They are finally Here!

[sunnykita]

Great news Yvette! I'm so happy for you, it sounds like all is going according to the plan, great news that the little ones are liking the shaved food.

 

[yveterinarian]

The older ones are 9 weeks old today! The cirri are growing nicely and they are beginning to look quite furry. I'm so excited about these cirri because none of my older seahorses had any when I purchased them. I realize they will most likely fall off as they get older as most captive bred seahorses lose their cirri for some reason, but it's still exciting to see them.

Here are some pictures taken yesterday through a magnifying glass to show the cirri:

I have reduced the feedings on the older ones to 3 times a day now in preparation for when my holidays start and my pet sitters are only coming in twice a day. Next week I will reduce them to twice a day. They are cleaning up their food very quickly now.

The younger ones are now 6 weeks old and had their last feeding of live brine shrimp yesterday. They are eating shaved Mysis well and I am beginning to mix in some whole Mysis. Next week I will cut them down to three times a day feeds and the week after the pet sitters will do twice a day.

While looking after my adult tank yesterday I noticed that my two larger males look as if they might be pregnant! I'll know better next week but they are both hiding and their pouches are slightly swollen. There has only been one batch of dropped eggs in the last couple of weeks so odds are good. Luckily I have Ray on standby and hopefully if they are pregnant they will deliver next week while I'm still around and the pet sitters won't have to be on baby watch! Fingers crossed!!

 

[sunnykita]

Wow ! lots happening, great photos Yvette! fingers and paws crossed here that the males deliver before you leave !

 

[Sewerat]

I might try to stop by I the bearish future if I can. I think I want a lesson on the brine shrimp raising/hatchin as well. I've got lots of room for brine shrimp to grow in my refugiums so would be a nice addition to my system

 

[yveterinarian]

I might try to stop by I the bearish future if I can. I think I want a lesson on the brine shrimp raising/hatchin as well. I've got lots of room for brine shrimp to grow in my refugiums so would be a nice addition to my system

I'll be away for a couple of weeks in a week but will be around after that. I can also send you my list of procedure for Brine shrimp hatching earlier if you wish.

 

[yveterinarian]

For any who are interested and are thinking of purchasing any baby seahorses they will be ready for purchase on August 14th. This is when the first batch turns 17 weeks old. By then I will be able to determine the sex. This will give a timeline for getting a tank ready. At that time I will post an ad in the Livestock for sale area but I thought it might be easier to see an actual availability date beforehand so you can prepare. To all who have already pm'd me I have kept all the messages and will contact you first before the ad goes up.

 

[EricTMah]

Great news!

I have to make sure the wife doesn't catch wind or I'll have to set up a seahorse tank.

 

[sunnykita]

Hi Yvette, I have a silly question, can you keep just females or males or do you have to have pairs? I'm curious, I don't think I'm ready yet, but would some day love to have some seahorses.

 

[scubasteve]

My wife dont even know of the site and thank got cuz the curb would be my pillow lol and awesome news yvette love all the images so far

 

[yveterinarian]

Hi Yvette, I have a silly question, can you keep just females or males or do you have to have pairs? I'm curious, I don't think I'm ready yet, but would some day love to have some seahorses.

Hi Sherry, no they don't have to be kept in pairs. A lot of people have just females and then they don't have to worry about the fry. Also, males can be prone to problems with their pouch but luckily there are medications for the problem if caught soon enough.

 

[sunnykita]

Oh Oh, now I'm really going to have to keep an eye out for a tall tank, how many would you suggest keeping together? a pair or more?
are odd numbers good or bad? I did join seahorse.org I just haven't had a lot of time to check it out yet. That's great that you can keep only females or males ! Thanks Yvette !

 

[yveterinarian]

love all the images so far

Thanks, I love posting them, I just wish I could get clearer shots. Well, practice makes perfect!

Oh Oh, now I'm really going to have to keep an eye out for a tall tank, how many would you suggest keeping together? a pair or more?
are odd numbers good or bad? I did join seahorse.org I just haven't had a lot of time to check it out yet. That's great that you can keep only females or males ! Thanks Yvette !

