Seahorses

[rbgoyaman]

Hey Lee,

Do you know the hardiest breeds of seahorses out there? I have kept them before, but it has been quite a few years since then. I would just like some advice on what species does the best in captivity.

Thank you,

Ray

 

[rayjay]

I'm definitely not lee, but from one Ray to another, the H. reidi, H. erectus, H. kuda are all about the same degree of difficulty in terms of keeping seahorses.
If you want to raise the fry however, H. erectus, producing benthic fry are easier. Reidi and kuda produce pelagic fry that don't hitch right off, causing more problems.
Even though you have kept seahorses before, you might want to take a refresher on the basics as seahorse keeping has evolved somewhat in the last years.
You could check out the links at the bottom of the "My Thoughts....." link in my signature that lead to pieces written by current experienced seahorse keepers as well as Dan Underwood who is probably the best breeder/contributor of information that we have available to us.

 

[mercenary-grunt]

The only thing I have to add is that, tank raised aids in the hardyness of what ever one you want. I currently have erectus and love them.

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[rayjay]

Even better than "tank raised" is true captive bred seahorses.
Tank raised became the terminology for seahorses bred in large round cement tanks, but still use the ocean water but not properly filtered and treated for pathogens. Like net pen raised, they are going to carry a lot of pathogens that should be treated with a 3 drug 9 week protocol, just like wild caught. Their advantage over wild caught is that they normally have been trained to eat frozen mysis.
True captive bred seahorses would be those raised in commercial salt water like I.O., or in ocean water that is properly filtered and treated for pathogens.

 

[mercenary-grunt]

My bad. Thanks for correcting me ray. You are right that is what I was trying to say.

 

[leebca]

Sorry Ray, I know very little about seahorses. There are whole websites and forums that specialize in seahorses that you might want to try to look for.

 

[rayjay]

seahorse.org is the way to go!!

 

[mercenary-grunt]

Stacys is a breeder. That's who I got mine from. She is in Spokane.

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