# 5 Week old Seahorses



## Quinzell

Thought I would post some updated pics of the seahorses which are now 5 weeks old. I hope you like them 

They're just starting to eat frozen now, which is a good turning point!


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## Dally Banjo

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww :001_wub: :001_wub: :001_wub: :001_wub: I cant beleive its been 5 weeks already, they look wonderful


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## Sled dog hotel

Thankyou for sharing, they are such wonderful creatures, amazing how they have grown.


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## lymorelynn

Wow! What beautiful little things :001_tt1: I never knew you could keep seahorses - I've only ever seen them in big aquariums like SeaLife Centres


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## Quinzell

There's quite a few of us seahorse keepers in this country now. The problem with seahorses is that they are quite addictive and one species is never enough!

Although they are a considered a relatively hard fish to keep, as long as you've got the right tank, aren't overstocking and have true captive bred seahorses they can be quite hardy.


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## Gil3987

they are gorgeous - my mum would love a tank with seahorses - is there a lot of work goes into keeping them? i also think they are lovely 

Gill
x


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## Quinzell

Hi Gill,

Sorry, I only just saw your question!

To be honest, its a bit of a difficult question to answer. Having a seahorse tank doesn't need to be any more difficult that keeping any other marine tank.

If you are totally new to the hobby then getting used to the mixing salt can be quite a learning curve. You have to make sure that the salinity is just right as sudden swings can shock the seahorses.

Also, it depends what tank you have. If you have one that just meets the minimum requirements then you will be doing lots of water changes to keep parameters in check. However, if you have a tank that has lots of natural filtration, sump, UV, skimmer, don't over stock, have a good clean up crew then you can get away with minimal work. I know of some people that only have to do water changes every month or two.

Where things do get difficult are when a seahorse gets ill. Antibiotics that are used in the States to address infections aren't commonly available in this country.

If you go away very often you also need to make sure you have a friend who can feed them preferably a couple of times a day. As they only eat frozen food, you can't use the auto feeders.

H.zosterae (dwarf seahorses) are a whole different kettle of fish and in my opinion the hardest seahorse to keep. I wouldn't recommend those to a beginner, but the H.erectus are one of the easiest seahorses to keep.

If your mum does consider getting seahorses, I'm more than happy to mentor


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## Gil3987

thank you for that info  what size of tank would u suggest then?

Gill
x


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## samjaymc

:001_wub: :001_wub:

Cute overload


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## Quinzell

samjaymc said:


> :001_wub: :001_wub:
> 
> Cute overload


Hehe thanks 



> thank you for that info what size of tank would u suggest then?
> 
> Gill
> x


I wouldn't go for anything less than a 30 gallons for a pair and nothing bigger than a 65 gallon. You might see shops advertising much less (20 gallons) but in my experience smaller tanks just don't work in the long run.


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## Gil3987

ok cool, thank you i will pass on all the info to my mum and get back to you if she has any more questions 

Gill
x


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## Quinzell

I thought you might like to see some updated pics of the little guys, who are now 9 weeks old. They're eating like little piggies and really starting to interact with eachother which is quite funny to watch.

I've just started introducing frozen brine shrimp to their food and so far only one of them is eating it but I hope that he will teach the others to follow suit.


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## Quinzell

The little devils are now 4 months old. I've had to split them into two tanks as some of them are significantly bigger than the others.


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## Sled dog hotel

Lovely to see their progress har to believe now they were so tiny. There is something deffinately magical about seahorses.


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## Quinzell

Its so great to watch them grow up too. They're at the age where they start to play in the current now. Its quite funny to watch. And of course, they like to link tails and pull eachother in opposite directions


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## alyssa_liss

LouiseH said:


> Its so great to watch them grow up too. They're at the age where they start to play in the current now. Its quite funny to watch. And of course, they like to link tails and pull eachother in opposite directions


aww they sound cute


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## emmar

omg!! soo cute


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## hawksport

Great pics again.
For one pair and their off spring how many hours a day maintenance is there?


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## Grace_Lily

They are fab, thanks for sharing the pictures


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## lymorelynn

I can't believe how gorgeous these little creatures are :001_wub: definitely magical


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## Quinzell

Thanks guys 

The annoying thing is that they're actually getting harder to take pictures of as they get older!



hawksport said:


> Great pics again.
> For one pair and their off spring how many hours a day maintenance is there?


The adults aren't so bad. I just do weekly water changes on their tank.

The fry tanks do take a lot of maintenance. The babies need to be fed 4 - 5 times a day when they are new born and now they get fed 3 times a day. When they are eating live food, it needs to be hatched and enriched daily (a laborious task that I won't bore you with  ). Any left over food needs to be cleaned from the tank several times a day to make sure that there isn't any uneaten food that can start to deteriorate. Then every other day I move them into a sterilized tank.

Each day when I get home, I usually spend between 1.5 - 2 hours on the tanks, depending on what needs to be done.

I'm fortunate that I'm able to separate the male and female adults so I can concentrate on each brood at a time. If I didn't, I would pretty much be getting new broods every couple of weeks and would have gone totally crazy by now! :001_cool:


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## Reiterin

great pics!

