My new ponies are shy. How do I get them to perk up?

[Knight_Solaire01]

Hello everyone. If you’ve been following me from my intro meet and greet(thanks for all the help btw!) you’ll know I’ve been trying to build a seahorse reef safe tank for the biocube 32. I finally have two ponies! Both female and caught in the wild(I would prefer captive bread but I don’t really have a choice). I change my water once a week with five gallons as that is the preferred 15-20% weekly water change. I make sure to change my filters weekly, and so have a protein skimmer. I get my water tested at least once a week as well to make sure their water is okay. I have no other tank mates besides a cleaner shrimp, two peppermint shrimp, and a fancy brittle star. I have two large gorgonians and one medium sized purple gorgonian that they use for hitching posts. I noticed after the first night of introducing them they perked up for their feeding of brine shrimp(I will feed them three times a day until they settle, then it will be two times a day). However I’ve noticed they are very very very shy and don’t usually move around the tank unless it is feeding time. Will they grow out of this?

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

Not sure if that has something to do with them being wild caught.... all of mine are captive bred. But my first four ponies were so shy that it was infuriating. They would hide in the rocks all day and I would search with a flashlight and magnifying glass to find them so that I could target feed them. Someone on a forum suggested I stop target-feeding, but that didn't help, either... I was afraid they would starve so I went back to target feeding. This went on for MONTHS with me hardly ever seeing them. I decreased flow, I increased flow, I changed decorations, I re-aquascaped..... nothing helped.

I finally got fed up and purchased four MORE horses (from a different breeder) and the new four were out and about ALL THE TIME. A few weeks later, my original four started coming out, and now they are ALL active all day. Not sure if this helps you because you really can't add any more to your tank. Hopefully patience and time will bring them around.

 

[rayjay]

First of all, I don't understand "you don't have a choice" as you actually DO have a choice. You could have ordered from a reputable breeder like Seahorse Savvy or even from another hobbyist that is growing them.
Please don't expect the level of activity from seahorses as you would from other marine fish. For one thing, seahorses have to expend a great amount of energy to be able to move about as they are NOT structured like other marine fish.
Seahorses have their own personalities and as such some are outgoing and some are not.
Also, other tank inhabitants can and do inhibit seahorse movements.
For your other tank inhabitants, some seahorses are stressed by the presence of cleaner shrimp in the tank, some even by peppermints. (not all shrimp sold as peppermints are true peppermint shrimp)
Lastly, unless your brittle star is a micro that sifts the sand somewhat, your seahorses will NOT be safe with any normal sized brittle star I've come across.

 

[Knight_Solaire01]

First of all, I don't understand "you don't have a choice" as you actually DO have a choice. You could have ordered from a reputable breeder like Seahorse Savvy or even from another hobbyist that is growing them.
Please don't expect the level of activity from seahorses as you would from other marine fish. For one thing, seahorses have to expend a great amount of energy to be able to move about as they are NOT structured like other marine fish.
Seahorses have their own personalities and as such some are outgoing and some are not.
Also, other tank inhabitants can and do inhibit seahorse movements.
For your other tank inhabitants, some seahorses are stressed by the presence of cleaner shrimp in the tank, some even by peppermints. (not all shrimp sold as peppermints are true peppermint shrimp)
Lastly, unless your brittle star is a micro that sifts the sand somewhat, your seahorses will NOT be safe with any normal sized brittle star I've come across.

I didn’t have a choice as where I am right now there isn’t a lot of shipping due to Covid 19 and I didn’t want to wait forever. ‍

 

[Knight_Solaire01]

First of all, I don't understand "you don't have a choice" as you actually DO have a choice. You could have ordered from a reputable breeder like Seahorse Savvy or even from another hobbyist that is growing them.
Please don't expect the level of activity from seahorses as you would from other marine fish. For one thing, seahorses have to expend a great amount of energy to be able to move about as they are NOT structured like other marine fish.
Seahorses have their own personalities and as such some are outgoing and some are not.
Also, other tank inhabitants can and do inhibit seahorse movements.
For your other tank inhabitants, some seahorses are stressed by the presence of cleaner shrimp in the tank, some even by peppermints. (not all shrimp sold as peppermints are true peppermint shrimp)
Lastly, unless your brittle star is a micro that sifts the sand somewhat, your seahorses will NOT be safe with any normal sized brittle star I've come across.

