FAQs about Seahorse, Pipefish Reproduction Related Articles: Seahorses & their Relatives, Fresh to Brackish Water Pipefishes,  Seahorse Care Guide,  Related FAQs: Seahorses & their Relatives 1, Seahorses & their Relatives 2, Seahorse Identification, Seahorse Behavior, Seahorse Compatibility, Seahorse Selection, Seahorse Systems, Seahorse Feeding, Seahorse Disease,  Corythoichthys schultzi hanging out in the Red Sea.

seahorse OOPS!!!!   10/17/12 <Brian, our email prog. has allowed you to send some 12 megs of pix (why?)... it should have deleted your email automatically> Good evening crew Brian here with a unexpected delivery today!!!!!  My pair of erectus seahorses I have been writing to Bob Fenner about apparently are doing very well, a little to well, I came home to a sump full very active healthy baby seahorses today.  My males pouch had been slightly enlarged for the past two weeks or so but not as large as most of the articles online I have read described.  I attributed it to him "showing  off" to the female in the system with him enlarging his pouch as I have read they do this from time to time.  BOY WAS I WRONG!!!!  So long story short I set up a ten gallon tank in hurry, placed a heater in it, an air powered sponge filter in it, three small pieces of live rock and placed some artificial plants on them, half tank water from my main sea horse tank and half freshly mixed ro/di water (salt mixed).  I was not prepared for this but I new it was a possibility so I set up a brine shrimp hatchery, its first batch will be ready to go tomorrow morning, I attempted to feed some Roti-feast which some did eat.  I rescued as any fry as I could from my sump using a cup.  I was able to catch about 40 fry that appeared in good shape, and had let about ten go due to various issues.  I plan on doing about a 1-2 gallon daily water change and removing any deceased/waste, hatching live brine daily and using a 50/50 bulb on 14 hrs and off 10 hrs since the horses are attracted to light and so are the baby brine to inhibit feeding.  The fry appeared stressed earlier but they have seemed to settle down and several of them have found hitching posts in the plants, all the parameters are perfect, similar to the parents tank, <Should be identical.... from taking the water from there> water 74 degrees and salinity is 1.024.   I know this is more of a statement but I am looking for some suggestions in this new unforeseen adventure that I may have not listed in this because I was blind sided by this today and my mind is going a million miles per hour trying to learn as much and as fast as possible!  <See WWM re Seahorse repro.> Your guidance is much appreciated and much needed, I understand many will die and few will live but I would to have some success at this and would really just like your incite as to what you your self would do.  I also attached some pics of the fry...enjoy. Thanks again as always Brian <Congrats. BobF>

Re: seahorse OOPS!!!!     10/17/12 Not sure why the pics were so large it's a new camera... But one question, doing the water changes should I be taking the water out of the main tank and placing it the nursery and replace man tanks water or should I be replacing the water in the nursery with fresh new water?  Sorry for large pics, thanks Brian <Always from the established tank. B>

