Hi. Has anyone else experienced this? Brought home a pair of lined seahorses from lfs yesterday. They had been there for 4 months. Since acclimating them they've been in their tank 24 hrs. Both are eating. The one who is active, exploring, and has changed colors has eaten more.. or seemed more interested. The other was slower to grab food but did have as few mysis. However, he has remained dark/stressed and has not moved since in the tank. Should I be concerned or could it just be tak8ng longer. The lfs did not know if it was male. The active one is female. Ty for advice!
Brought home 2 seahorses, one still dark and hasn't explored tank
- Thread starter KirstenB
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Annette Garcia
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Some seahorses take a few days to adjust and start moving around. The color changes for different reasons their surroundings is one also when they are mad or trying to breed. One of my males turns white (and he's dark brown) when he is fighting with my other male.
rayjay
Well-Known Member
I agree, don't bother about colour changes as that can vary tank to tank seahorse to seahorse all depending on how each one views it's own situation.
Some are slower than others to change but as it is eating, no real point in worrying at this point.
I don't know how old they were when the store got them but assume like most stores they were probably 3-4 months old at that time. Given you say that they've been there now for four months that would put them at 7-8 months of age. At that point, most males should have developed a pouch by now. However, many people have had what they thought to be a female that much later ended up developing the male pouch so it's not an absolute that the one you think is a female, actually is. If a pouch develops though you can be sure you have a male.
Now, the hard part begins as you have to keep the water extremely clean to prevent any expansion of nasty bacteria that claim so many seahorses in our tanks.
Make sure no pockets of waste are hidden out of sight, decaying and feeding and providing bedding for those nasties, and, clean out any filter material very frequently, like at LEAST once a week, more often is better.
Some are slower than others to change but as it is eating, no real point in worrying at this point.
I don't know how old they were when the store got them but assume like most stores they were probably 3-4 months old at that time. Given you say that they've been there now for four months that would put them at 7-8 months of age. At that point, most males should have developed a pouch by now. However, many people have had what they thought to be a female that much later ended up developing the male pouch so it's not an absolute that the one you think is a female, actually is. If a pouch develops though you can be sure you have a male.
Now, the hard part begins as you have to keep the water extremely clean to prevent any expansion of nasty bacteria that claim so many seahorses in our tanks.
Make sure no pockets of waste are hidden out of sight, decaying and feeding and providing bedding for those nasties, and, clean out any filter material very frequently, like at LEAST once a week, more often is better.
vlangel
Seahorse whisperer
My seahorses always take a few days to adjust. Its a plus that yours have begun eating right away. Just keep a close eye on them and like above poster said, make sure your tank does not have any places pathogenic bacteria can get a foothold.
Annette Garcia
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I'm glad they're doing good [emoji4]
As far as I know, I've never read it in any of the seahorse literature out there, color is not an indication of whether or not they are stressed or any similar condition. My two adults regularly have mated and doing well for two years, and have always been some shade of black/grey/silver. Most H.Erectus are black, it's the most common shade, just look up photos on the internet for a good sampling.
vlangel
Seahorse whisperer
Thank you for the update, pics and good news!
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