Also this brittle star isn’t a green brittle star, that is the only species that will actively hunt other tank mates. But I’ll see about the peppermint shrimp and cleaner shrimps.

 

[rayjay]

Mine were grey and I had to move them to tanks with no slow moving fish once they got large.

 

[Knight_Solaire01]

Mine were grey and I had to move them to tanks with no slow moving fish once they got large.

The ponies or the brittle star? Also I have seen the brittle star hanging out in one of it's many hides with its peppermint shrimp tank mates. I also saw it hanging out on the gorgonian this morning with the spiny seahorse. I couldn't take a pic as as soon as I turned on the lights, it began to slink away.

 

[Knight_Solaire01]

Mine were grey and I had to move them to tanks with no slow moving fish once they got large.

Also what online breeders and distributers would you recommend? I believe both of mine come from Northern Australia and Indonesia. I think they are hippocampus kudi and whitei. They had two large erectus, but I don't think I would have had the tank space for them to be happy. They were already 8 inches tall.

 

[rayjay]

The worst time is at night when slow moving fish are in sleep mode. I seldom had a problem in daytime other than they would go after my mandarin occasionally. I used to think it was because I wasn't feeding enough so I would place mysis under the rocks for them to eat, but they would eat it and still when it suited them, go after a fish.

 

[Knight_Solaire01]

The worst time is at night when slow moving fish are in sleep mode. I seldom had a problem in daytime other than they would go after my mandarin occasionally. I used to think it was because I wasn't feeding enough so I would place mysis under the rocks for them to eat, but they would eat it and still when it suited them, go after a fish.

I will see about maybe adding one more feeding a week of frozen brine and mysis to it's diet. I also haven't tried sinking pellets yet but I should as I know have a bunch of bottom feeding cleaners. I had to get rid of the turbo snails as they would bulldoze over my zoanthids and even peeled one off of its rock. :/

 

[Knight_Solaire01]

So I noticed Seabiscuit just hovering in one of the corners. I offered to see if she would hitch onto my finger, which she did(OMG). My question to you all is, is it safe for me to touch them? If my hands are washed of course. No chemicals, no pepper or grease from cooking, and no sweat from working outside. If my hands are clean is it okay to touch them?

 

[Shorething]

I have some Erectus. When quarantining in a smaller tank one of the males was really shy. I had some cleaner shrimp and a bicolor blenny that were a little aggresive for him. When I moved him over to my seahorse tank he perked up quite a bit. Some of my other ponies did better in the quarantine tank with the tank mates then he did. Most seahorse keepers are real picky with what goes in there tanks because of that.

 

[Shorething]

But yes I handle my ponies all the time. In fact when you are holding them it is best to let the latch on to a finger to let them feel less stressed

 

[Knight_Solaire01]

I have some Erectus. When quarantining in a smaller tank one of the males was really shy. I had some cleaner shrimp and a bicolor blenny that were a little aggresive for him. When I moved him over to my seahorse tank he perked up quite a bit. Some of my other ponies did better in the quarantine tank with the tank mates then he did. Most seahorse keepers are real picky with what goes in there tanks because of that.

It may be time for me to move the cleaner shrimp and peppermint shrimp. I love them, but if they stress them out, then they stress them out. But I need to do my research and observe their behavior.

 

[Knight_Solaire01]

But yes I handle my ponies all the time. In fact when you are holding them it is best to let the latch on to a finger to let them feel less stressed

She was holding onto my finger, and I guided her to the gorgonian.