Seahorse changing it's sex? -- 8/24/10
Am sending your query to a fellow who is the expert in this field. BobF
Thanks very much
Pete, this is beyond my expertise, and right up yours:
I have a 34 gallon seahorse tank with 2 pair of H. Erectus seahorses. I've had them for approximately 4 months & have had no problems with any of them until 2 days ago. I fed them as usual in the morning & I noticed that one of my females who was hitched near the bottom front of the tank didn't swim to where I squirted Mysis shrimp. The other 3 fed enthusiastically as usual. I wasn't too concerned though because when I squirted Mysis directly at her she did eat.
That same evening I fed them again & noticed that she was still hitched in the same spot which seemed very unusual especially for a female since they seem to move around more than the males. This time I became very concerned because not only did she not leave her hitch to eat but this time when I squirted Mysis directly to her she still didn't eat.
So I immediately set up a 10 gallon hospital tank running a bare filter, an air stone, heater & a nano chiller & started her on Furan 2.
I purchased this particular seahorse from Seahorse Source so the following day I called & spoke to Dan & explained what was going on. Since she was now isolated in the hospital tank it was much easier to see what was happening with her physically. I noticed no light patches or sores or anything on her skin. The only thing I did notice was slight swelling in her belly area & what looked like swelling on the underside of her tail to the point where if I didn't know she was a female I would have thought she was a male.
Dan's question to me was, "do you think she's growing a pouch?" I didn't know how to answer since I had no idea that could happen. He went on to tell me how in one of his breeding tanks he was having less & less production until it stopped altogether & when he checked the tank he found all males!!
He asked that I send pictures of her which I did & he called me back & his conclusion was that I very likely have a female who is trying to grow a pouch but may also be egg-bound & this would explain the swelling in her belly & also cause infection & this is why she wasn't eating. He felt that because there was likely an infection it was good that I started her on Furan 2. My question was how I could help her release the eggs but he didn't have an answer for me. He said he had a female Kuda who he suspected had the same thing going on & he lost her & was able to confirm what he had suspected after a necropsy. That he in fact had a female who was growing a pouch & was egg-bound.
He gave me some suggestions as far as how to treat her but suggested I post somewhere to see if anyone else has come across this situation & had any luck resolving it.
I lowered the tank temperature to 68 degrees to slow the infection, I'm continuing with the Furan 2 & I've tried several things to entice her to eat with no luck at all.
So what I want to know is if anyone has ever dealt with anything like this & if they have any suggestions as to how I can help her. I would greatly appreciate any help I can get.
Thanks,
Ann Marie Spinella
Dear Ann Marie: I'm very sorry to hear about the problems one of your female Hippocampus erectus seahorses has developed, but this is a very interesting case and I would be happy to share my thoughts on the matter with you.   First of all, let me just say that there is no evidence in the literature to suggest that seahorses are hermaphroditic or that they can change sex the way some other marine fish (e.g., clownfish and certain wrasse) can do under the right circumstances.  And I have certainly never seen a case myself in which a functional female developed anything close to a functioning marsupium. But I do sometimes receive anecdotal reports from hobbyists who have female seahorses that apparently changed sex and developed full-blown pouches. Upon closer examination, most of these instances turn out to be cases of mistaken identity -- late-blooming juveniles that took an inordinately long time to develop a pouch or genuine females that had developed a convincing "pseudo-pouch." One of the things that can confound the issue of gender in Hippocampus is the fact that a certain percentage of females develop a subanal structure that can be easily mistaken for an incipient pouch (Vincent, 1990). This is misleading because the pseudo-pouch seen on many such females is little more than a pigmented patch of skin, not a functional brood pouch or even a pocket of tissue (Vincent, 1990).  Although they are very often presumed to be male, at least initially, females having these subanal structures or pseudo-pouches produce viable eggs, pair off with males, and mate normally just like all the other fillies. However, in recent years, I have had a fascinating report of a female seahorse that subsequently developed a full-blown pouch, as confirmed by necroscopic examination, from a source I consider to be very reliable. And if Dan Underwood states that he has confirmed the same sort of phenomenon in a female H. kuda, I do not doubt it. We still have a great deal to learn about the genus Hippocampus...In your case, Anna Marie, I suspect that your female H. erectus may have become egg bound, which is not commonplace, but is a very well documented condition affecting female seahorses, under certain circumstances.  Although relatively rare, egg binding is nevertheless a well-known affliction that sometimes plagues female seahorses, and this is what I normally advise hobbyists in that regard:<Open quote>The only time we normally see a female seahorse with a distended abdomen is immediately after she has hydrated or ripened a clutch of eggs prior to mating, as discussed below.  Seahorses are fractional spawners and very well adapted for producing clutch after clutch of eggs.  Females maintain a spiraling assembly line of developing oocytes (egg cells) at all times, only a portion of which are fully mature and are released at each mating (Vincent, 1990).  This differs from the reproductive strategy of most fishes, which are multiple spawners that release all their eggs each time they mate and then start over, maturing an entirely new clutch of eggs from scratch for the next spawning.            The structure of the ovaries is unique to syngnathids.  They are paired organs, which join to form a single oviduct (the seahorse's version of a Fallopian tube) just before the urogential pore (Vincent, 1990).  Oocytes spiral out from the center of each ovary, creating a coiled sheet of developing eggs at differing stages of growth (Vincent, 1990).  The earliest or primordial eggs arise from the germinal ridge that runs the entire length of the ovary, and lie at the center of the coil from which they spiral out as they develop so that the fully mature eggs are the furthest from the center of rotation (Vincent, 1990).  Roughly 20-25% of the outermost eggs in this ovarian assembly line are mature, ready to be discharged during ovulation and deposited with the male (Vincent, 1990).  Thus, fully 70-75% of the female's developing eggs are retained in the ovaries after mating, so a new clutch of eggs will mature relatively quickly and lie in readiness for the next mating cycle.            Seahorse ovaries are always active, busy creating and developing new eggs (oogenesis), forming the yolk (vitellogenesis), and resorbing any mature ova (atresia) leftover after mating or at the end of the breeding season (Vincent, 1990).  Eggs in all 4 stages of development can be found in the ovaries throughout the year. The mature ova are normally hydrated in the latter stages of courtship, shortly before the copulatory rise and transfer of the eggs that culminates the mating process in seahorses.  So it would be unusual for a female to retain hydrated eggs for more than a day or so -- ordinarily, if a receptive male is not available to receive the eggs, the female will simply eject them and unceremoniously dump her clutch of eggs on the bottom of the tank. More information regarding egg binding and a possible treatment for the condition are discussed in the following excerpt from my new book (Complete Guide to the Greater Seahorses in the Aquarium, unpublished):Egg Binding: a Health Risk for Breeding Females. Egg binding occurs when a female has ripened (hydrated) a clutch of eggs and is unable to deposit them with a mate or release them for some reason. As more eggs develop, the egg bound female becomes increasing bloated and great pressure begins to build up internally. The abdomen will be very swollen, especially around the vent, and often prolapsed tissue or other material will begin to protrude from the vent as the pressure builds. The affected female will show rapid respiration and may go off her feed. If the pressure cannot be relieved, death results. Tracy Warland describes a typical case in a female Potbelly (Hippocampus abdominalis) as follows: "Went into the shed one morning to find an adult mare, probably fully mature, in distress. She had been living quite happily in the main tank with about 10 males to meet any desire she might have. Anyway she was lying on the bottom of the tank, panting. I removed her immediately and placed her in sick tank, thought it could be parasites so gave her several 5-minute freshwater baths, but these did not seem to help. I had checked all parameters of large tank the day before so I knew the water was pristine, no other horse was stressed. When I was putting her back after a freshwater bath, I was supporting her upright for a few minutes to see if she could hitch somewhere. I applied very slight pressure to her belly, and out shot masses of orange stuff. I collected some and checked under the microscope and it looked very much like roe, but the yolk was almost smashed, with globules of a fat-like substance within the centre. We've had roe before, due to unsuccessful egg transfer, so we picked up some of bottom of tank and checked it out! I put it down to women's problems, egg bound, could not discharge unfertilized eggs, these became rotten within her and therefore caused perhaps fever like symptoms." Egg binding is uncommon in seahorses. Most females have no problem simply dumping their eggs and spilling them on the bottom when a receptive male is unavailable. But there are two circumstances that sometimes promote egg binding. One of them is when breeding seahorses are kept in a tank that's too shallow. Courtship will proceed normally and the female will hydrate her clutch of eggs in due course, but the pair will then be unable to complete the copulatory rise due to the lack of depth. In such a situation, the female is very reluctant too dump her eggs while a receptive male is standing by, eager to receive them. If she retains the ripened eggs too long in hope that they will be able to complete the egg transfer despite the inadequate vertical swimming space, she may become egg bound. The other situation that may predispose females to egg binding is when the sexes are segregated. For example, Heather Hall reports that the London Zoo was so successful in breeding and raising the prolific Cape Seahorse (Hippocampus capensis) that, at one point, they were forced to separate the males and females in order to bring a halt to the population explosion that resulted (Bull and Mitchell, 2002, p 30). However, they were soon forced to abandon their experiment in enforced abstinence because it proved stressful to the seahorses and a few of the isolated females began developing swollen abdomens and experiencing difficulty with egg binding when deprived of the opportunity to breed (Bull and Mitchell, 2002, p 30). There is no ready cure for egg binding and attempts to manually massage the eggs from the body usually only result in internal injuries. However, there is a folk remedy that's commonly used to treat egg binding in freshwater fish. This treatment consists of placing the affected fish in a bath of Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) for 10-15 minutes at a dosage of one tablespoon of Epsom salt for every one-gallon of water (Duedall, 2004). The Epsom baths are repeated once a day until the patient recovers (Duedall, 2004).I have no idea if this remedy would have any affect on a marine fish, but many freshwater hobbyists swear by it, and egg binding is fatal if unresolved so you really have nothing to lose by trying it. Epsom salts are certainly inexpensive and readily available. If you want to give it a go, I suggest administering a 10-15 minute freshwater bath with one tablespoon of magnesium sulfate per gallon added to the bath water. Mix in the magnesium salts thoroughly, aerate the container, and observe the usual precautions for any freshwater dip. Repeat once daily as needed. In short, Anne Marie, if your female's abdomen appears swollen, particularly around the area of the vent, then I suspect that she may be egg bound.  The prognosis is poor in such cases, but the condition is not at all contagious and no pathogens of any sort are usually involved, so the rest of your herd should remain unaffected. Prolapses will often repair themselves once the internal pressure has been relieved, so if you can induce your female to release her clutch of eggs, possibly using the Epsom salts as described above, there is a chance that she may recover.  The chances of a good outcome are slim once the pressure from egg binding has reached a point where tissue and compressed ova begin to extrude through the vent.  To give you an idea of how much pressure can build up in these cases, a female will often lose 30% of her weight when she drops a clutch of eggs or transfers her ripened eggs to a receptive male.  If your female is egg bound, the condition has not yet progressed to the point where a prolapse has resulted, Anne Marie, so there is a chance she may yet be able to drop her clutch of eggs...Best of luck resolving this problem.
Respectfully,
Pete Giwojna, Ocean Rider Tech Support
<Good gosh! Thank you Pete. BobF>

