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Thread: Seahorses

  1. #1

    Seahorses

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    Hi guys,

    Any of you tried keeping horses? I might want to start a seahorse tank, or simply keep them in my refugium, but was wondering if they will even take frozen mysis shrimp or brine shrimp. Would appreciate any experiences shared!

    Regards,
    Hong Yee

  2. #2
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    hi hong yee and welcome to AQ []

    keeping seahorses is not an easy task by any means. they r extremely fragile. im not into seahorses but i have seen documentaries not long ago on discovery, urging pple not to purchase seahorses and keeping them in their own private aquariums at home. even the featured state-owned aquarium in USA has a lot of difficulties keeping them alive. every few days, trips to the sea have to be made (thats rich in seahorses' nature food) so that the seahorses can eat.

    im equally against keeping of seahorses in private aquariums as i am to live corals. the reefs in the world are depleting, and we are directly responsible for the destruction. many aquatic species who live by these reefs are beginning to perish and making a beeline towards extinction[]. and it will take many many yrs for a reef to establish.

    sorry if a little out of point, but i hope to bring to light above issues that you may have missed out.

    rdgs, rain
    To each her own fish !
    petfrd

  3. #3
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    they r very difficult to keep.. used to remember that my dad's and uncle's seahorses never make it more then a week..

  4. #4
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    Rain, if i remember correctly the docu is from the british. They were trying 2 breed their local seahorse population coz the numbers are dwindling. Hong Yee, Rain is correct in saying that seahorse are very fragile. Even the person who is breeding it[in the docu] says that u can't feed them brine shrimp coz brine shrimp does not contain protein or something. They really need 2 catch those live food from the sea n everytime they catch the live food, it would last them only 2 days! Do u want 2 spent ur precious time heading 2 the beach n carry those heavy pail of sea water every 2 days? But if u wanna try, be my guest. Or u can try seadragon, another member of the seahorse family. Don't know if it's illegal in SG. I believe it's an endangered species though.
    If you've learnt, teach, if you have, give.
    Don't walk behind me as I might not lead, don't walk in front of me as I might not follow. Walk beside me, as my friend.
    Mohamad Rohaizal is my name. If it's too hard, use BFG. I don't mind.

  5. #5
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    hi there BFG yes i thk ur right its in UK.

    but seadragons r even more endangered cos of their obvious beauty.... pls dont keep them [] . wanna see go to underwater world .
    To each her own fish !
    petfrd

  6. #6
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    oops......Hong Yee, just forget about keeping seahorse lah. Why don't u try keeping cuttlefish. It is said that cuttlefish are smart, just like their cousin the octopus. Best time 2 see them is during feeding time. They can change colors on the fly!
    If you've learnt, teach, if you have, give.
    Don't walk behind me as I might not lead, don't walk in front of me as I might not follow. Walk beside me, as my friend.
    Mohamad Rohaizal is my name. If it's too hard, use BFG. I don't mind.

  7. #7
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    BFG, just to debunk some myth b4 some forumers get the wrong idea...Cuttlefish is not any easier to keep.. in fact, it is harder.. yes, when they feed, they are extremely beautiful and lovely.. but when they are stress.. be prepared to change lots of water as the ink squirted out is gonna pollute your tank.. which is not worth it.. and although they can be train to take in frozen food(after thawed) and other feeder fishes, but they strive in live crustaceans which dun come cheap...

    ok Hong Yee,.. personally, i have tried to breed them and keep a species tank.. but unfortunately, despite reading up extensively on it, i still did not have the success in keeping them alive and even though some of them managed to bring the brood to full term and i see some of baby seahorses.. but i have NEVER managed to bring them to full size and the attrition rate is very depressing. How depressing???.. so depressing that i wouldn't even advocate keeping it already and felt guilty abt shorting the life of those infants whom i believe would have a much better chance of survival in the wild.

    It is extremely difficult to simulate the same environment and also, the food and filtration... u need to change lots of water frequently.. and it is a gamble as each individual seahorse is unique with its own characteristics and behaviour.. and even though the records and readings highlight that it is good to provide a male and a female, sometimes, they may not be attracted to each other.. or worse.. u get gay seahorses.. ok.. that was a joke..[]... IMO, forget abt it.. yes.. it is nice but the effort is not worth it.. if u must insist.. minimum size to keep and breed them.. is a 4x2x2 tank.. and u can only have up to 8 seahorses.. with lots of vegetation to let them hang on and perform mating dance.
    Let us work together to preserve the world for our children to inherit by being responsible to our surroundings. Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, bubbles and memories.

  8. #8
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    Kel, I didn't know that keeping cuttlefish is hard. I had saw someone keeping it b4, think was my dad friends. It was a long time ago then. What I like about the cuttlefish is it eyes......looks lazy. No wonder I never come across or heard anyone keeping cuttles nowadays.
    If you've learnt, teach, if you have, give.
    Don't walk behind me as I might not lead, don't walk in front of me as I might not follow. Walk beside me, as my friend.
    Mohamad Rohaizal is my name. If it's too hard, use BFG. I don't mind.

  9. #9
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    I am against keeping of seahorses too.
    They are being depleted very rapidly now.

    unless we can have good successful with rearing and breeding them, lets just leave them where they belong now

  10. #10
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    In my opinion, seahorse is indeed difficult to keep in captive. Well, if it is easy, those marine shop will keep them in their show tank. Though some marine shop do keep seahorse in their show tank but not for long....(up to you to believe and observe). Seeing the seahorse perish in our own aquarium is really depressing. Even, a blue damsel perish within my own aquarium is sad thing to see (although they are very cheap).

    The earth marine system will be soon greatly afftected or it already happened. The huge ice cube (like the size of singapore) had fallen out and melted in antartica recently. You will soon see the snowball effect that will affect the marine system in the earth.

    So, what we can do is to buy those fishes/ inverterbates that we can really keep.


  11. #11
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    Hi there, I do keep seahorses. Currently, I go 9 in my seahorse tank. One just give birth but not able to keep the baby alive. Will try the next time. Franking speaking, SH is not so diff. to keep if U know them well. They will eat frozen brine shirmp or small fishes if you train them. To ppl want to keep SH, do read & reseach a bit b4 start. One good website U can visit www.seahorse.org to learn more from them....Rgds

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