Seahorse behavior with other seahorses.

[Knight_Solaire01]

Hello everyone.

So I was wondering if ponies ever get aggressive at their fellow ponies in the tank. Like a, "No this is my hitching post, go away" type thing. I have two female lined seahorses(they said they were H Erectus, but I doubt that is correct). Normally they love to hangout with each other after they wake up and have had their first two feedings of the day. But recently I saw Bubbles(the yellow one) kinda sorta swing her body around when Seabiscuit(the spiky one) came over to hitch on the gorgonian. I didn't manager to get a pic but they seem to be okay. Is there anything I should look out for? They are barely 4.5 inches long and have a full 32 gallons to scoot around in, so space isn't an issue.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Bump

 

[Knight_Solaire01]

Bump

That is neat, but it has nothing to do with my subject matter.

 

[Knight_Solaire01]

Bump

Do you have any experience with seahorses?

 

[Flippers4pups]

Do you have any experience with seahorses?

Unfortunately, I don't.

 

[Fishbird]

"bump" isn't supposed to be about seahorses, it's just what people write when they're trying to help you out and move (bump) your thread up to the top of the list so more eyes see it.

 

[rayjay]

Like people, they have their own personalities that sometimes clash but it certainly doesn't sound like much from your description.
Don't know why you doubt them to be erectus. Erectus is by far the most common seahorse available in the US and while the picture isn't the best for accurate ID, I see nothing to indicate it is NOT an erectus.

 

[Knight_Solaire01]

Like people, they have their own personalities that sometimes clash but it certainly doesn't sound like much from your description.
Don't know why you doubt them to be erectus. Erectus is by far the most common seahorse available in the US and while the picture isn't the best for accurate ID, I see nothing to indicate it is NOT an erectus.

They just look smaller than erectus and more like Lined seahorses. They said they were wild caught from the Caribbean, but I don't know. Maybe if I sent you some more pictures directly you could help confirm if they are are are not erectus?

 

[Knight_Solaire01]

Unfortunately, I don't.

Hey sorry, I didn't know what Bump was for haha.

 

[rayjay]

They just look smaller than erectus and more like Lined seahorses. They said they were wild caught from the Caribbean, but I don't know. Maybe if I sent you some more pictures directly you could help confirm if they are are are not erectus?

Well as for small, my reidi fry were smaller than my erectus fry, and until fully mature, all seahorses are going to be smaller than they will end up at. Another point is that the lined seahorse IS the H. erectus seahorse and their range runs from as far north as New Brunswick/Nova Scotia in Canada, down the whole eastern seaboard including a lot of the South American coastline.
There are SOME differences in the ones living in the more northern range like snout length for instance, but they are still erectus.
If they were wild caught, you would have to train them to eat frozen mysis or keep feeding live foods to them. Did you have to do this?
Lastly, MOST LFSs have NO idea of how to deal with seahorses even though they think they do and it gives a bad name to the ones that DO take the time to actually know. Most stores too only know by their fish lists, anything about them and the fish lists are often wrong or misleading.

 

[ThePurple12]

Aren’t lined and erectus the same species?

 

[Knight_Solaire01]

Well as for small, my reidi fry were smaller than my erectus fry, and until fully mature, all seahorses are going to be smaller than they will end up at. Another point is that the lined seahorse IS the H. erectus seahorse and their range runs from as far north as New Brunswick/Nova Scotia in Canada, down the whole eastern seaboard including a lot of the South American coastline.
There are SOME differences in the ones living in the more northern range like snout length for instance, but they are still erectus.
If they were wild caught, you would have to train them to eat frozen mysis or keep feeding live foods to them. Did you have to do this?
Lastly, MOST LFSs have NO idea of how to deal with seahorses even though they think they do and it gives a bad name to the ones that DO take the time to actually know. Most stores too only know by their fish lists, anything about them and the fish lists are often wrong or misleading.

It is a good LFS that I frequent, and they are very knowledgeable about what is required for a specific species. When I said I wanted a banded cat shark from an egg sack(only $50) they were very quick to tell me I would need at least a 220 gallon tank that was cycled for a month before considering one. When I said I wanted a cowfish they let me know how much care and space one needs. They have also been very helpful in selecting pony friendly corals as well as which tank mates can go with them. Since I only have 32 gallons, my list of tank mates is very small.

P.S. They were wild caught and they completely ignore mysis shrimp. I feed them live brine shrimp three times a day and make sure that my powerhead isn't chopping them up, or that the majority aren't sucked into the filter. It is a job, but a job I enjoy. If I could get these girls a boyfriend each I would be very happy.

 

[rayjay]

Most LFSs know a lot about general fish they sell, fresh and marine, but very few know about seahorse actual needs.
With insufficient knowledge yourself about keeping seahorses, you wouldn't be able to tell if your LFS was knowledgeable on seahorse keeping. It MAY be that they are, but the odds are against it.

And Purple 12, yes lined seahorses ARE H. erectus.