Seahorse changing it's sex? Neale's go -- 8/24/10
I have a 34 gallon seahorse tank with 2 pair of H. Erectus seahorses. I've had them for approximately 4 months & have had no problems with any of them until 2 days ago. I fed them as usual in the morning & I noticed that one of my females who was hitched near the bottom front of the tank didn't swim to where I squirted Mysis shrimp. The other 3 fed enthusiastically as usual. I wasn't too concerned though because when I squirted Mysis directly at her she did eat.
<Okay. But do review the needs of these fish. They are basically hardy, but the wrong water temperature and insufficient feeding are the two main reasons they fail in captivity. Hippocampus erectus is a tropical to subtropical species that needs to be kept at between 22-25 C/72-77F, and because it is territorial and forms strong pairs, tends to be kept in matched pairs, ideally each in their own tank. I suspect 34 gallons won't be big enough for two pairs.>
That same evening I fed them again & noticed that she was still hitched in the same spot which seemed very unusual especially for a female since they seem to move around more than the males. This time I became very concerned because not only did she not leave her hitch to eat but this time when I squirted Mysis directly to her she still didn't eat.
<Indeed.>
So I immediately set up a 10 gallon hospital tank running a bare filter, an air stone, heater & a nano chiller & started her on Furan 2.
<Well, I wouldn't hit antibiotics so soon when fish aren't feeding, particularly if they're asymptomatic in other regards. Better to start offering other foods they might prefer, and also to see if social behaviour is the issue, e.g., bullying.>
I purchased this particular seahorse from Seahorse Source so the following day I called & spoke to Dan & explained what was going on. Since she was now isolated in the hospital tank it was much easier to see what was happening with her physically. I noticed no light patches or sores or anything on her skin. The only thing I did notice was slight swelling in her belly area & what looked like swelling on the underside of her tail to the point where if I didn't know she was a female I would have thought she was a male.
<Indeed.>
Dan's question to me was, "do you think she's growing a pouch?" I didn't know how to answer since I had no idea that could happen. He went on to tell me how in one of his breeding tanks he was having less & less production until it stopped altogether & when he checked the tank he found all males!!
<Curious. Not aware of any Hippocampinae changing sex. What is more likely is poor or delayed expression of male characteristics. This is the explanation of why Swordtails were often said to change sex. In fact they don't change sex, but sometimes males look like females for much longer than they should. Usually males exhibit male characteristics once they reach the minimum age for sexual maturity, which in the case of Swordtails is about 3 months old. But sometimes it can take much longer, six months or a year. So female-looking males got put into aquaria as females, and then lo and behold, months after purchase, the surprised aquarist finds he has a male not a female Swordtail. It's much more probable something similar has occurred here with your "female", and that bullying between the male and this female-looking male is responsible for the latter's stress and loss of appetite.>
He asked that I send pictures of her which I did & he called me back & his conclusion was that I very likely have a female who is trying to grow a pouch but may also be egg-bound & this would explain the swelling in her belly & also cause infection & this is why she wasn't eating. He felt that because there was likely an infection it was good that I started her on Furan 2. My question was how I could help her release the eggs but he didn't have an answer for me.
<Indeed. Females cannot grow pouches. It's a unique structure to the male, and not something a female can grow on demand, any more than a male can grow a uterus.>
He said he had a female Kuda who he suspected had the same thing going on & he lost her & was able to confirm what he had suspected after a necropsy.
That he in fact had a female who was growing a pouch & was egg-bound.
<Does not seem at all probable. If there was a pouch, and there were eggs in there, then this is more likely a mistakenly-sexed male assumed to be a female. Blockages of the pouches are not uncommon, particularly if air bubbles get into the pouch. Inbreeding or dietary imbalances may also cause deformities. On the other hand, decaying eggs in the uterus would be something else, and indicative of a female. Egg-biding in female fish is rare, but can happen.>
He gave me some suggestions as far as how to treat her but suggested I post somewhere to see if anyone else has come across this situation & had any luck resolving it. I lowered the tank temperature to 68 degrees to slow the infection, I'm continuing with the Furan 2 & I've tried several things to entice her to eat with no luck at all. So what I want to know is if anyone has ever dealt with anything like this & if they have any suggestions as to how I can help her. I would greatly appreciate any help I can get.
<Seahorses.org has an interesting page on manual evacuation of the male's pouch, which you may find relevant:
http://www.seahorse.org/library/articles/pouchevac.shtml
If the pouch does need clearing, as may be the case here, the tips there should help. There's also a pretty good seahorse-centric forum.>
Thanks,
Ann Marie
<Cheers, Neale.>

