Help Training Baby Seahorse to Eat Frozen Mysis

[Brit’s Fish]

Hi all! A friend of ours had their first batch of babies from their 4 adult H. erectus & raised a few of them. They gave one to me as a surprise since I already have an adult. My adult seahorse and the baby are getting along great & the adult has been much more active since baby showed up. I think he seems rather happy to have a new friend and I also think the baby is a female, from what I can tell so far.
My adult will eat frozen mysis without any issues but the baby is still eating live baby brine shrimp. I have gotten her to eat some Tigger Feast as well (bottled preserved tigger pods) but I’m really looking for tips on getting her to start eating mysis as well. Please lend me your wisdom!!
Thanks in advance!

 

[Big Smelly fish]

It’s easier to get them to eat when they are young and no competition from other fish . But I start introducing it to them before feeding bbs, then slowly increasing the mysis and talking away the bbs. You be able to tel with just one when it’s time to stop the bbs.

 

[Big Smelly fish]

He may also pick it up if you hold the bbs and use a turkey baster to feed the older and by watching may get the idea. I can’t really tell how old he is by the photo. The miring is when it’s going to be the best time to hold the bbs back and he will be hungry.

 

[Brit’s Fish]

He may also pick it up if you hold the bbs and use a turkey baster to feed the older and by watching may get the idea. I can’t really tell how old he is by the photo. The miring is when it’s going to be the best time to hold the bbs back and he will be hungry.

Thank you for the suggestions! I also don’t quite know how old he is… I’ll see if our friends remember when this batch was born. Their horsies have been breeding like crazy lately.

 

[Big Smelly fish]

I have about 70 of them right now I’m training to eat mysis, some take longer then others. Mine are approximately 10 to 11 weeks old. They won’t be ready for new homes until about 6 months. Here is a video of them eating the mysis. You can see how picky they are.

 

[vlangel]

Try shaving the mysis very small and thin and introduce it before feeding the bbs, or along with the bbs. The tiny pony may snick some mysis shavings inadvertently and then decide that it's good food.

 

[Brit’s Fish]

I have about 70 of them right now I’m training to eat mysis, some take longer then others. Mine are approximately 10 to 11 weeks old. They won’t be ready for new homes until about 6 months. Here is a video of them eating the mysis. You can see how picky they are.

They’re so cute though! Do you always keep the flow on for them while feeding? I have been turning my flow off, but it’s also a habit since I have a Ruby Red Dragonet in their tank as well. Maybe keeping the flow on would help to make the mysis more enticing?

 

[Big Smelly fish]

I keep the flow the same. I do in all my tanks. I don’t want stuff to settle on the bottom. They hunt the bottom but when you have some flow it moves it . They have to check it out and see what it is. Adults have no problem.

 

[homegrowncichlid]

training them is doable, I believe they need to see the food move and twitch before they strike. similar to dragonettes or the banggai cardinals I raised way back when.

The following method is how I trained my mandarin goby to frozen mysis in the past.
Start by training them to feed from a feeding station , which is fed by a permanent air line tubing fixed to a position.
Pipet live baby brine thought tubing, they can see it go down and will learn to focus on where they come out.
Eventually they will strike at anything that comes out the tube. at this point start mixing in frozen baby brine.
Once they are on frozen baby brine, you can start mixing in frozen full size brine, then frozen mysis.

I think it took less than 2 weeks to train my mandarin, but that included the time it learned to eat baby brine directly from the water column, after it plucked a few from along the glass.

 

[Big Smelly fish]

Question for original poster, did you get your seahorse trained to eat mysis.

 

[Brit’s Fish]

Question for original poster, did you get your seahorse trained to eat mysis.

Hi there! Sad news - I literally took a trip to my LFS especially to pick up food for my little guy and while I was gone, he somehow got stuck to the overflow grate. The flow in this tank is not especially strong and I was only gone for an hour or so, but that was enough time for him to get beat up by the water flowing over him. He was very stressed and had some areas of flesh which were torn away. I lowered the flow all the way down and he held onto a frag rack for the rest of the night. He was breathing heavily and then his breathing really slowed and he got paler. By morning, he was nowhere to be found. It was absolutely heartbreaking.
My friend who gave him to me has another group of babies & asked if I wanted another but I'm not sure. My adult is doing awesome and seemed to enjoy having another seahorse around but I would never forgive myself if something happened to another baby in my care.

 

[saige]

Hi all! A friend of ours had their first batch of babies from their 4 adult H. erectus & raised a few of them. They gave one to me as a surprise since I already have an adult. My adult seahorse and the baby are getting along great & the adult has been much more active since baby showed up. I think he seems rather happy to have a new friend and I also think the baby is a female, from what I can tell so far.
My adult will eat frozen mysis without any issues but the baby is still eating live baby brine shrimp. I have gotten her to eat some Tigger Feast as well (bottled preserved tigger pods) but I’m really looking for tips on getting her to start eating mysis as well. Please lend me your wisdom!!
Thanks in advance!

 

[saige]

Hi all! A friend of ours had their first batch of babies from their 4 adult H. erectus & raised a few of them. They gave one to me as a surprise since I already have an adult. My adult seahorse and the baby are getting along great & the adult has been much more active since baby showed up. I think he seems rather happy to have a new friend and I also think the baby is a female, from what I can tell so far.
My adult will eat frozen mysis without any issues but the baby is still eating live baby brine shrimp. I have gotten her to eat some Tigger Feast as well (bottled preserved tigger pods) but I’m really looking for tips on getting her to start eating mysis as well. Please lend me your wisdom!!
Thanks in advance!

hi! if your friend has any more babies she is giving away i am interested big time. thanks!

 

[saige]

I have about 70 of them right now I’m training to eat mysis, some take longer then others. Mine are approximately 10 to 11 weeks old. They won’t be ready for new homes until about 6 months. Here is a video of them eating the mysis. You can see how picky they are.

i am interested in buying at any age, around juvenile. i would like to buy!

 

[Brit’s Fish]

hi! if your friend has any more babies she is giving away i am interested big time. thanks!

I will keep that in mind! They don’t currently have any babies, but I’m sure they will again soon. The only thing is that we’re in the Chicago area and I don’t know how they’d feel about shipping. I’ll definitely ask when the time comes!

 

[schoemana]

Hi there! Sad news - I literally took a trip to my LFS especially to pick up food for my little guy and while I was gone, he somehow got stuck to the overflow grate. The flow in this tank is not especially strong and I was only gone for an hour or so, but that was enough time for him to get beat up by the water flowing over him. He was very stressed and had some areas of flesh which were torn away. I lowered the flow all the way down and he held onto a frag rack for the rest of the night. He was breathing heavily and then his breathing really slowed and he got paler. By morning, he was nowhere to be found. It was absolutely heartbreaking.
My friend who gave him to me has another group of babies & asked if I wanted another but I'm not sure. My adult is doing awesome and seemed to enjoy having another seahorse around but I would never forgive myself if something happened to another baby in my care.

So sad for you.

 

[Big Smelly fish]

Sorry to hear this.