Kids seahorse pair won’t eat. Help

Ishai Thatcher · Sep 21, 2022

Hey everyone!
I recently received a large bonded pair of hippocampus kuda from divers den. They came in looking fine and still look fine. I have them in a 30 gallon cube. But the tank is plumbed into my 300 gallon Acro tank, so water quality is top tier. Only thing with the seahorses is a calm pair of Clownfish. I’ve been trying to feed mysis, both spot feeding and broadcast, as well as spirulina brine shrimp, they haven’t eaten either. The seahorses don’t seem stressed and aren’t pacing. I have a very blue light over the tank and was wondering if that could be the issue? Any tips on getting them to eat? Should I remove the clowns for now or something like that?

ISpeakForTheSeas · Sep 22, 2022

Ishai Thatcher said:
Hey everyone!
I recently received a large bonded pair of hippocampus kuda from divers den. They came in looking fine and still look fine. I have them in a 30 gallon cube. But the tank is plumbed into my 300 gallon Acro tank, so water quality is top tier. Only thing with the seahorses is a calm pair of Clownfish. I’ve been trying to feed mysis, both spot feeding and broadcast, as well as spirulina brine shrimp, they haven’t eaten either. The seahorses don’t seem stressed and aren’t pacing. I have a very blue light over the tank and was wondering if that could be the issue? Any tips on getting them to eat? Should I remove the clowns for now or something like that?

I’m definitely not a seahorse expert, so hopefully you’ll get some more experienced responses (read: here’s a bump) but a couple things come to mind for me:

First, with the tank being plumbed into your 300, what is the water temperature? It's generally recommended to keep seahorse tanks at 70-74F*, as they are prone to bacterial issues and the cooler temp drastically reduces the reproduction of pathogenic bacteria.

Second, clownfish are generally considered to poor to downright bad tankmates for seahorses**, so - peaceful or not - it may be a good idea to remove them (and anything else that may cause the problems for the seahorses - crabs, stinging corals or nems, etc.).

Third, I know a lot of different species can be enticed to eat using live feed, so you might want to try adding some live mysis, amphipods, brine shrimp, or - if the horses are big enough - even live ghost shrimp. Of course, you would want to gut-load these before adding them to the tank (i.e. you would want to feed them a bunch of phyto before adding them).

Fourth, I'm not sure how you're spot feeding, but the method I've seen recommended uses a turkey baster to basically just squeeze the mysis out in front of the seahorses face***.

Hope this helps!
* https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/k...ion-and-setting-up-your-seahorse-tank.301434/
** https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/seahorse-tankmates-guide-part-i-fish.258832/

Fish Inhabitants with Large Seahorses

Fish that go well with large seahorses A lot people want to keep other fish in their seahorse tanks to complement their seahorses. The fish also help with consuming excess food that the seahorses do not eat as well as adding another dimension to the tank. It is important to take certain...

www.reef2reef.com

*** https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/keeping-seahorses-in-aquaria-5-feeding-your-ponies.310076/

Ishai Thatcher · Sep 22, 2022

ISpeakForTheSeas said:
I’m definitely not a seahorse expert, so hopefully you’ll get some more experienced responses (read: here’s a bump) but a couple things come to mind for me:

First, with the tank being plumbed into your 300, what is the water temperature? It's generally recommended to keep seahorse tanks at 70-74F*, as they are prone to bacterial issues and the cooler temp drastically reduces the reproduction of pathogenic bacteria.

Second, clownfish are generally considered to poor to downright bad tankmates for seahorses**, so - peaceful or not - it may be a good idea to remove them (and anything else that may cause the problems for the seahorses - crabs, stinging corals or nems, etc.).

Third, I know a lot of different species can be enticed to eat using live feed, so you might want to try adding some live mysis, amphipods, brine shrimp, or - if the horses are big enough - even live ghost shrimp. Of course, you would want to gut-load these before adding them to the tank (i.e. you would want to feed them a bunch of phyto before adding them).

Fourth, I'm not sure how you're spot feeding, but the method I've seen recommended uses a turkey baster to basically just squeeze the mysis out in front of the seahorses face***.