Refugium true viability/Seahorse breeding 11/9/08 My name is Lawrence Lucero and I am very interested in setting up a refugium system for rearing seahorses and clownfishes. I've looked over many of your articles regarding copepods, plankton, and refugiums and was very pleased to find so much information. Thank you very much. <Hello Lawrence, glad the site has helped.> My first question concerns what set up would be better for producing copepods on a large scale. I have a 125 gallon tank as well as multiple 55 gallon tanks and 20h tanks at my disposal. Option 1- Should I set up the 125 gallon as a separate refugium complete with a deepsand bed (I'm thinking 8-12" w/ plenum as well as varying sizes of coral "gravel" and sand) along with live rock raised on a grid off the live sand. From this refugium I was planning at least three different overflows each to an individual 55 gallon tank which would house the seahorse fry and clownfish larvae separately. Would this supply enough food for the fry or should I limit the number of fry rearing tanks? <It will feed them to a point, do look at direct feedings also.> For option 2 I was thinking of using the 125 gallon as the rearing tank and adding (4-6) 55 gallon tanks as refugiums. This would involve setting up different refugiums with the hope that different types of copepods would emerge. I was thinking of a deep sand bed only tank (3/4 of tank height), a DSB with macroalgae tank, a live rock only tank, a live "rubble" tank, and a floating macroalgae tank (ulva, etc.). Is this overkill or could I get a greater diversity and quantity of plankton and copepods? <The diversity in setup is good, but you can do all of this in the 125, then use the 55 to keep your livestock at different stages separated.> My final option would be to do the same thing as the 125 gallon tank in option 2 with the 55 gallon tanks. I would add (4) 20h tanks for the refugiums on a 55 gallon tank. Again with different types of refugiums on each of the rearing tanks. My only concern is if 80 gallons of refugium volume is enough for each 55 gallon tank? <The larger refugium setup option would be better.> The rearing tanks are going to be bare for ease of maintenance. The refugium tanks would be supplemented by natural sunlight and lit by power compact fluorescents (for those which are less than 12" in height with DSB) and metal halides on the live rock tanks. <Really no need for such intense lighting here.> I would be doing reverse daylight photosynthesis on set ups with more than one refugium to stabilize pH and oxygen availability. The other option is 24/7 illumination on the single refugium system to achieve the same stabilizing effect. <Alternate, give each a rest period.> I was planning on adding no supplemental filtration except a return pump since these are only larvae and fry in what I believe to be large volumes of water. I was concerned with the plankton being crushed but after reading your articles I have since loss that concern. Should I add additional filtration? From all that I could gather RDP, live rock, and live sand should be sufficient. <Should be.> If so, would you see any problems with using a fluidized bed filter. I like the fact that it would supply CO2 to the macroalgae and in conjunction with reverse daylight photosynthesis or 24/7 illumination the extra CO2 shouldn't be a problem. <I would not, negligible benefits. Your live rock will already serve as a biofilter, the fluidized bed will have little to nothing to do.> I have just one more question regarding the return pump. I could find no information on larvae "safe" methods of returning the water to the refugium. My plan is to have a submersible pump sectioned off in the rearing tank. Would a baffle system, a divider with sponge (partition off whole tank section with glass 3/4 of height; add sponge along bottom), or a full sponge partitioned area (whole section blocked off with sponges- hopefully reduce concentration of intake) be sufficient to prevent damaging the clownfish larvae. I am most concerned with them because I have used a sponge covered overflow with seahorse fry successfully (very large sponge). <The larger sponge area, less concentrated intake will be better.> Thank you so much for your assistance as well as for taking the time to amass such a wealth of knowledge on your website. <Welcome.> Mahalo, Lawrence Lucero <Do check out some of the seahorse specific sites on the net re feeding the fry. Many very good, informative resources out there. One in specific linked below. Scott V.> http://www.seahorse.org/library/articles/artemiaGuide.shtml

Questions re: Seahorse Culturing, Operational Costs - 04/29/07 Hey guys, <Hi Megan> I'm doing a university report on research with culturing seahorses. I've hit a road block when it comes to the costs of operation. I don't know how much a 9-liter round plastic tank system with filtration system costs. <Many factors involved - sophistication/efficiency level of system(s), desired appearance, manufacturer, availability/cost in your area, etc.> I also can't find a price on juvenile seahorses or the price of frozen mysids. <Frozen mysids are commonly sold at local fish stores - call for local pricing.> I was just wondering if you guys are either in contact with a supply company that I could browse their catalogue, or if you know of any of this information yourselves. I'd appreciate any help you could provide. <I'd contact various online companies that sell seahorses (Ocean Rider being one). They should be able to help you.> Thanks, Megan <You're welcome and good luck on your report! -Lynn>

Seahorse reproduction   11/6/06 Dear WWM crew I have done something very very stupid and acquired a pair of common seahorse (Hippocampus kuda) without having done much research. We have many marine tanks and when LFS said they had had this pair for ages I felt sorry for them, they were tank bred ones. So I bought them home to live in tank on their own approx 30 gallons but linked to a 90 gallon tank. Well I purchased them approx 3 weeks ago and fed them a diet of vitamin-enriched Mysid shrimp according to one book I read, I had every intention of doing more research but being a mother of 4 children under the age of 10 years I kind of ran out of time because this morning I was greeted with a tank of baby seahorses!!!!! They were unfortunately being sucked down into tank below (home to a clown trigger) I turned off pumps etc while I rescued as many as possible (Luckily baby seahorse was not on menu for "Archie" the clown) I have them in a breeding net and have fed them baby brineshrimp (approx 1-2 days old). This is terrible because I usually read up on anything that I intend to purchase but this was an impulse buy and I feel so guilty I don't even know the gestation period for seahorses. <Varies by species...> You can shout and scream at me for being so irresponsible but could you also tell me what to feed them and what the mortality rate is? <Small live foods like Artemia... and high generally. Please do take a read on a few of the seahorse sites on the Net... they are excellent> I'm trying to read up as much as possible but I need some quick answers until I can do adequate research. Please please don't be too unkind with your answers. Yours Rache Hill (England) <Bob Fenner>

H. whitei/H. barbouri hybrids ..... will they be able to   reproduce?  - 09/10/06 Hi, <Howdy> I don't know if you will be able to answer my question about seahorses. <I will certainly try and if I can't I know of someone who can.> I would like to know if the number of chromosome in H. barbouri and H. whitei are the same because I have babies hybrid of these 2 species and would like to know if they will be able to reproduce. <Hmmmmm great question which I am not sure about so I passed your question on the Pete Giwojna who is very well respected in the seahorse community and here is what he had to say.... "I've never heard of that particular cross before (barbouri/whitei) so I can't say for sure, but I also believe they have a compatible number of chromosomes and would produce perfectly viable offspring. I'm basing that statement primarily on a lot of experience with other intraspecific hybrids.  For example, I've seen numerous erectus-reidi crosses, along with kuda-reidi hybrids, a few barbouri-comes pairings, and various others.  The hybrid offspring from these intraspecific crosses were healthy seahorses that expressed a mixture of traits from their parents, and I suspect that will be the result of a barbouri X whitei pairing as well. As a rule, we don't want to encourage interspecific hybridization, but the results of such crosses can sometimes be quite striking. For example, I know of one case where a female H. barbouri mated with a male H. comes in a hobbyist's tank (Greg Hiller, pers. com.) and produced offspring. Hiller succeeded in raising one of these hybrid fry well into the juvenile or subadult phase, and it was a very beautiful specimen indeed. The hybrid barbouri-comes youngster showed the pale color, crownlike coronet, increased spininess and boldly striped snout of its H. barbouri mother, while retaining the splendid mottling and tiger stripes on its tail and body that it inherited from its H. comes father. Outstanding! As a matter of fact, the first strain of hybrid seahorse has actually been with us for some time now. It was developed not by hobbyists here in the USA but by the Chester Zoo in the UK and is known simply as the Chester strain of seahorse or "Hippocampus chesteri" for fun (Neil Garrick-Maidment, pers. comm.). It has been widely distributed to zoos and public aquaria and has been very well accepted. A recent survey showed that the Chester hybrid is the most frequently kept seahorse in European exhibits, displayed by no less than 45.5% of the public aquaria sampled (Bull & Mitchell, Seahorse Husbandry in Public Aquaria: 2002 Manual). It apparently owes its popularity to the fact that it is readily available and completely captive bred and raised -- a hardy, easy to feed, eco-friendly display animal for zoos and public aquaria in Europe that helps relieve the pressure on wild seahorse populations. I believe the Chester hybrids do breed and produce viable offspring. So I'm very confident that the barbouri-whitei young will be healthy and develop normally.  But at this point, there is no way of saying for sure whether they will be fertile or sterile like mules.  That something will only know for certain if the hybrid fry reach maturity, pair off, and produce viable fry of their own."> Thanks! Marie-H. <You're most welcome. I hope this helps, Leslie>

