got ethical husbandry?

Anyone here keep seahorses?

Coral reefer

Past President
So about 8-9 years ago in college I had a 55 gal seahorse tank down in Santa Barbara. I had pretty decent success with some of my horses living about two years. I was dealing with wild caught specimens for sure, a few of which lasted very short periods, but that wasn't too surprising. I've been getting the itch again recently now that I am more knowledgeable in general about saltwater systems, and it seems that captive bred horses are more readily available through a couple sources like ORA and ocean riders in Hawaii. Any one have experience and or suggestions about what to do/not to do as far as where to order from and specifically what species you have kept at what temperature?
It has always been a goal of mine to breed them, and I think the the is approaching... Slowly approaching!
 
I helped my sister raise sea horses for a while. If you really want to get some sea horses I would recommend buying them from a store so you can see if they are eating; I know Caesar's (Santa Rosa) carried them for a while and if you ask they will probably order some for you; another thing is they feed their sea horses frozen food such as arcti-pods so they will readily accept frozen food. Also if you do go in to get some you should ask for Wendy because she raises sea horses and can tell you a lot about breeding sea horses; also she can tell you if a sea horse is a male or a female.
When my sister kept them we found that arcti-pods from live aquaria are eaten.
Another thing is that whole mating for life idea is actually not entirely true; unless you are talking about a certain few species (I am actually pretty sure that those species might be the ones they carry at Caesar's). Actually most sea horses are polygamous with either the male or female leaving their mate when a more attractive mate appears.

I hope this helps.
 
Again, arctipods are REEF NUTRITION! not live aquaria,just like rotifeast. but thanks for the info. Sexing is easy, pouch or no pouch, pretty simple. I have the basics down from experience like I said, but hearing about other peoples experiences is always welcome.
 
If you haven't check out www.seahorse.org.

Went to a Ocean Rider talk a few years ago. Almost took the plunge but was stopped by the feeding schedule. They (as you prolly know) need regular and frequent feedings. No vacations or time off........mebbie you can rig something like the azoox people with dousing pumps.

-Gregory
 
GDawson said:
If you haven't check out www.seahorse.org.

Went to a Ocean Rider talk a few years ago. Almost took the plunge but was stopped by the feeding schedule. They (as you prolly know) need regular and frequent feedings. No vacations or time off........mebbie you can rig something like the azoox people with dousing pumps.

-Gregory

If they still do it mebbie an Ocean Rider talk for the club would be cool. Yes, it's a little sales slanted, but it was full of great info on seahorses and like fish (pipefish, etc...).

-Gregory
 
GDawson said:
GDawson said:
If you haven't check out www.seahorse.org.

Went to a Ocean Rider talk a few years ago. Almost took the plunge but was stopped by the feeding schedule. They (as you prolly know) need regular and frequent feedings. No vacations or time off........mebbie you can rig something like the azoox people with dousing pumps.

-Gregory

If they still do it mebbie an Ocean Rider talk for the club would be cool. Yes, it's a little sales slanted, but it was full of great info on seahorses and like fish (pipefish, etc...).

-Gregory
maybe 2012, 2011 is nearly full ;)
 
Coral reefer said:
Again, arctipods are REEF NUTRITION! not live aquaria,just like rotifeast. but thanks for the info. Sexing is easy, pouch or no pouch, pretty simple. I have the basics down from experience like I said, but hearing about other peoples experiences is always welcome.
And AP is not frozen :)
 
GreshamH said:
Coral reefer said:
Again, arctipods are REEF NUTRITION! not live aquaria,just like rotifeast. but thanks for the info. Sexing is easy, pouch or no pouch, pretty simple. I have the basics down from experience like I said, but hearing about other peoples experiences is always welcome.
And AP is not frozen :)
I meant not alive.
 
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