They are finally Here!

[sunnykita]

Wow Yvette, I can't imagine trying to keep all of them going if the male keeps delivering, it's a good thing you had the foresight to plan well and have the 5 tanks. I'm glad to hear the death toll is dropping and hope that all goes smoothly for Dave while you are away this weekend.

 

[yveterinarian]

Two weeks old today, yippee!!! Still have over 200 fry left alive. They are eating well and I'm growing the brine shrimp for 3 days before feeding them now. I tried some frozen cyclopseese a couple of days ago when I fed the brine shrimp and they were very interested but I didn't see any eat them. It was fun watching them turn and follow the frozen food. Just wait til they figure out they can just eat them and not have to sneak up on it! I can't wait to see it.

I have been told that their growth will take off once they start on the frozen food since there is so much more nutrition in it for them. I'll start trying more often over the weekend when I have some time to devote to cleaning out their tank after each feeding.
I moved them to another of the 5 tanks last night so I could thoroughly clean the tank they were in and while doing so I tried to count the live fry. I lost count at 200 and still had plenty. They have grown in the last week and now are about 1.5 - 1.7 cm long. Some are starting to be a lighter color and some are definitely larger than the others.
I am now starting to watch my male and prepare for the next birth which should be sometime in the next few days if he got pregnant right away. He definitely looks pregnant but he's not very big. I found with him though that he didn't get very big 2 weeks ago when he had the current batch so I'm sure he'll surprise me again. Tonight I'll start turning the pump off overnight each night until he has them so I won't lose them into the sump. It will be interesting to see how many fry he has this time.

 

[TORX]

Wow, that is a whole lot of seahorses. How long until they are in the 'safe' zone?

 

[yveterinarian]

Wow, that is a whole lot of seahorses. How long until they are in the 'safe' zone?

Good question! I'm not sure but I will post the question on Seahorse.org and see what they have to say.
I think I have to wait until they are 3" long before I can call them safe. As far as I can tell that's when they are about 3-4 months old. When Ray was raising them for me they had all died by one month of age. I think once they are eating frozen I will breathe a little easier though. In reading posts from people on Seahorse.org they start eating frozen sometime around 3 weeks old and will start growing better at that time. These guys are so interested in following the frozen that I'm hoping it won't be long. After that I have to get them eating the frozen Mysis shrimp which are the best for them but I can't remember how old they are when they start eating those as they are so much bigger than the cyclopseese. I'm still losing some daily but not nearly as many as I was before.

 

[sunnykita]

Great news Yvette ! all fingers, paws and fins crossed here that the little devils learn to take the cyclopseese soon ! I'm excited when I see there is an update on the little ones, simply amazing ! thanks for taking the time to update us !

 

[Jewel]

WOW, You're Amazing to take this on, I had done a lot of research a few years ago thinking that I might do the same as you, And came to the conclusion that I wasn't going to do it. It is definitely a labour of love. Congrats, hopefully you and they make it.

 

[yveterinarian]

Thanks Jewel, yes it took me a long time to decide to try raising fry because of the time commitment involved. But for me, the rewards of being able to raise these delicate creatures seemed well worth the effort.  To me every day they survive is a miracle and knowing that seahorse fry raising is still so difficult I count myself blessed.

I have polled Seahorse.org and there doesn't seem to be any time when they truly feel the fry are out of the woods so to speak.  Ray feels that when they reach sexual maturity they are more likely to survive in the long run.  Sexual maturity happens sometime around the 14 - 17 week mark so I have a long way to go. 

Last night when I got home I found many more of the babies hitched at one time than previously. It was quite funny though because there would be 20-30 all hitched on the same tiny piece of string between beads in three different areas. With all the places to hitch it was hilarious to see them all hitched together like that!  I'll see if I can get a picture of it tonight when I get home from work.

This morning while doing my morning chores around the tanks I found one lone baby swimming around in the sump area who despite my best efforts must have gone down the overflow pipe. I was very surprised to see him because he would have had to make it through an area filled with floss and bio balls and over and under a bulkhead section to get to the open area where he was. I quickly moved my intrepid little guy back to be with his brothers and sisters where he immediately started gobbling up brine shrimp. I'll bet he was very hungry! 

 

[Jewel]

Imagine the ride he had lol, Just when you think they're so vunerable they go through the system and survive. What will you do with the ones that survive?Are thinking about selling them and is there a market for them?

 

[yveterinarian]

Imagine the ride he had lol, Just when you think they're so vulnerable they go through the system and survive. What will you do with the ones that survive? Are thinking about selling them and is there a market for them?

Yes, I will sell them. So far I have several stores interested in any that I can raise so I hope that when the time comes they will still be interested. I may have to keep a few though since they will be the first I have every raised

 

[sunnykita]

Wow! talk about a survivor ! must have been a wild ride for the little one, I'm sure the stores will still be interested when they're ready to go, I'm staying positive for you ! A great job so far, I'm sure you will have many more hilarious moments with the little ones as they grow, they must like to group together, hitching together in a big group ! continued best wishes !

 

[TORX]

I am staying positive as well. Speaking of which, I think I am overdue dropping the bug in the wifes ear about a seahorse tank, a jelly tank scares her, so I start with that, then switch to seahorses...you know the game lol.