The recommended tank size is 30 gallons for the first 2 and 15 gallons for each subsequent 2. It sounds like a lot for one pair but they are very messy and put a lot of undigested food into the water. If getting all the same sex you don't need a tall tank as they won't need the height for egg transfer. I see all kinds of number combinations on Seahorse.org so I don't think there are any true recommendations but two is definitely better than one as I think one would get lonely. What did you use as your member name on Seahorse.org? I'll keep my eyes open for you.

 

[yveterinarian]

Well, it looks as if my seahorses are trying to cooperate with me this week in that warning fry were delivered today. Now let's hope they have all of the babies by Friday and Ray can come to get them before my holidays begin. Fingers crossed.

 

[sunnykita]

fingers crossed Yvette that they deliver them all before you leave. I believe in keeping it simple, I went with SunnyKita again on seahorse.org Hmmm, I have a tank in the basement that I got from Gary and Linda at Sealife when they swapped some tanks out, I believe it's a 30 gallon, a stand it will fit on, will measure it and see what I can come up with. I have an extra sump too. Hmmmmm. Getting more difficult !
best of luck

 

[yveterinarian]

517 Fry delivered today! I have just spent the last couple of hours fishing them out and counting them. So That is one male down, one to go. I'm hoping he delivers tomorrow and then I can call Ray. It's amazing how tiny they look compared to my older fry. For a visual idea, they are about the size of mosquito larvae and the older ones are about 1.5" long.

 

[sunnykita]

517? oh! that's crazy and more to come ! Wow ! good luck !

 

[yveterinarian]

520 new babies born yesterday! It looks as if both males have deflated pouches so maybe they both released at the same time? They are very sneaky - I was watching the male twitch while I fished out a couple of fry yesterday morning and then he moved to another spot in the tank so I thought I would just put the few fry into their holding tank. I did that and walked back to my adult tank (not more than 10 seconds, tops) and there were all the fry!! If I had just waited ten seconds I may have seen the full birth! Then again, maybe he would have waited longer 'til my back was turned, who knows?
Luckily Ray is coming to get them today since I don't have space for that many right now and I'm on away holiday in a couple of days. My pet sitter is all lined up and raring to go. All the food is cut into cubes and portioned out for the fry and adults...I think I'm ready.

The older fry are now 10 weeks old and taking two large feeds a day. It has taken a little while to adjust the amount so that they don't eat it all in 5 minutes and not have too much left after 1/2 an hour. They are consuming food like crazy now! It's great to watch.

They are now almost 2 inches long now and starting to increase head and body size quite a bit. I'm becoming cautiously optimistic that I will have fry to sell at 17 weeks. There are around 70 of them left now.

The younger fry are eating sliced Mysis now instead of shaved and are getting used to whole Mysis as some of the pieces are much larger now. There are 65 of them now and they are on three feeds a day until Saturday when they will begin 2 feeds a day. They are 7 weeks old but some are large enough that if I put them in with the older ones you wouldn't know they were younger.

It's going to be so hard to leave on Saturday and know that I won't see them for two weeks! So much will change in that time.

 

[sunnykita]

sneaky boys ! thanks for the update, and have a great vacation Yvette !

 

[yveterinarian]

Arrived home today to find my babies healthy, happy and much larger! My pet sitter only lost 10 fry while I was gone which is fantastic for someone who does not keep fish at all. Kudos to my pet sitter!! Also found two warning fry in my main display tank and two very pregnant males! Looks like I'll be fishing out new fry again tomorrow. I'll be setting up my 60 gallon cube as a grow out tank tomorrow to put the larger fry into so I will have room for the new fry.
Unfortunately Ray only has 30 fry left of the 520 I gave him before I left on holiday so that batch didn't do so well. I'm hoping this new batch of fry does well. I'll be raising them myself since the older ones will be ready to sell in a month or so.

 

[sunnykita]

Oh my ! you're home already ! great news on the low losses while you were away.You definitely have a great pet sitter ! You're going to be a very busy lady in the next little while.
I hope the trip was fabulous !