Anybody have seahorses?

[cvonseggern]

I'm becoming interested in keeping dwarf seahorses (H. zosterae) and was wondering if anybody in MAAST has any experience with these. I've been reading at seahorse.org and so am somewhat aware of their special needs, but obviously first-hand experience counts for a lot. I'd also like to locate a source for captive-bred dwarfs if anybody knows of one.

Thanks!

Chris

[ClamFan]

http://www.maast.org/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=3185&high light=seahorses

[cvonseggern]

Doh! Should've searched first :)

[DeletedAccount]

Captive bred dwarfs are fairly difficult to get. Ocean Rider has a long waiting list is not not known to be the best at customer service. If you want captive bred then I would keep an eye out on the seahorse.org website for people with dwarfs for sale. If you are willing to raise the fry yourself this will be easy.

Since the likelihood of dwarfs ever getting switched over to frozen is slim and you cannot really mix the dwarfs with much else, I would go with www.floridacollector.com He has a very long waiting list and has wild caught speciments, but they are healthy, well priced, and Bob is a good man.

I normally would say that you should NEVER go with wildcaught seahorse specimens, but sometimes it is what makes the most sense. The suppliers of captive bred DWARF seahorses are just not very good at this moment.

I am sure that you know this, but these guys stay on copepods and live brine throughout their lives. Very few people have any luck getting dwarfs to eat frozen at all. That said, one of my dwarf babies eats frozen baby brine readily. The rest ignore it. So, it is possible, but not very likely.

www.seahorseworld.com (AquaLand) is another source for wildcaught dwarfs.

[cvonseggern]

Yep, I've been reading about their care requirements...live brine is not a problem as far as I'm concerned, as they're very easy to hatch. I think I'm going to keep my eyes open for captive-bred dwarfs, as I really don't want to take specimens from a wild population somewhere. I'd rather get them aquacultured than get them soon :)

[DeletedAccount]

Sounds great. Mine are captive bred from captive bred parents...

[cvonseggern]

Where'd you get em, Misti?

[DeletedAccount]

I got fry from a seahorse.org member and I am raising the fry. PITA, but the only way other than OR that I could find to get captive bred.

[cvonseggern]

Yeah, I'm not too impressed with OR so far, either. I sent them an email on Sunday and still haven't heard anything. From what I can find out, this is more than typical of their customer service.

[DeletedAccount]

I sent them an e-mail 2 months ago and have not heard back.

Actually, my babies are tank raised. Mom and Dad were from Florida Collector, so the parents were wild caught. But, in my opinion still better than getting them straight from the ocean....

[cvonseggern]

Just saw your post on seahorse.org, Misti :)

If you hear from that Sunshine person, you might let them know that there's one more person in SA who would like a pair of dwarfs...

Thanks!

Chris

[DeletedAccount]

Actually, I posted that more for you than me... I won't need any more dwarfs for a while... and I kinda like raising them from fry...

[texasranchers]

www.seahorsedata.org/SeahorseTanks/MemberPage.asap?Handle=Texas_Ranchers

We use to order from OR but 2 orders and it started going down. Reasonable delays turned into excuses.IMO

We have finally been able to convince the lfs to order and we will buy.
We had a herd of 6 OR Mustangs(h. Erectus)
We now have a herd of 4 wc yellow h.Barbouri

[cvonseggern]

Hmm, I'm getting a 404 on that link...even tried some creative editing in case there was a typo in a couple of spots and still got the 404. Is that the correct URL?

[cvonseggern]

For that matter, does anybody (Misti?) know for sure which species Oceanrider is selling as "pixies?" I emailed to ask and just got a very cryptic response back that didn't really answer the question.

[DeletedAccount]

They are the zoestrae (or whatever normal dwarfs are). They do not tell people the species of the seahorses. They say it infringes on their business..... :?

[cvonseggern]

Are they smoking crack? I have a hard time that telling people exactly what they're buying "infringes on their business." I think I'll just keep looking elsewhere...everything I'm hearing about OR is bad or at least iffy.

[texasranchers]

cvonseggern, Sorry about that link. I have asked about it and no response. If you care to try again, www.seahorse.org select to see database(tanks profile), owner, Joe and Shirley Dobson, we have two tanks only one pic.
Our yellow h.Babouri are on www.geocities.com/okcorralburimproving/index.html
Just a guess if it will work or not.

[cvonseggern]

Misti, did you ever hear from Sunshine?

[DeletedAccount]

No. I PM'ed him or her and have never heard back.