And I haven't known that you can have one at home. I thought that they only been reared in big zoos or something else, too.


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## peanut651

i dont know what it is about them but i absolutely love seahorses beautiful little creatures. i'd do anything to have some as a pet.


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## Quinzell

They really are quite rewarding  

You should get yourself an aquarium and a pair of seahorses. I'm happy to mentor if its something that you consider doing


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## happysaz133

Wow, they are amazing, and so teeny!


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## peanut651

LouiseH said:


> They really are quite rewarding
> 
> You should get yourself an aquarium and a pair of seahorses. I'm happy to mentor if its something that you consider doing


yeh i would deffiently take you up on that one day.wont be for a while id be looking to set it up with christmas coming up and having two kids lol


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## tattyannie11

I haven't seen a seahorse so up close before, they are very pretty and how cute thier little faces are. Can they go in with ordainary gold fish. I have 4 fish in a hexagon shaped tank which holds approx 42 gallons.


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## Bea

Wow, I have always had a soft spot for sea horses and am really enjoying this thread , please keep up the pics and any little seahorsey tales of what they get up to!


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## Quinzell

tattyannie11 said:


> I haven't seen a seahorse so up close before, they are very pretty and how cute thier little faces are. Can they go in with ordainary gold fish. I have 4 fish in a hexagon shaped tank which holds approx 42 gallons.


Hi 

Unfortunately not as seahorses are marine fish and so need salt water. Its a shame though as that's a nice sized tank that you have there!


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## Quinzell

Bea said:


> Wow, I have always had a soft spot for sea horses and am really enjoying this thread , please keep up the pics and any little seahorsey tales of what they get up to!


Thank you  I'll post some more pictures later tonight of them. There are a few that are starting to get quite big now and hopefully will be off to their new homes withing a month or so.


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## Quinzell

I've been rubbish at getting pictures. As they get older, they're actually getting harder to get decent pictures of.

Anyway, they're now 5 months old. I noticed yesterday that one of them has a pouch, which means that they are getting to the stage where I can determine the sexes. Pouch = boy, no pouch = girl  This also means that I'll have to start thinking about separating them.


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## Superash

. Wow!!! How stunning are they? Am sat here with jaw dropped they are amazing!


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## Quinzell

hehe thanks  They're great to watch.....very relaxing. And actually funny! I'm dreading the stage when they all start to flirt with eachother!


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## Quinzell

They've started going to their new homes now, so I thought I would post a couple of pics while I still have some of them 

The green ladder was a new present for them, and they absolutely love it. They now have an assortment of bird toys in there to hitch to 









This little girl is always in exactly the same spot in the tank, every day, every night. She sits on top of an airline just getting blasted by the bubbles....she loves it!









And my New Years eve eve babies......


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## Dally Banjo

Brilliant  are we needing more names now :w00t: :lol:


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## lymorelynn

They are so sweet :001_wub: Love the little girly in the bubbles - so cute


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## Sled dog hotel

They really are adorable, amazing the others are so big now from the tiny babies there were.

The new ones are amazing too, they are facinating little creatures I have always loved them.


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## Superash

. Ooooh they are so magical !!! Stunning:yesnod::drool:


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## Angie2011

Wow! :d.......


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## Quinzell

Dally Banjo said:


> Brilliant  are we needing more names now :w00t: :lol:


Yep, they are called 1....2....3.....4.....5...... lol

Thanks for the kind words. I'm so proud of all of the babies I raise, especially when they become big strapping adults. I had a disaster with the first brood that I managed to raise and when they were about 2 months old, I accidentally poisoned them (a hard lesson learned - after treating dogs with spot on make sure you wash your hands every time you touch them for at least 24 hours after treatment). All of the babies bar one died. The survivor spent 2 days pretty much spinning in circles. It was horrible watching him, but we did everything we could to save him. That little guy is now over 15 months old and bigger than his daddy


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## Set_Nights

Wow, I've just seen this and aren't they just amazing !

What species are these? I always had it in my head that seahorses didn't thrive well or breed in captivity and that you shouldn't really keep them but yours are obviously getting on great ! Do you just have a magic touch/lots of experience or is their difficulty not all it is hyped up to be?


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## Quinzell

Thanks 

These guys are Hippocampus erectus. I also have Hippocampus zosterae, but those little guys tend to do their own thing.

I would say that if you are prepared to do the research, and set up a tank that fully meets their requirements they really aren't as difficult as they seem. If you are totally new to marines, mixing and preparing the salt water can be a little difficult to get used to. One of the key things is go for the biggest tank that you can afford. Recommendations for a pair are 30 gallons, but water quality can quickly deteriorate in smaller tanks, so personally I would go for something like 40 gallons with a sump.


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## Set_Nights

LouiseH said:


> Thanks
> 
> These guys are Hippocampus erectus. I also have Hippocampus zosterae, but those little guys tend to do their own thing.
> 
> I would say that if you are prepared to do the research, and set up a tank that fully meets their requirements they really aren't as difficult as they seem. If you are totally new to marines, mixing and preparing the salt water can be a little difficult to get used to. One of the key things is go for the biggest tank that you can afford. Recommendations for a pair are 30 gallons, but water quality can quickly deteriorate in smaller tanks, so personally I would go for something like 40 gallons with a sump.


