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Seahorse Keeper in the USA

TamiW

By TamiW,
in General Reefkeeping_

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TamiW Newbie

TamiW

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Hi everyone - I hope you don't mind that I have joined your forum. I am from the US, and I have been keeping and breeding seahorses for the past 15 years. I write about them a lot too, and am trying to understand what different seahorse keepers face around the world, thus my reason for joining. I am hoping you will have me, but if this is inappropriate, I will leave, no hard feelings.

I have a fish room dedicated to my seahorses. Right now I keep H. erectus, H. comes, H. zosterae, H. taeniopterus (kuda) and a single H. trimaculatus because I have been unable to find another for sale. I'm raising H. erectus and H. comes at the moment.

Here are some pictures of my seahorses:

H. comes:

post-22395-0-14369000-1357408658_thumb.j

H. erectus:

post-22395-0-73264000-1357408717_thumb.j

H. erectus juvenile with interesting coloring:

post-22395-0-78155500-1357408734_thumb.j

H. trimaculatus:

post-22395-0-51228500-1357408753_thumb.j

H. comes juveniles I raised:

post-22395-0-70616200-1357408789_thumb.j

H. comes newborn

post-22395-0-41030300-1357408823_thumb.p

I don't have any good pictures of the H. zosterae or H. taeniopterus yet.

Fusedjaw.com - It's all about the snick!
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Gouldian Newbie

Gouldian

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Welcome!

We have a few seahorse keepers here, please check this build thread, he won 1st prize in our recent nano competition -

"Reefs, like forests, will only be protected in long term if they are appreciated"
Dr. J.E.N. Veron
Australian Institute of Marine Science

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Welcome to SRC, mind sharing with us some photos of your fish room and breeding tank ? Being a small country with small home, we do not have the luxury of space of having a dedicated fish room here.

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Admiraltian Collaborator

Admiraltian

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Hi everyone - I hope you don't mind that I have joined your forum. I am from the US, and I have been keeping and breeding seahorses for the past 15 years. I write about them a lot too, and am trying to understand what different seahorse keepers face around the world, thus my reason for joining. I am hoping you will have me, but if this is inappropriate, I will leave, no hard feelings.

I have a fish room dedicated to my seahorses. Right now I keep H. erectus, H. comes, H. zosterae, H. taeniopterus (kuda) and a single H. trimaculatus because I have been unable to find another for sale. I'm raising H. erectus and H. comes at the moment.

Here are some pictures of my seahorses:

H. comes:

post-22395-0-14369000-1357408658_thumb.j

H. erectus:

post-22395-0-73264000-1357408717_thumb.j

H. erectus juvenile with interesting coloring:

post-22395-0-78155500-1357408734_thumb.j

H. trimaculatus:

post-22395-0-51228500-1357408753_thumb.j

H. comes juveniles I raised:

post-22395-0-70616200-1357408789_thumb.j

H. comes newborn

post-22395-0-41030300-1357408823_thumb.p

I don't have any good pictures of the H. zosterae or H. taeniopterus yet.

Beautiful seahorses u have.

Display Tank : 36" x 20" x 20" Herbie overflow box design, Sump : 36" x 21" x 17", Frag Tank : 16” x 20” x 16”, custom built by Tank Culture.

Lightings : Ecotech  Radion XR15 Pro x 2 for Main Display Tank, Inled R80 x 1 for Frag Tank.

Chiller : Dalkin 1hp compressor with build-in drop coil.

Skimmer : Skimz Octa SC205i Protein Skimmer.

FR : H2Ocean FMR75 Fluidised Media Reactor with Hailea HX-2500 (Feeder Pump) running Rowaphos.

CR : Skimz Monzter E Series CM122 Calcium Reactor.

BPR: Marine Source Biopellet  Reactor with Continuum Reef Biopellet Fuel. 

Main Return Pump : SICCE Syncra ADV 9.0 & Jebao ACQ-10000 Water Pump.