H. whitei/H. barbouri hybrids ..... will they be able to reproduce?   9/20/06 WOW!! Thanks for all the information!! <Your very welcome.> It's so hard finding good info on seahorses. Marie-H??e  :o) <Check out www.syngnathid.org and www.oceanrider.com for additional info on seahorses. Leslie>

Pipefish/Breeding   5/27/06 Hi  <Hello Jo>   My Flagtail Pipefish is pregnant. I was wondering if you would give me some information on the gestation period and any tips on raising the young. He has had eggs for about three weeks you can see them clearly on his belly, a kind of reddish colour. I only put the female in with him about four weeks ago, so it cannot be longer than this! I have built him a sort of cave from live rock. His behaviour has changed significantly he used to be very sociable (I have had him for several years!) but now he just darts out snaffles a mysis and darts back in to his cave, is this usual? <Can be.>   I have Masses of copepods/rotifers (they came as a mixed batch!) growing, will these be enough! I ask because I read an article that said baby pipe fish need newly hatched brine shrimp,  to survive, which I found strange. <Maybe for a very short time, little nutrients are present in brine shrimp.>   Also in a separate tank, I have seahorses two of which I bought very recently (I was assured they were C.B. from yourselves!)  they were marked as Reidi, but they have some definite Kuda characteristics, (fatter bodies, black line on dorsal fin, etc!) could the shop have got it wrong?   As one is definitely pregnant (I watched them matting yesterday!) it would help to know if they are Reidi, Kuda or a cross, as I think they might have different gestation periods. Also if they are a cross, would this give me even more problems with trying to raise the young, I'm kind of in the process of designing an in tank Kreisel (OK that's not spelt wright  <Neither are the last two words. spelt doesn't exist.>  I mean a circular air system!) for them!  Would this be the best thing? Any info would be most gratefully received. Read here http://www.wetwebmedia.com/seahorsecare.htm, and here http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_2/cav2i5/seahorse_feeders/seahorse_feeders.htm, and here along with related links above   http://www.wetwebmedia.com/chrsebrdfaqs.htm> Thank you so much.   Jo <You're welcome.  James (Salty Dog)>   xxxx <Are the x's love and kisses?:)>

Re: Pipefish-Seahorse/Breeding (Added Seahorse)   5/28/06 Hi  <Hello Jo>   Couple of follow up points:   1) Does anyone know the gestation period for flag tailed pipefish?   2) As I was reading an article about TMC, that my search engine brought up, I thought I was sending the email to them!   3) Spelt does exists, it is a form of wheat, that is mentioned in the Bible, dyslexics rules KO!   4) when I clicked on two of the links there was nothing there, would this be my computer not finding them, or what!     Ta much <Jo, for some reason I get a "Page cannot be displayed" on all three links.  The links do exist.  Do a Google search on our site for both topics and go from there.  You should find your information there.  James (Salty Dog)>   Jo

Seahorse Fry - 01/01/2006 Hi, <Hello Stacy.> I have a question that I hope you can answer, I have  a H. reidi  baby seahorse that is 15 days old today, he is the only baby who lived, the problem is he snicked air, when he was first born, I'm not sure if he is eating, I have him in a separate tank by himself, he is on his side, is there anything I can do for him? <Very difficult situation you've got here.> Please help, I don't want to lose this baby <Your best bet for this would be to visit/consult with   http://www.seahorse.org/ > Thanks Stacy <Best of luck. - Josh> Visiting Carol and Craig at Ocean Rider 10/9/05 Yes, Let me figure our what day will work best. Probably THR at 2pm. Because of the iron man we won't be having tours on FRI or SAT this week. <Hotay, pls call, write re, or I will... and what day to get tog. w/ you and Craig... anywhere near the KBC?> So we are seriously looking to hire a biologist. Do you know anyone that is competent in aquaculture (don't really want an "aquarist") and willing to work weekends?? And if so any ideas what kind of a pay scale they would take? <Mmm, will look about... Do you mind my posting this to WWM? And don't know much re pay... but about here, I'd say 2k a month will likely be about the bottom.> Cya, Carol <BobF> 

Re: [OceanRider] Does OR breed its horses not to Mate? 11/1/05 Not true. My sunbursts have mated successfully as well as many others on this board. seaboyhpt wrote: I was just wondering if OR actually breeds its horses so they can not have fry? I read somewhere I think www.WetWebMedia.com that most people who buy their horses from OR even with perfect conditions, they will usually not mate. Just wondering if this is true, because I have a pair that seem to court, but cant get the egg transfer done. Tank has plenty of vertical space 24" clear height, hitching posts, good water quality, Food, lighting etc. They dance, she has eggs, he pumps up his pouch but always seems to turn away till she eventually drops her eggs somewhere else. Ocean Rider Web site: http://www.OceanRider.com   Ocean Rider Club http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OceanRider  Ocean Rider Club files http://www.oceanrider.com/HobbyNews.html  Ocean Rider Club Rules http://www.oceanrider.com/Club/Rules.htm  As a member of the Ocean Rider Club you agree to abide by the rules of the club which are there to ensure the continued enjoyment of the club for everyone! So Please take a moment to review them! Thanks! To Post a message: OceanRider@yahoogroups.com Jump right in we are here to help! <Thanks Carol... and goodbye to you, Craig, and the boys. Pete and I are back to the mainland tomorrow. A hu'i ho! BobF>