I have never kept a marine tank, the corals and the creepy crawlies that live in them tend to creep me out . I don't have a tank at the moment but I've had tropical fish before. I wouldn't be thinking about getting another tank at least until I move house but yup, I definitely want a bigger tank next time!


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## Quinzell

lol the creepy crawlies can be pretty horrid! I recently broke down a tank and couldn't believe the amount of bristleworms that I had....ewwwwwwww thankfully none of them were very big.


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## Set_Nights

LouiseH said:


> lol the creepy crawlies can be pretty horrid! I recently broke down a tank and couldn't believe the amount of bristleworms that I had....ewwwwwwww thankfully none of them were very big.


Yeurghhh , yeah... I just don't think I could cut that ! I had tiny nematode worms (2mm ish) in my tropical tank and they were bad enough. I had to wear latex gloves every time I did a water change or cleaned the filter and then scrub my hands for ages after. I think I will just stick to admiring marines from afar, unless I win the lottery and can pay someone else to clean the tank for me !

Your seahorses are gorgeous though , you've done a great job.


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## BlueBeagle

Wow! Just found this thread and I love seahorses. I always told my OH I wanted a marine tank with seahorses in but never thought you actually could have one. Are your corals living? I often wondered if you can get live corals for a marine tank.

Are there any decent books you can recommend on marine fish keeping? Just for reference as obviously I live to far and move to often to be able to do this anytime soon.

Many thanks!


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## Quinzell

Thank you 

Yep, lots of people are keeping them  They are especially popular in the States but they do seem to be getting more and more popular in this country too.

The corals that you see in these pictures aren't real. Having fake bright corals in the fry tanks can encourage colour in the seahorses (they change their colour depending on their surroundings and their mood. Would you believe that the seahorse in the pictures below is actually the same one:

















This is one of the reasons that people should never buy a seahorse for its colour (often you can pay more for brightly coloured seahorses)

Most people have live corals in their seahorse tanks, although you do have to be careful which ones you keep as many of the stony corals have sweeping tentacles that can sting seahorses. Most of us tend to keep some of the soft corals, mushrooms and sponges.

You are lucky that you have beautiful sea's that you can swim in.

I'm asking around to find out what books are good for beginners. I have a ton of them but most of them are advanced or just concentrated on specific subjects. I'll post back when I have some good ones


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## BlueBeagle

Thank you!

Yes being able to swim in the sea and see many types of marine fish is amazing and I love them


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## Quinzell

I can well imagine. 

I have never been fortunate enough to go to Thailand but I have been to the Maldives and the sealife was incredible.

I am advised that The New Marine Aquarium by Michael Paletta is pretty good. Easy to read, lots of pictures, inexpensive yet covers all the basics very well.


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## LostGirl

the are amamzing!! I'd love to be able to keep them But i dont have a very good track record with fish  or anything that lives in water


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## BlueBeagle

LouiseH said:


> I can well imagine.
> 
> I have never been fortunate enough to go to Thailand but I have been to the Maldives and the sealife was incredible.
> 
> I am advised that The New Marine Aquarium by Michael Paletta is pretty good. Easy to read, lots of pictures, inexpensive yet covers all the basics very well.


Many thanks! I will order that and have a read


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## gav5

Oh my, those are really seahorses. I once heard from friends that attempts to try to keep them captive in home aquariums have not been successful. But you have proved them wrong. And you are even breeding these fellas!


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## kudagirl

LouiseH said:


> Thought I would post some updated pics of the seahorses which are now 5 weeks old. I hope you like them
> 
> They're just starting to eat frozen now, which is a good turning point!


Hi Louise
Love the look of your babies what are they kudas or erectus, maybe when i understand what im doing may be set up another tank and buy some off you??
Sue


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## Quinzell

Hi Sue :biggrin5:

These little guys are erectus.....I say little but most of them are now pushing 5 inches, so they're really adults now 

Of course, I would be happy for you to have some of my babies 

Did you post any pics of your cat yet?


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## jo-pop

Since I was very little I've always adored seahorses. I think when my lifestyle (ie time & money) allows this is something I'd like to look in to.

They are simply beautiful, magical creatures. Thank you for sharing the pics.


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## Jenna500

These are amazing! 

I would LOVE to have a couple of seahorses! 

Off to have a look on Amazon for that book....

Thank you so much for keeping us updated on their progress.


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## Quinzell

Thanks Jenna 

I actually took a video of one of the broods waiting to be fed. They're so funny when they're hungry and all start gathering in the same spot where I always feed them.

Its only a few seconds long but you can see how tangled they all get! Here it is 

I'll post some pics later. I'm struggling to get any decent ones at the moment so I'm trying to persuade my hubby to break out the SLR.


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## codyann

this thread is so cool, i really didn't know that you could keep seahorses over here. 
i would love to own a few but i think they would be pretty hard to keep so ill leave it up to you guys, who seem to be doing a amazing job. 
by the way i love the pics


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