Buying Seahorses - Be Cautious

[leliataylor]

Several species of seahorses are readily available in fish stores and on the internet. Unfortunately many are either wild caught or net raised/pen raised. These seahorses are being sold as captive bred or tank raised.

Problems include:
Feeding - Will only eat live food.
Parasites - Both endo and ecto parasites
Malnutrition - Emaciation
Disease - Vibrio/Mycobacter/etc.
Species ID - Not available or ID is incorrect.
Age - Unknown
Source - Unknown

Commonly sold WC, net raised or pen raised seahorses:
H. zosterae - dwarf SH
H. erectus - lined SH (often sold as the giant SH)
H. reidi - Brazilian SH
H. comes - Tigertail SH
H. kuda - Spotted, smooth or yellow SH
H. kellogi (usually this species is mis-identified)

True captive bred seahorses are more expensive to purchase, however the breeder will stand behind their seahorses and assist you in all aspects of their care.

A few sources for true captive bred seahorses include:
Seahorse Source
ORA
Seahorse Aquatics
Hobbyists which may periodically have a few for sale.

I am writing this because of the number of people, that I have seen, that are getting seahorses and encountering major issues trying to keep them alive.

[leliataylor]

Oops! I some how posted this the first time before I finished typing.

[greatwhite@AlamoAquatics]

yeah thats true ive gone through about 20 seahorses in the last 10 months and all have died ive kept two pair before for a few years with no problem, but it seems that the new ones will do good and eat then they just die. im going to be selling seahorses from Seahorse source in about a month theyll be about the same price that she has them for.

[leliataylor]

yeah thats true ive gone through about 20 seahorses in the last 10 months and all have died ive kept two pair before for a few years with no problem, but it seems that the new ones will do good and eat then they just die. im going to be selling seahorses from Seahorse source in about a month theyll be about the same price that she has them for.

Abbie and Dan at Seahorse Source are great people to work with. They stand behind everything they sell. What species are you getting from them? Last I heard they have reidi, erectus and barbs available. I'm waiting for their kuda's to stop dancing and start making fry. I've been wanting 2 pairs for over a year, although I will probably have to wait in line.

We are currently seeing very large numbers of seahorses (one article said 50,000/mo) being imported from Indonesia and Viet Nam. They are being raised in large nets/pens placed in the ocean, they have all the problems associated with wild caughts and additional problems since they are being mass produced for profit. I have seen 2 commercial breeders in the US go out of business in since last fall. They could not compete with the inexpensive imports.

Best of luck with your seahorses! As we say on the Org, pics are mandatory.

[tropheusmaster]

I was told they are hard to keep, they can not be in a tank with current. can not be kept with other fish as they swim too slow and can not compete with fast swimming fish to get food. I heard they have 2000 babies but all usually die.

[p00num3lli]

yeah thats true ive gone through about 20 seahorses in the last 10 months and all have died ive kept two pair before for a few years with no problem, but it seems that the new ones will do good and eat then they just die. im going to be selling seahorses from Seahorse source in about a month theyll be about the same price that she has them for.

aww 20 dead sea horses:cry_smile:

but yea, u have to have many things that it can grab on to

some fish can be kept with them as long as there not fast swimmers, or will bother them

i would like one, but i will never get one.

[ErikH]

Richard has a 215?g SH tank. I would love to see his setups. www.seahorse.org (http://www.seahorse.org) is the place for SH info if anyone is interested in keeping them.

[CoryDude]

Personally, nothing makes me sadder than to see a poor sickly seahorse for sale at some lfs that has no business keeping them.

I'm glad informed hobbyists, like you guys, are starting to take control and demand captive raised SH that live in healthy conditions.

[leliataylor]

Seahorse.org is the place for info on seahorses. It is a group of of International breeders and hobbyist dedicated to to the care and rearing of seahorses. There is a great deal of mis-info about seahorses. Gee, I filter my filter my 60 gallon tank at a filter rate of 925 gallons per hour.

[leliataylor]

Brood size varies by species. H. zosterae generally produce less than a dozen fry per brood.

Seahorse fry can be very difficult raise depending on the species. The very tiny pelagic fry produced by many species of SH are the most difficult.

It is not unusual for SH to actively swim into strong currents. They just need a quiet place to rest. Seahorses will hitch to powerheads, release their hold, get blasted across a tank, then swim back and do it again.

They can be safely housed with a number of other fish, inverts and corals. Seahorse.org has a "Tank Mates Guide".

Healthy seahorses are easy to keep and can live 5 years or longer. Captive bred seahorses will eat frozen mysis shrimp and small or chopped krill.

Keeping female or male only tanks eliminates the problems associated with rearing fry. Seahorses are sexually dimorphic.

[johnmaloney @ Reef Cleaners]

During this time of the year, the captive seahorses really jump up because the fishing is really easy down here in the tropics as the seahorses move into really shallow water, you can literally pick them up by the hundreds scouting out the right tidepools- (Seahorses are very easy to catch, but being able to catch them while wading allows the collector to cover more distance and really improves catches).

Because of this the suppliers are running huge discounts, and the stores are picking them up as fast as they can - (Retail for a wild caught should be no more than $20 right now with the price of the supply). A lot of stores know the captives are worth more, so they just advertise them as such, not a great practice, but as a retailer I know it is being done by some places, as I know there suppliers personally. (Don't know of this practice in Texas LFS though - only Florida stores).

I had wild seahorses before, (they are still living, now with a friend who takes great care of them), trust me you will save hundreds on captives that eat frozen mysis or similar foods. I used to catch live shrimp for them, which was easy, but just the driving and the time spent catching I was spending quite a bit on the ponies. I then switched to live ghost shrimp, they liked it, but I spent nearly $150 a month keeping them fed. Better to pay $50 more or so off the bat, you will save money the first month.