Hope this helps!
* https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/k...ion-and-setting-up-your-seahorse-tank.301434/
** https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/seahorse-tankmates-guide-part-i-fish.258832/

Fish Inhabitants with Large Seahorses

Fish that go well with large seahorses A lot people want to keep other fish in their seahorse tanks to complement their seahorses. The fish also help with consuming excess food that the seahorses do not eat as well as adding another dimension to the tank. It is important to take certain...

www.reef2reef.com

*** https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/keeping-seahorses-in-aquaria-5-feeding-your-ponies.310076/

Thank you so much, I’ll try taking out the clowns. The temp is around 77, which is a bit high, but it’s not as much of an issue if you’re just keeping one species of sygnathids. I’ll try live feeding, thankfully I have some huge amphipods I can feed to them.

SrDudley · Sep 23, 2022

I'm no help but any chance you could share a picture of your seahorse tank? It's been a dream to set one up I hope they are eating for you!

Big Smelly fish · Sep 23, 2022

seahorses have to have time to check out their food before eating. I would have white light on during feeding. I always feed under white light. It maybe the clowns are eating it before the seahorses have time . I would remove the clowns.
You could try to reintroduce once the seahorses start eating.

rayjay · Sep 23, 2022

First off, it can be VERY difficult in determining cause of ANY seahorse problem as so many questions need to be answered to even give a best guess opinion.
However, faster moving fish especially like clownfish can stress a seahorse to the point it won't eat and can even develop bacterial disease. It can be that the seahorses have ciliates mainly in the gills and this will stop them from eating. FWD for up to 12 minutes can help determine how bad if any are present. If NO thrashing around and particles of exploded ciliates are not present then you can stop the dip.
Now, conditions for a reef are VERY DIFFERENT from what seahorse needs are. Seahorses do best when the tanks are set up specifically for seahorses and the only other contents are researched to be OK when with seahorses. Even temperature is important, with seahorse tanks recommended to be no higher than 74°F to lessen the chances of a bacterial infection, internal or external. While some have seahorses in higher temperatures, many have failed.
Seahorses, like people, have varying degrees of immune levels, some very low level and seem to be always coming down with something, others that never seem to catch anything, and those at varying degrees that fall between the extreems.
Unfortunately, there are more seahorses at the bottom of the spectrum.
It's a lot of reading, but there are a lot of stickies at the top of the forum and if you go through those, it will give you a better idea of what will work best for you and your seahorses.

vetteguy53081 · Sep 23, 2022

Ishai Thatcher said:
Hey everyone!
I recently received a large bonded pair of hippocampus kuda from divers den. They came in looking fine and still look fine. I have them in a 30 gallon cube. But the tank is plumbed into my 300 gallon Acro tank, so water quality is top tier. Only thing with the seahorses is a calm pair of Clownfish. I’ve been trying to feed mysis, both spot feeding and broadcast, as well as spirulina brine shrimp, they haven’t eaten either. The seahorses don’t seem stressed and aren’t pacing. I have a very blue light over the tank and was wondering if that could be the issue? Any tips on getting them to eat? Should I remove the clowns for now or something like that?

Remove clown who is a faster and more aggressive feeder grabbing the foods before seahorses can reach it. Seahorses are slower swimmers and often allow food to come to them. Assure also I assume stomach is not sucked in? Live foods such as brine shrimp often entice them to eat. Other causes they refuse to eat are :
- low oxygen and/or high CO2 levels (verify PH)
- Deficiency of trace elements and minerals
- Possible internal parasites

If you need to keep clown in tank try to tube feed it

rayjay · Sep 23, 2022

I personally have NEVER tested for oxygen or CO2, and have NEVER tested for or added any elements or minerals in my 19 yrs of keeping 7 species and breeding 2 species.
With today's best recommendations for success with seahorses, there should be no need to add anything as the larger frequent water changes negate that. In fact, the problem is REMOVING the bad things that develop in seahorse tanks, like Dissolved organics that we have no tests for.