Does OR breed its Seahorses not to Mate? A Rebuttal, Some Facts, and Description of Mating Processes 11/4/05 <Thank you for this extensive reply Pete, will post. Cheers, BobF> Dear Seaboy:  Nope, that's a flat-out fallacy!      If you stop and think about it for a minute you'll realize what an absurd notion that is and why that's not even a possibility. Ocean Rider conducts multigenerational rearing programs, selectively breeding their seahorses for adaptive traits such as vigor, rapid growth, disease resistance, aggressive feeding habits, and adaptability. If they were producing seahorses that didn't breed, or that are unable to mate and accomplish the transfer of eggs or produce any fry, how could their lines of seahorses perpetuate themselves?      They could not -- a line of seahorses that is unable to mate successfully would die out in one generation. So the scenario you are proposing in which Ocean Rider breeds seahorses not to mate simply can't happen. That's a physical impossibility -- you cannot raise seahorses from livestock that won't breed. Back in the early days when Ocean Rider was new and folks were confused by the concept of intraspecific hybridization, one of the common misconceptions about captive-bred seahorses was that they can't or won't mate. In those days, many misinformed hobbyists shunned captive-bred seahorses based on the mistaken belief that they are infertile.  Variations on this myth maintained that while they may be fertile, they simply won't breed in a typical hobbyist setup, or that although they may in fact breed, captive-bred seahorses produce enviable young that cannot survive longer than a few weeks.      These misconceptions are in turned based largely on the baseless belief that CB seahorses are complex crossbreeds, which are thus sterile like mules, or that may have inherited an incompatible number of chromosomes from each of their parents, thereby dooming their offspring. Some hobbyists even speculated that the seahorse farmers had deliberately rendered their seahorses sterile in order to thwart competitors who might be inclined to acquire their specimens as broodstock of their own. In some circles, there was talk of genetic engineering and ridiculous notions such as inserting lethal genes that would kick in only once the fry had reached a certain stage of development.      Of course now we know better. Nowadays Ocean Rider seahorses have a proven track record as prolific breeders and many hobbyists have raised Mustangs and Sunbursts through a number of generations. In fact, you may have noticed that many of the posts on this Club are from home breeders exchanging information on the nursery tanks that work the best for them or hobbyists looking for surrogate parents who can take some of their excess Ocean Rider fry off their hands. One of the most common questions I get is from concerned hobbyists wondering how they can prevent their seahorses from breeding because they don't have the time or resources to devote to rearing and their pairs are churning out brood after brood every few weeks with clockwork regularity.     It sounds like you have an inexperienced pair, Seaboy, that are having difficulty executing the exchange of eggs. That's a tricky maneuver and they may just need a little more practice before they get it right. But if they are consistently spilling eggs during the copulatory rise, you may have too much midwater turbulence in your tank.     As you know, seahorses ascend through the water column together in order to mate, and the actual transfer of the eggs takes place while the couple is suspended in midwater or slowly sinking towards the bottom. Coitus is marked by an extremely awkward, fleeting embrace-- really no more than a brief belly-to-belly bumping--during which the female may deposit well over 1,000 eggs in the males pouch within 5 - 10 seconds. Many difficult and delicate maneuvers--which sometimes wind up with the partners aligned at right angles-- are required to bring the pair into proper position for this most improbable of mergings.      Numerous false starts and abortive attempts are ordinarily involved, with the frustrated pair separating to rest on the bottom between times, before success is achieved. (If you have never had the privilege of watching your seahorses mate, imagine newlywed skydivers attempting to consummate their marriage in freefall; that'll give an idea of how difficult copulation can be for seahorses, particularly if it's an inexperienced pair.  As you can imagine, the last thing they'd want to contend with at the moment of truth is swirling air currents or a little wind shear!)     The point is that seahorses are feeble swimmers, and if they encounter too much turbulence as they rise to mate, the buffeting can make copulation and the tricky egg transfer a virtual impossibility.  The smaller the seahorses, the more difficulty they will have negotiating currents in the aquarium.  (Picture a clumsy, super cargo plane attempting to pull off a tricky midair refueling with an overloaded tanker. If there's too much turbulence at the crucial moment, the cargo plane will unable to make the critical connection with the tanker, and the mission will have to be aborted.)      Likewise, if the water currents are too strong at midwater in the breeding tank, seahorses may be unable to achieve coitus and breeding will be disrupted. Eggs may be spilled and entire clutches may be dropped if buffeting dislodges the ovipositor from the male's pouch during the egg transfer, making this problem immediately apparent to the observant aquarist. When a female loses her eggs in this manner, she will not ripen another clutch until the pair's normal gestation period has passed (Vincent, 1990). If the problem persists, the pair may simply give up and stop trying to breed altogether.     Excessive turbulence often complicates life for seahorses in reef systems, since brisk water moment and vigorous wave action are requirements for many corals and reef animals. But buffeting can also become a problem in standard set-ups, since power heads, spray bars from canister filters, and the outflow from external hang-on filters are normally adjusted so they roil the surface of the water to facilitate efficient gas exchange. This results in cross-currents and turbulence in the upper 1/3 to 1/2 of the aquarium, where it can sometimes present a problem for seahorses as they ascend through the water column to mate.     Best of luck with your seahorses, Seaboy! Here's hoping your clumsy couple becomes more proficient with practice and presents you with their first brood real soon! Respectfully, Pete Giwojna 