 

[rayjay]

Forgot to mention also KS, while feeding the brine shrimp (hopefully adults) it will be better for the seahorses if you can gut load them before feeding with a good enrichment that is high in DHA.
If you haven't already tried, I would work at getting them switched over to feeding on frozen mysis. It's not always easy and many times takes a long time, but at least then you are covered if the supply of adult brine becomes a problem for one reason or another.

 

[rayjay]

FYI, there is a LOT of good information to be gleaned from all the stickies located at the top of this forum on seahorses.
As well, the "files" section on these two facebook pages has a wealth of information.

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

www.facebook.com

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Seahorsesource

 

[Henn]

Hello everyone.

So I was wondering if ponies ever get aggressive at their fellow ponies in the tank. Like a, "No this is my hitching post, go away" type thing. I have two female lined seahorses(they said they were H Erectus, but I doubt that is correct). Normally they love to hangout with each other after they wake up and have had their first two feedings of the day. But recently I saw Bubbles(the yellow one) kinda sorta swing her body around when Seabiscuit(the spiky one) came over to hitch on the gorgonian. I didn't manager to get a pic but they seem to be okay. Is there anything I should look out for? They are barely 4.5 inches long and have a full 32 gallons to scoot around in, so space isn't an issue.

Hi there fellow Reefer, I breed Dwarf Seahorses and have seen lots of social behaviors. I will refer to Dwarf seahorses as Ponies to keep the distinction. With total respect for your question, that is why we love them. Here you are a human being worried about whether two fish are having an issue. You are a goner already. You read the gesture most likely just as Bubbles intended it. About the seahorses separating or not hanging out, it can be food competition. The mated ponies here always night together but separate during the day. They stay near but give space. A pregnant male needs lots of food and has motion limits. Females are usually the most mobile of a pair. Females do the same with other females. You should try adding at least one male. It will increase the social drama to new levels. There may be some details in my Henn threads to give you ideas. It would be great to breed Regular Seahorses using the same techniques used here for Ponies.

 

[Knight_Solaire01]

Hi there fellow Reefer, I breed Dwarf Seahorses and have seen lots of social behaviors. I will refer to Dwarf seahorses as Ponies to keep the distinction. With total respect for your question, that is why we love them. Here you are a human being worried about whether two fish are having an issue. You are a goner already. You read the gesture most likely just as Bubbles intended it. About the seahorses separating or not hanging out, it can be food competition. The mated ponies here always night together but separate during the day. They stay near but give space. A pregnant male needs lots of food and has motion limits. Females are usually the most mobile of a pair. Females do the same with other females. You should try adding at least one male. It will increase the social drama to new levels. There may be some details in my Henn threads to give you ideas. It would be great to breed Regular Seahorses using the same techniques used here for Ponies.

That is awesome but why would I want to increase the drama and thus increase stress? I would like to get a male or two for them to have boyfriends, but I wouldn't do that if it had negative effects.

 

[Henn]

I mean drama only in a seahorse sense. if a male spurns a female at any point, that female will ignore any future attempt at paring. It is so obvious. There was a female once that had made eggs for one male. She noticed a Sore Spot and dumped the male for another ( he was so sad ). The first male died before the fry would have hatched.Their biology causes dramas such as a pony expelling extra eggs in a emergency ( small male with large female got huge, popped out 5 red/orange eggs and closed back up ). The female saw this and abandoned the male for a full day until it was clear he was still pregnant. That male gave birth 2 weeks later to 7 tiny fry. Once that situation occurs it is not so much a worry than is a support role. The ponies live out full and social lives in less than two years. Your regular seahorses can live longer. The social behavior is very similar. If you feed a targeted food ( size is critical ) and all the seahorses are the same size there should not be a problem. Pregnant couples ( very obvious ) should be moved to a refugium filled with Ulva. After birthing the pair can come right back to the tank. The refugium can be very small ( mesh brooder bag ) it is necessary with any seahorses because the adults will out eat the fry every time. I have joined the Reef2Reef Community because there was no place to get simple information about seahorses that wasn't based on Wiki knowledge or observing one generation in a tank eating something they would never see in the wild.
You seem to be the sort that will enjoy the social antics of the simians of the sea. Consider yourself a sort of aquatic Jane Goodall. If you enjoy the change from being a fish monger to being an alien anthropologist, here is my promise: Should your herd produce any fry, they will receive a 300 gallon marine pond here. As soon as safe transport was assured. There is one waiting that has the depth for regular seahorses. If anyplace is safer for them to live it is currently unknown to me.

 

[rayjay]

Keeping dwarf seahorses is SO different than keeping standards that you CANNOT really use the experiences of keeping one to project how to keep the other.
For MOST seahorse keepers or future seahorse keepers, trying to keep standards in the method you keep dwarfs is either not practical, or, impossible, so tried and true methodology would be the best way to go for most people.

 

[Knight_Solaire01]

Keeping dwarf seahorses is SO different than keeping standards that you CANNOT really use the experiences of keeping one to project how to keep the other.
For MOST seahorse keepers or future seahorse keepers, trying to keep standards in the method you keep dwarfs is either not practical, or, impossible, so tried and true methodology would be the best way to go for most people.

If I could research them more I would like to look into them. But I also don't want to set up anything just to have them die from lack of care.