Wavemaker : Jebao MOW-9 x2 for Main Display Tank & Jebao SLW-20M  Sine Wave Pump for  Frag Tank.

Water Top Up: AutoAqua Smart ATO Lite.

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TamiW Newbie

TamiW

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Here are some pictures of the fish room:

post-22395-0-30345700-1357832680_thumb.j

post-22395-0-18721200-1357832691_thumb.j

I'm going to try to get a video walk through of it this weekend or shortly thereafter. I will post that here when I am done.

Fusedjaw.com - It's all about the snick!
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peong Newbie

peong

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Wao, are you a full time breeder or a retiree who have time to maintain your dedicated seahorse breeding room? No joke! But anyway, we welcome you to our forum, with your great experience will definitely going to build up the confidence of our seahorse keepers here. Looking forward to your sharing. :)

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TamiW Newbie

TamiW

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I wish I could send some seahorses! Unfortunately international law makes it very difficult. I can't even sell to Canada even though I could literally drive them across the border because of how close I am. You can get CITES certified to ship outside the US, but from what I hear, it is very difficult to do so.

I am not a full time breeder, believe it or not. It's just a lifelong hobby that has taken up a bunch of space. I've actually had some health issues as of late so have had some friends helping me clean up the aquariums.


I feed frozen (thawed) mysis as their staple diet, but I also feed enriched live brine shrimp 1-2 times a week, and I offer amphipods I collect from my sumps. I sometimes give them small krill too, though they aren't nearly as fond of that.

Fusedjaw.com - It's all about the snick!
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TamiW Newbie

TamiW

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Sorry I've had a busy few weeks, so I just am first getting a chance to catch up now.

very nice! please do share some tips and advice...I have just started to keep/trying to breed them.(starting with culture of live food and such

Sure, I can do that! I'd also love to hear from all of you how you're keeping your seahorses. I wonder what differences are between how we keep seahorses in the US and how they are kept there.

I recorded a quick video to show how I currently raise baby seahorses.

It's not an ideal setup, but it works. I have plans of building a shared system which will reduce the amount of labor, but until it gets done, this is what I will continue to use.

As for tips, off the top of my head:

  • Minimum 30 gallons for most species (114 liters)
  • Keeping seahorses at cooler temperatures helps combat bacterial infections. In general, tropical species are kept between 70-74F (21-23C).
  • Frozen (thawed) mysis shrimp is the staple diet, but variety is encouraged, including small krill, live amphipods, and enriched brine shrimp
  • Higher flow rate is recommended these days; seahorses do better with a turnover of 10-20times/hour the overall tank volume. Some people do even higher, though I haven't experimented with that.

For babies

  • Enriched artemia nauplii is the only artemia that should be fed.
  • What you enrich with is very important. You want something that is high in DHA. Here, that's algamac-3050, or Dan's Feed.
  • A lot of species can't take baby brine shrimp from birth because the food is too big. Rotifers are the right size, but they don't move "right" for seahorses, so they aren't a great choice. A pelagic copepod that is small enough is ideal.
  • bacteria can overwhelm babies, so its important to keep the rearing tank clean, including wiping away any biofilm (films of bacteria and algae) that accumulate.
  • A some seahorse breeders are starting to use blue round tubs to grow baby seahorses: http://www.fusedjaw.com/breeding/seahorse-fry-system-build/

I will add more as I think of them.

Fusedjaw.com - It's all about the snick!
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Gouldian Newbie

Gouldian

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Thanks for sharing!

"Reefs, like forests, will only be protected in long term if they are appreciated"
Dr. J.E.N. Veron
Australian Institute of Marine Science

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Member of:

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post-2241-0-43391700-1354511230.png

UEN: T08SS0098F
Please visit us here: http://www.facebook....uaristSocietySG
Facebook Group: http://www.facebook....gid=34281892381

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