Corythoichthys haematopterus  9/30/05 Hi Bob Fenner. <Ralph> Just read your article on WetWebMedia.com. Since 2004 I keep Corythoichthys haematopterus (I /THINK /its C. haematopterus...). <A pipefish at any length> Last months 3 individuals probably starved cause lack of tiny crustaceans in my 240ltr-aquarium. Over one year the 6 pipefish, 1 Synchiropus picturatus and 3 pairs of gobies were too much for the tiny crustaceans which they ate. The feeding of newborn brine shrimps seemed not enough, maybe cause of the low nutritional value. <Yes... was chatting with Carol (of Ocean Rider out here in HI... she and her husband Craig raise hippocampines, but not pipes... yet. And we were talking over foodstuffs... they do raise Artemia, but have a similar stance> Now three pipefish (and the 3 pairs of gobies) are left over, and the population of the food-crustaceans seems to recover. Also the daily feeding of hundreds of "nutritional enriched" newborn brine shrimp seems enough for their appetite. <Good> But primarily I want to tell you, that I keep C. haematopterus since about 15 months. Breeding I tried several times, but larvae died after few days. Although I had masses of different copepods for them.. <Mmm, there are a few (actually many!) varieties of copepods that can be cultured for the purpose of nutrifying such young... some are small, medium, to quite large. I strongly encourage you to contact the fine folks at TMC in Chorleyside... get out to visit them if you can... see their operation, culture facilities, including foods... for Pipefishes. Their website you can find here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/AqBizSubWebIndex/tmcpropc.htm> All the best, Ralph Bogusch <Cheers, Bob Fenner> Seahorse Expecting ... Tank Set Up 7/4/05 Hello, <Hi there!> My Brazilian seahorse is pregnant can you please advise me what kind of hospital tank to set up or can I leave the horse in my regular tank? I'm not sure if they will eat baby seahorses? <Congratulations!!! You will need to move the horse into what I call a paternity ward or delivery tank, unless you can somehow separate him from the tangs, they do pose a threat to the fry. BTW, for the record tangs are not a typically recommended seahorse tankmate. They may be fine now because they are small. These are active fish, which get to be a good size. You may want to consider permanently relocating the seahorses to their own tank. I would move him along with his mate.  Use live rock from your main tank. You will need to protect the fry from any intakes. This can be done by either using a tank divider and placing the pump or filter on one side of the divider and the seahorses on the other or by covering all intakes with a sponge.> If I have to set up a separate tank besides saltwater do I add vitamins or any thing? <I am not really sure what you mean by this. You will not need a tank other than saltwater. You do not need to add any vitamins or supplements to the delivery tank or the nursery tank. You will however need to enrich the baby brine shrimp you will be hatching to feed the fry. You will need a nursery tank as well as a brine shrimp hatchery set up. I don't mean to put a damper on your excitement over the prospect of baby seahorses but you need to know that raising seahorse fry is very difficult at best. It is a huge time investment,  a lot of work and most folks have little to no success raising the fry. You are working with a species that is particularly challenging to raise, because the fry are very small and pelagic. This presents 2 problems, feeding and losses due to intake of air at the surface. These fry do not hitch at birth. They float near the surface for weeks, where they take in air, which leads to their eventual demise. They must be kept off the surface with the creative use of current. Most folks do this with Kriesel or modified Kriesel nursery set ups AKA fish bowl nurseries. I would recommend you go and have a look at the Paternity Ward Forum on  www.syngnathid.org. In particular have a look at these 2 threads  "Easiest Nursery Ever" here… http://www.syngnathid.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=Paternity&Number=13213&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1 and  "Easiest Nursery Photos" here… http://www.syngnathid.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=Paternity&Number=13217&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1 Since this species has such small fry you will need to get hold of the small variety of baby brine shrimp called…. San Francisco Bay Brand. You can find information on decapsulation, hatching and enriching brine shrimp here….. http://www.saseahorse.com/seahorse.htm Click on the brine shrimp link on the left. Best of luck with your pregnant papa seahorse. I hope this helps Leslie> Transfer to new tank 3/22/05 Hello Crew, I would appreciate some advice from the crew here. I am in the process of setting my new custom made 380 Gal. Reef Tank. I am going to transfer the rock and livestock from my 140 tank. I went out and got a new sump , Euro- reef protein skimmer, and all the trimmings.  <Wow! Sounds nice!> My questions are: In the old tank I have about 200 pounds of live rock. I made the big mistake of buying it at Tampa Bay Saltwater. Since I live here it was close. The reason why I say it was a mistake ever since I got the rock I have had nothing but Aiptasia troubles.  <Pests can be a problem with live rock from any source, and eradicating Aiptasia can be a difficult task! Catching the problem early is really key.> My other tank has rock from different area and never had a problem. I want to transfer the rock to my new tank but do not want the troubles. If I scrub it , I could loose all the good bacteria. Another question I have is , how do I transfer the rock. If I take it out of the tank it is in now, it will upset the filtration balance, If I transfer the live stock and then the rock, it will upset the new tanks balance. Of course I am cycling the new tank now, but I do not know how to go about the transfer when it is time.  <Ideally, (assuming no Aiptasia problem), I would recommend simply transferring everything at once. If the new tank is set up, you could move the rock, the animals and as much of the old water to the new tank as possible and you wouldn't have to worry about a cycle. You would have some disruption, but no more than any other method. If you are cycling the new tank with new rock, you could move the livestock to the new tank and then quarantine each piece of rock for a couple of weeks on it's way to the new tank to ensure that it is Aiptasia free. This is tedious, but should be effective. Instead of wholesale scrubbing, you could scrape off the individual Aiptasia and then treat that small area of the rock with boiling water, strong Kalkwasser or even a flame to ensure that any remaining tissue is dead before quarantine. I have 1 other question (SORRY) unrelated to the new tank. I have a seahorse tank. I have had them for over a year. One of them was pregnant and had 100's of babies. Of course I was not able to raise them, they perished, I did not know what to do. I did not expect them to get pregnant. Now the male that Had the babies has a big bubble close to the back of his tail. I have tried to get the air out as stated at seahorse.org But it hasn't helped. He can not stay right side up, Do you have any suggestions? Thanks in advance. Scott  <No need to be sorry! That is what we are here for!. Seahorse.org is the best source of info on seahorses. I would try again there. Aside from removing the bubble with a needle and syringe, I don't have any good suggestions. Follow treatment with antibiotics may be warranted. Best Regards. AdamC.>

Is Anyone Breeding Zebra Seahorses?  (7/25/04) You would know any one that breeds zebra seahorse's at all? Bev <Hi Bev, Leslie here. No,  I'm sorry  I wish was and I did.  There is no one,  if there were you and I would be on a very LONG waiting list. I think they are perhaps almost everyone's favorites.  The only one I have ever heard of in captivity was  a female found by Ocean Oddities in Australia a year or so ago. They were looking for a male in hopes of beginning a captive breeding program. Unfortunately I heard they lost her. There are to 18 species/varieties currently in captive breeding programs. Is there perhaps another species you are interested in I can help you with.  www.syngnathid.org is a good reference for information on seahorses and their relatives. >  Leslie

Seahorse Not Eating 1 baby seahorse, hippocampus reidi, out of 16, does not want to eat anymore live brine shrimp. After 5 days of fast, he looks well but tired.  I am waiting for live Mysis/sandhoppers/mud shrimps from UK. <Have you considered temporarily putting a piece of live rock in with the seahorse?  I'm saying this because there might be some pods that he would eat off of it.  Also do any of your stores locally have any Mysis or pods they will sell or give you?> Have you heard of bath in sugared water to help this baby ? <No and to be quite honest I don't think it would work. But let me send you to www.seahorse.org.  Lots of people there who know much much more than I do about seahorses> What to do ? Waiting for an answer...Thanks, Patrick Andre <Good luck, MacL>

