Mr S Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Anyone know the name or website for the local seahorse society/club in Portland or if one even exists? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelhead77 Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Doesn't Roger at AAA have the lowdown on Seahorses? I'd try him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 There has been at least one attempt over the years to start a local seahorse group. Your best bet is to visit http://www.seahorse.org/ and look up any Oregon seahorse keepers among the members. There are a few. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 I've wanted to keep them for a long time now. Once i get my display upgraded and done, i just may give it a shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr S Posted March 18, 2009 Author Share Posted March 18, 2009 My fear is that I have to feed them every day and won't be able to because of the weekend. I don't want to have to go back to school. Maybe I should apply for the aquapod tank and just pack it up every Friday and set it back up every Monday in school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 LOL there you go. You could pack your lil horsies around with you during the weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
undrtkr_00 Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Yeah, from what I have heard, they need feeding more than once a day, which has kept me from trying them. (sad) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 CB (captive bred)seahorses will do fine on frozen mysis. Piscine Energetics brand Mysis http://www.mysis.com/ is recommended because of the higher protein content. Min. Crude Protein............69.5% Min. Crude Fat...................8.35% Max. Crude Fibre...............2.75% Max. Ash..............................5.5% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Kevin "pledosophy" at pnwmas.org; "Kevin" at seahorses.org is really the one to talk to about seahorses. He is a Moderator at http://www.seahorse.org/ He has raised several species of seahorse. I'll see what I can do about directing him to this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 PM to pledosophy sent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 mrgreenthumbs was serious about seahorses for a while, it'd be worth talking with him. Haven't seen him around for a while though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrgreenthumb Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 i'm back in the saddle again lol. Let me save you all the trouble, they are a full time job for the most part, but can be very enjoyable. I keep a few H. reidi's but when they pass on i'm turning their tank into an agreesive fowlr. Pm me or pledo if you have any specific questions. There is no local seahorse club in protland, or oregon for that matter that i'm aware of, in fact I bet there are less than 5 people keeping them locally lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefin' Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 There's atleast three :-) no fun hatchin brine ...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 i'm back in the saddle again lol. Let me save you all the trouble' date=' they are a full time job for the most part, but can be very enjoyable. I keep a few H. reidi's but when they pass on i'm turning their tank into an agreesive fowlr. Pm me or pledo if you have any specific questions. There is no local seahorse club in protland, or oregon for that matter that i'm aware of, in fact I bet there are less than 5 people keeping them locally lol.[/quote'] I raised Dwarf Seahorses Hippocampus zosterae back in the late 1980s. Constance had a CHF and was confined to a wheelchair then. I was her caretaker at the time and had lots of time at home. They did require live brine shrimp, and the fry required newly hatched brine every morning. These might be a good choice only if you work at home, or are retired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoughPat Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Ever looked into those "metered dosing" brine shrimp farms? They seem kind of goofy, but maybe they actually work--a slow release hatchery. They basically sat in your tank and had some way of "burping" out some of the hatchery water into your tank, with (in theory) some brine shrimp in them. Anyone know what I'm talking about? Roger-- you better get in line for the next aquapod.... Ryan Lenz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefin' Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Rog, Maybe u could get one of those plastic critter cages like we were talkin about yesterday and take them home in it on the weekends by placing it in an igloo cooler next to ur left over sandwich and diet pop......I think if it was big enough(1 gal. size) u could probably just leave them in it and just add an airstone when u get home ...hopefully u keep ur house warm! That way you wouldn't have to acclimate them like u would have to if u placed the whole critter cage inside of another tank already setup at home...and when u get back on monday u could just maybe put the whole thing back in ur tank....kinda like packin a lunch box around...:-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefin' Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Maybe u could also leave the critter cage(with airstone added) in the igloo cooler and add about 4" or 5" of fresh water to igloo cooler and add heater to it ....heat the freshwater, thus heating the saltwater in the critter cage........ I know I'm crazy....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 As far as I know, Dwarf Seahorses(H. zosterae) are the only ones that can be maintained solely on brine shrimp alone. There just isn't enough nutrition in brine shrimp for other species. Perhaps it is ok for a weekend feeder. Matt or Kevin, could you help me out on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyles Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 If I did them I would setup a large refugium, probably twice the size of tank, specifically for small species to feed main tank, only problem is brine get big fast, would be an interesting attempt? Other option for weekend is a top off system with brine in the top off water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 If your thinking of keeping any species other then zots, you can forget about brine, it's not a food source. Brine is good for seahorse fry, but even then you try to get them off of brine ASAP. Brine shrimp is very hard for seahorses to digest, and rather low in nutrients they can take from the brine. You can gutload brine shrimp to feed a seahorse certain supplements (i.e. beta glucan), or medication (i.e. panacur), but for the most part it is not included in a seahorse system. Some of my adult seahorses have not even recognized brine shrimp as food. They would hide under the rocks and accelerate there breathing. Apparently sea monkey's can be scary for seahorses. Transporting them home on weekends will not work. It will cause them to much stress IMHO. IME with transporting seahorses even a short distance, like a mile to the store where I was selling them, or down the hall from the QT tank to the display, can cause enough stress to put them off food for a couple days. If your moving them twice a week )once out of the display, and once back in), well no good IMO. Also your going to need something in the 30g+ range. IME the best way to solve the feeding problem is going to be live salt water feeder shrimp. There are a few kinds, white shrimp and mysis are both popular. You can put the shrimp in Friday night and it should keep the seahorses fine until Monday. I would put in 10 shrimp per day per horse. So if your having a three day weekend and have a pair of seahorses your going to need at least 60 shrimp. I've cultured mysis before, and it is a pain, but it can be done, other wise you can purchase them, but it might be cost prohibitive. IME they only need to be fed once a day. I feed frozen mysis, but have fed wild caughts live fresh water ghosts for years at a time. Tanks do better with temps 74F and under. IMO they are not that hard to take care of if you set the tank up right. All I do to my seeahorses system is add food, pruin macro every few weeks, and add water to the ATO every two weeks. I do a water change every 3 or 4 months at this point, and usually for flat worm control, not nutrients. I will include a shameless plug as to what I think can be kept with seahorses. http://www.seahorse.org/library/articles/tankmates/tankmates.shtml I would have to say seahorse.org is a great place to get information, not that I'm biased. If you happen over there my username is Kevin. I'll help out here whenever I see stuff too though. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Thanks Kevin. How to you feel about leaving them without food Saturday and Sunday at a school. I realize they will not starve to death in two days, but is the harmful to them in any way? How about if the were given a small additional feeding at the end of the school day Friday, then first thing Monday morning? How about the 3-day weekends that Americans have made commonplace now? I'm sure someone would need to care for them over Spring and Christmas vacations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 I think the only way to leave them over the weekend would be with live feeders myself. Either white shrimp or mysis. Some keepers do incorporate a fasting day to a seahorses schedule where they feed twice a day 6 days a week, and then skip the 7th day of feeding, or use the 7th day to enrich brine shrimp with vitamins or supplements, but I have no personal knowledge of anyone keeping seahorses with a two day fasting schedule as a matter of course. A seahorse's digestive system is not very complicated. Once they eat they are empty soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr S Posted March 19, 2009 Author Share Posted March 19, 2009 So putting the larger species of seahorses in my fuge, full of copepods would not work over the weekend. I was planning on putting them in their full time and feeding them Mysis during week. Raising shrimp or buying live ones does not fit in my decreasing budget! Awesome thread. Thanks for all the expert input. Roger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefin' Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Kevin, when u stated a 30gal or larger tank, that would be for larger species,not dwarfs.......correct? I don't see dwarfs finding BB in a 30gal..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason7504 Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 i used to keep dwarf seahorses 5 years ago and i feed mine live brine shrimp everyday and supplemented with mysis..they are awesome to keep and not to hard like kevin said when you feed them enough and have the correct tank set up so fun to watch eat too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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