 

[yveterinarian]

Thanks Sherry, keep your fingers crossed for me. Still over 200 fry alive (I think - it's so hard to tell when they keep moving on me)

I am staying positive as well. Speaking of which, I think I am overdue dropping the bug in the wifes ear about a seahorse tank, a jelly tank scares her, so I start with that, then switch to seahorses...you know the game lol.

Torx, I think a seahorse tank would be great! Show her the pictures of these ones after switching from a jelly tank and her heart will melt

I took some pictures last evening and this morning that I thought I'd share:

A close up of a two week old fry.

The babies all clustered together. Not as many as before but still quite a few on each little piece of string. You can see some of them are a little lighter than the others. I'm hoping they lighten up some more like the mother.

Taken this morning - pregnant papa. Taken through the underside of the tank looking up at him while he looks down on me!

This is one of the little females that I received for Christmas taken this morning. She is most likely the mother of the fry.

The next birth is imminent so I have been turning off the pump at night and just running an airline and the Koralias. Birth is usually sometime around when the lights first go on in the morning. So this morning I got the camera ready and the video running when he started to scrunch! I was so happy that I could catch the birth on film and what does he do? He only let 4 out of his pouch and stopped!! What a letdown. He has been resting all day now and will have them tomorrow morning. I forgot that they usually have a few warning fry the day before the big birth so hopefully I can catch the birth on video tomorrow...

 

[sunnykita]

Thanks for the update Yvette, I too one day would love to have some seahorses, I think they are the most adorable creatures, and I am loving following your diary and growth of the little ones. The new pics are great ! Sneaky papa ! foolin you ! good luck capturing the birth on film. Something for posterity ! Torx, the kids would love the seahorses too !

 

[yveterinarian]

Two days of waiting for the new fry and I'm going crazy with the suspense!  He let go of two more fry yesterday bringing it to a total of 11 then decided to keep the others.  Hopefully today will be the day.

Yesterday I saw one of the two week old fry snick up a piece of cyclop-eeze! I'm hoping he will teach the others and they can start supplementing their diet with frozen soon.  Even though I now have a good routine going with hatching and growing brine shrimp, it is a PITA to do this every day. I have always wanted Dwarf seahorses but maybe I'll have to re-think that one as they require brine shrimp daily for their diet and won't take frozen.
Cross your fingers again for today, maybe I'll have more news to report later...

 

[sunnykita]

fingers and paws crossed here !

 

[yveterinarian]

Four days and counting still...he had 95 fry this morning and still looks as big as when he started so I think there are still more on the way.
My first fry are three weeks old tomorrow and are starting to slowly eat frozen.  A few of them are definitely taking the cyclop-eeze so I'm offering it more frequently now.  They have grown a lot in the last week and the difference between them and the newborns is incredible. My total loss so far is two hundred and ten but there are still so many left.  I decided that the new fry are all going to be counted before I put them in their tank so that I'm not guessing how many there are.  I'm obviously very bad at estimating as I remember my first estimate was 200 and now that I've lost that many and it still looks like there are more than a hundred in the tank.  I honestly didn't expect to have this many remaining but I'm thrilled to get them this far.

 

[sunnykita]

Oh My Yvette ! he is quite the papa isn't he? Great news that many more of the 3 week old are starting to take the frozen food ! hopefully they'll switch over quickly and continue to grow at a good rate and stay healthy ! You've done extremely well I'd say to still have so many going strong !
Will papa continue to deliver fry at such short intervals? I don't know how you'd ever keep up or if attempting to is feasible if he doesn't take a break once in a while. Could he have possibly delivered 400 of them in the first batch of fry? I need to check out Seahorse.org and learn more about these fascinating creatures
fingers, paws and fins still crossed here for you !

 

[yveterinarian]

Sherry, from what I have been told at Seahorse.org, they can have babies almost constantly every 2 weeks but when Jack had his he only had two batches then stopped. I'm hoping this little guy doesn't stop for a bit but I'm also hoping he takes a little break. I certainly won't be able to raise all of the fry he has but my friend Ray is going to take some and we'll do the best we can. With the fact that I'm going on holiday in July, I won't be trying any other batches after this one for a little bit. At least these two batches will be on frozen and down to two feedings a day by that time so that my critter babysitters won't have to do too much out of the ordinary.

Yes, it's very possible that he had over 400 fry the first time. There were so many that I couldn't count them. Jack had over 600 the second time. Looking at the 105 fry that he has so far let go in their new tank and remembering how the other fry looked in their tank I would guess he had 400+ fry the first time. Judging by the size he still is I think he has quite a few still in there. This morning I'm going to wait to go downstairs and check until around 0830. I think he stops and holds them when he sees me coming. :

 

[sunnykita]

Oh Yvette !
I can't imagine them having over 600 ! I certainly hope he does take a break for you once these two groups are on their way ! I'll have to get out to see them in the next little while. So thrilled for you, what an experience ! Great that Ray is going to give you a hand raising some of them !

 

[EricTMah]

This is amazing!  So glad you're giving updates and trying to catch his next birthing on film.

So your older ones are starting to eat frozen..... hmmmmm  I might be interested in a few of them when they're ready to go.  I always held back from getting sea horses because of the food requirement.  Maybe if they're eating frozen by the time they're ready to go.  I might reconsider and have to set up a sea horse tank.