Seahorse babies, again Hello again, By the time I received your respons(es--thanks for both) alas, my babies all disappeared from my tank.  Eaten, I fear.  After much grieving and sorrow, I am excited to say my male is pregnant once again. This time I want to do it right.  I am about to purchase a 10 gallon system for the new babies, to be ready when they are born.  I wish I could tell when that will be... Should I isolate the father until they are born or will that stress him way too much? <Better to move the parents after parturition, but okay to scoop up the male and move him close to this time> I have already hatched live brine shrimp, but I don't know what "Selco" is as you recommended I use to fortify.  Should I put live plants in for them to anchor to, or a plastic craft net? Any suggestions will be very useful. <Look up Selcon on the Net with your search tools... or on WWM with the Google tool on the homepage, indices... AND do read through the Breeder's Registry and OceanRider.com's sites re other food culture, several other pertinent notes re the rearing of this species. Bob Fenner> Looking forward to your reply, Angela Raising Seahorse fry 1/26/04 Hello knowledgeable friends, <Hi Angela. Adam here.  Friend? yes.  Knowledgeable?  Enough I hope!  I haven't burned down my house yet, so...> I have attempted to research your site regarding seahorse reproduction and while I have had many questions put to rest, I was not prepared for the surprise in my tank this a.m.  I have  had 2 spiny seahorses for about a month and a half,  which I purchased because someone who ordered them changed their mind, and I didn't wish for them to die in a pet store.  Today I found 4 babies, from 1cm to about 1.5cm long.  I understand they are born in large numbers, and for a few reasons  I suspect these ones were born at least 2 to 3 weeks ago.  Around that time I noticed what appeared to be a reddish swelling and open appearance of the opening in the middle of one seahorse.  I was wondering if it was male, but I couldn't really tell, and I hoped it wasn't injured.   <Congrats!  You are obviously getting the horses to feed and taking great care of them!> From everything I have read I understand it is almost impossible to raise these amazing creatures in captivity, and since I have been blessed with the opportunity to try, please please please advise me. <I couldn't disagree more!  Although there are some specific challenges, they are not too difficult to meet.> If they eat brine shrimp, what kind, what should I be looking for? <You will have to hatch your own baby brine shrimp and enrich them with Selco.> The large seahorses eat only small live guppies. <Yikes!!  Hardly an appropriate diet.  At minimum, enrich the guppies with Selco, but please do try to wean these guys onto a more appropriate food.  Piscine Energetics brand frozen Mysis shrimp is an outstanding choice.> Should I change anything about my tank immediately ?  (60 gallon, double bio-wheel filter, 25-30lbs live rock good water quality etc)  I have a pink tipped anemone which the large seahorses are not bothered by, and a false percula clown, who isn't trying to eat the babies, but he does show interest in them.   <Yikes again!!  Anemones and seahorses are an accident waiting to happen.  The clown will eat the babies.  You may not have caught him doing so, but he will.  As a general rule, seahorses should have their own tank, as very few fish or inverts are ideal tankmates.  The babies will have to be reared in their own tank that is "baby seahorse safe", which includes eliminating or protecting any overflows, pump inlets etc, so they can't be sucked in.> This is truly the most fascinating miracle of nature I have ever seen, and I wish to preserve these tiny lives.  I look forward to your response.  Angela C <Please visit www.seahorse.org  You will find a lot of seahorse info as well as a discussion forum where you can chat with others who are experienced sea horse breeders and can provide you with much better help than I can.  Congrats and good luck!> Seahorse young'uns Hello knowledgeable friends, <Greetings my friend> I have attempted to research your site regarding seahorse reproduction and while I have had many questions put to rest, I was not prepared for the surprise in my tank this a.m.  I have  had 2 spiny seahorses for about a month and a half,  which I purchased because someone who ordered them changed their mind, and I didn't wish for them to die in a pet store.  Today I found 4 babies, from 1cm to about 1.5cm long.  I understand they are born in large numbers, <Not necessarily... some batches, times (for various "reasons") the number of young can be small.> and for a few reasons  I suspect these ones were born at least 2 to 3 weeks ago.  Around that time I noticed what appeared to be a reddish swelling and open appearance of the opening in the middle of one seahorse.  I was wondering if it was male, but I couldn't really tell, and I hoped it wasn't injured.   From everything I have read I understand it is almost impossible to raise these amazing creatures in captivity, and since I have been blessed with the opportunity to try, please please please advise me.  If they eat brine shrimp, what kind, what should I be looking for? <A few places to send you re a quick and needed overview. Do read through OceanRider.com and breeders registry (.org) re Hippocampus fishes culture. The large seahorses eat only small live guppies.  Should I change anything about my tank immediately?  (60 gallon, double bio-wheel filter, 25-30lbs live rock good water quality etc)  I have a pink tipped anemone which the large seahorses are not bothered by, and a false percula clown, who isn't trying to eat the babies, but he does show interest in them.   <If you have another system, I would move the Clown, but not change anything else> This is truly the most fascinating miracle of nature I have ever seen, and I wish to preserve these tiny lives.  I look forward to your response. Angela C <Cigars, bubblegum variety for me, for everyone. Bob Fenner>

Seahorse breeding >Thank you very much for a fast response regarding my shark questions last time! Now i have sea horse questions for you! >>Whoever answered your questions last time, I'm sure, would say, "You're welcome."  Today, it's Marina to help you (only just found this in my inbox today). >Aloha,   Altogether we have 21 sea horses, 2 brood pairs (1 pair of golden sea horses and one pair of black ones) as well as 17 juveniles. The juveniles just recently reached sexual maturity and the black pair don't seem to be reproducing anymore. The golden pair are my main concern, however I have questions about the juveniles as well. >Golden pair:   The female has laid eggs, we know this for a fact. The male was quite large for about 2 weeks but we never found any babies. This happened a few times. One day when we were expecting the male to give birth, we found the eggs at the bottom of the tank in one of the plants. They breed every 2 weeks and eggs are deposited in the male yet there never seem to be any babies. We watch closely to ensure that the pair doesn't eat the babies before we find them. Do you have any suggestions? >>Unfortunately, I don't know all that much about seahorse breeding.  I think you should go to (and join) http://www.seahorse.org  This is THE best site, by far, that I'm familiar with that deals specifically with seahorse issues.   >Juveniles: As I mentioned, they are at sexual maturity. It seems as though there are a few pairs, however the males out-number the females. Many of the males seem to be breeding and most of them look pregnant. We have a bit of a controversy as to the best way to handle this. Some of us feel they should be separated into pairs, where others feel they should be kept with-in their large group. What do you think would be the best way to do this? >>Knowing the little that I do, it seems to me that if you don't move them they'll still breed.  If I recollect correctly, once they pair off, they become rather enamored of each other, so it would be best, again, only in my opinion, to first let them complete the pairing off process, and then separate as deemed necessary. >Combined: We recently put the two brood pairs together and automatically both pairs began breeding. Once again, we found eggs in the bottom of the tank. We're very confused and will take any advice offered! >>It seems that the males aren't very good at keeping the eggs within the brood pouch.  I wouldn't dare venture to offer advice on this, to me it seems it may be a degree of inexperience.  I have no idea if these fish have to see "the deed" being done to sort it out.  Again, seahorse.org is a really fantastic site that has truly copious amounts of information.  As it stands, I can give you MUCH better information on how to breed actual horses (Arabians) than on seahorses.  Enigmatic. >If you have any other suggestions of further reading or other information, I am always open to learn more. Your time and effort in this is greatly appreciated. >>Duly noted, this site, again, is the best I know of.  Also, if you haven't made use of the seahorse forum on our discussion board, please do.  It's at http://www.wetwebfotos.com/talk  You'll have to register to post, but it's all really quite painless.  Best of luck to you and the horses, Jillian!  Marina