a good idea.  I have a refugium with lots of rock for the filtration.  I bought dry Marco rock to seed and become my live rock as I did not want to introduce any "nasties" that could harm the seahorses.  They are best kept in a seahorse only tank as they don't seem to have a very good immune system and fall prey to diseases that other fish may carry.  They also can't tolerate anything that competes with them for food.  It is best to get only a "True Captive bred" seahorse as they will cost you less in the long run.  They are the only kind that are bred in a home aquarium and "tank raised" are not the same. They eat frozen foods more readily, etc.  SeaU Marine brings them in from a breeder in the States and they are "true captive bred".

My seahorses are now in their larger tank and loving it.  I have picked up a couple of more seahorses who are now in quarantine but the female isn't well.  I'm hoping I can pull her through but it is early days yet.

 

[Thmh]

wow this is inspiring! i too would love get get a few seahorses, what kind of set up do you need to have to keep seahorses? also would it be possible to keep them in my refuge room?

 

[yveterinarian]

wow this is inspiring! i too would love get get a few seahorses, what kind of set up do you need to have to keep seahorses? also would it be possible to keep them in my refuge room?

Hi Tony (I hope I am remembering your name from your other post)

Generally, you will find most dedicated seahorse people have the seahorses in a totally separate setup from the reef tank.  There are some who like to keep some tankmates with them (Seahorse. org has a very good tankmates guide) but most other fish either compete with them for food or are too fast swimming and scare the seahorses into hiding.  The biggest reason for seahorse only system though is disease.  Most fish carry diseases that they, themselves are resistant to and seahorses are not.  It would be possible to keep them in your refuge room but probably not in your refugium due to lack of space.  For larger seahorses they need 30gallons per pair with 15 gallons for each subsequent pair.  If truly interested, I invite you to check out Seahorse.org and browse through the Library there.  You will find all kinds of good info.  I post on the Org under the same name (less confusing for me).  Also, I love answering questions about seahorse setup and care so maybe I should start an information thread on here if people are interested. 

 

[jones02]

[quote author=Thmh link=topic=3200.msg29853#msg29853 date=1352481324]
wow this is inspiring! i too would love get get a few seahorses, what kind of set up do you need to have to keep seahorses? also would it be possible to keep them in my refuge room?

Hi Tony (I hope I am remembering your name from your other post)

Generally, you will find most dedicated seahorse people have the seahorses in a totally separate setup from the reef tank.  There are some who like to keep some tankmates with them (Seahorse. org has a very good tankmates guide) but most other fish either compete with them for food or are too fast swimming and scare the seahorses into hiding.  The biggest reason for seahorse only system though is disease.  Most fish carry diseases that they, themselves are resistant to and seahorses are not.  It would be possible to keep them in your refuge room but probably not in your refugium due to lack of space.  For larger seahorses they need 30gallons per pair with 15 gallons for each subsequent pair.  If truly interested, I invite you to check out Seahorse.org and browse through the Library there.  You will find all kinds of good info.  I post on the Org under the same name (less confusing for me).  Also, I love answering questions about seahorse setup and care so maybe I should start an information thread on here if people are interested. 
[/quote]

+1 i think you should!

 

[Thmh]

[quote author=Thmh link=topic=3200.msg29853#msg29853 date=1352481324]
wow this is inspiring! i too would love get get a few seahorses, what kind of set up do you need to have to keep seahorses? also would it be possible to keep them in my refuge room?

Hi Tony (I hope I am remembering your name from your other post)

Generally, you will find most dedicated seahorse people have the seahorses in a totally separate setup from the reef tank.  There are some who like to keep some tankmates with them (Seahorse. org has a very good tankmates guide) but most other fish either compete with them for food or are too fast swimming and scare the seahorses into hiding.  The biggest reason for seahorse only system though is disease.  Most fish carry diseases that they, themselves are resistant to and seahorses are not.  It would be possible to keep them in your refuge room but probably not in your refugium due to lack of space.  For larger seahorses they need 30gallons per pair with 15 gallons for each subsequent pair.  If truly interested, I invite you to check out Seahorse.org and browse through the Library there.  You will find all kinds of good info.  I post on the Org under the same name (less confusing for me).  Also, I love answering questions about seahorse setup and care so maybe I should start an information thread on here if people are interested. 
[/quote]

yeeee! you got the name right! thanks for all the info.

 

[jones02]

Anny updates onn the ponys?

 

[yveterinarian]

Hi Jones02, Thanks for asking.

I was just going to post tonight that there were three very nice looking babies left and they have grown to approx 1 inch long when Ray texted me tonight that 2 more have died due to his brine shrimp cultures crashing and they didn't get fed for a couple of days.  In seahorse terms that is total starvation because they don't have a stomach.  They have a very rudimentary straight digestive system.  The third one is still alive but not showing interest in the food tonight.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that this one chooses to eat soon or it will be starvation for this one too.
My male has missed catching the last 4 batches of eggs offered to him and he is sulking in the corner tonight after his missed batch this morning.  I hope he gets it right soon so I will have more for Ray to raise.  Together, we are hoping to get all the bugs ironed out so our next batch has the best fighting chance.  I have started to condition the adults with a probiotic that comes highly recomended from a good breeder in the States and Ray and I are both using it now.  It is designed to help make the adults and fry stronger and more resistant to bacteria in the tanks.  I have my fingers crossed for another chance. 
I just wish I had the time to try to raise some myself but right now I couldn't keep up with the feeding demands.  I keep looking at your 10 gal tanks that you wish to sell and thinking "they would be great to use to raise the babies in" and then I have to remind myself that I am gone from home too long each day to make it work - but the itch to do it is there.

 

[jones02]

You should breed on ur ownn! I have everything but a skimmer for another set up and want ponys so bad!

 

[yveterinarian]

I don't blame you!  They are great animals to have.  I want to breed and raise them so bad I can taste it but unless I can figure out a good way to feed them all day while I am gone, I am stuck.  I have to put some more thought into it to see if I can come up with a way to make it work.  Either way, I will let you know when Jack has his next batch of babies and keep everyone posted as to their progress.

 

[Poseidon]

Can they over eat?

 

[jones02]

Air line tube slow drip lol

 

[yveterinarian]

Yes, they just keep eating and then poop out full brine shrimp without digesting them.  People have had them die from getting too much food.  Weird isn't it?
I have a pump that I was thinking of using but have to experiment with it to make sure it doesn't kill the brine as they make their way through the lines.  This pump can be programmed to run at intervals for various lengths of time and started life as a pump for tube feeding humans.  A very nice pharmacy donated it to me last year but I haven't used it much because the bigger food got caught when trying to feed my adults but it might just work for the babies.  However, I also have to do lots and lots of water changes on these tanks which takes a lot of time.  I have been thinking of trying to raise a few of the babies that Jack has and give some to Ray to raise.  Then there's the question of finding room to raise the brine shrimp ....

 

[nyuu]

simply amazing!!! if your in london ill totally buy 2 off you {REMOVED}


Edit: removed phone number ~Torx

It is not against the rules to post a phone number, however, I suggest that no one posts their email address/phone number in any public environment on the internet - ever. Especially not on a busy site. These sites DO get crawled by people/bots looking for people to send their spam to. Please PM personal information to users to avoid these trolls.

~Torx

 

[yveterinarian]

simply amazing!!! if your in london ill totally buy 2 off you {REMOVED}


Edit: removed phone number ~Torx

It is not against the rules to post a phone number, however, I suggest that no one posts their email address/phone number in any public environment on the internet - ever. Especially not on a busy site. These sites DO get crawled by people/bots looking for people to send their spam to. Please PM personal information to users to avoid these trolls.

~Torx

Nyuu:  Thanks for your response.  I am probably several months (maybe a year because they have to be at least 4-5 months old) away from having any I could sell as I have to learn how to raise them and then try to for my first time.  In the meantime, I suggest you read my post in the Library http://www.thefragtank.ca/forum/index.php?topic=3722.0 to see if you still want some after you have researched them.  I will happily sell some once I can raise some.  Once you have done a few more posts, you can pm me with your phone number or email address.  Looking forward to hearing from you.  Also glad you are interest.  They are a fascinating fish IMO.