Seahorse feeding help

[Tham121988]

So I have a seahorse/pipefish tank. I added a new seahorse it it yesterday. The blue stripe pipefish and seahorses I currently have eat frozen mysis really well but this new hippocampus erectus won’t even look at it. What type of live foods are easily obtainable that will get this guy going? Thanks!

 

[Tham121988]

Here he is.

 

[ThePurple12]

50 cent freshwater ghost shrimp from your local Petco could work. Maybe gutload them with flakes.

What kind of seagrass is that?

 

[Tham121988]

50 cent freshwater ghost shrimp from your local Petco could work. Maybe gutload them with flakes.

What kind of seagrass is that?

It’s turtle grass

 

[matchmakersmagic]

You can try gut loaded live adult brine or ghost shrimp for the short term to stimulate his appetite. Mysid shrimp are ideal but expensive and hard to find depending on your location.

 

[rayjay]

At this point it's not necessarily a problem as many seahorses take a few days to settle before they feed.
As already mentioned though, you can feed live food to be sure that the seahorse DOES have an interest in feeding and then transition it to the mysis.

 

[Tham121988]

At this point it's not necessarily a problem as many seahorses take a few days to settle before they feed.
As already mentioned though, you can feed live food to be sure that the seahorse DOES have an interest in feeding and then transition it to the mysis.

Found a local shop that has a lot of different types of live food. Heading there now to see what I can get.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Live brine, copepods and rotifiers.

 

[Tham121988]

This is what I ended up getting. Think they are freshwater ghost shrimp. Are these okay to feed? Also, they seem pretty big and quite quick. I'd be surprised if the seahorse could catch them.

 

[Tham121988]

Live brine, copepods and rotifiers.

I have some brine shrimp eggs I can try to hatch some. There are tons of copepods but haven't seen him picking at them. He does look like he is searching on rocks etc.

 

[Tham121988]

He paid the ghost shrimp no attention. I tried frozen mysis again and nothing. He turns away from it. :(

 

[ThePurple12]

Maybe if you put the seahorse in a small tank/container with the shrimp? Keep in mind that they won't live long in saltwater

 

[Tham121988]

Maybe if you put the seahorse in a small tank/container with the shrimp? Keep in mind that they won't live long in saltwater

Alright, I'll try to do that. Thank you.

 

[matchmakersmagic]

When I've had to use ghost shrimp I used to have to pick the tiniest of the tiny because I had smaller barbouri. They do need to be gut loaded by being fed some high quality pellets or flake food before being fed out as their nutritional profile isnt the best.

Newly hatched brine usually do not work because they are too tiny. Adult artemia though would be a better option if you can find them. Again, they'd need to be enriched with a quality phyto or other hufa rich enrichment.

Copepods are great for fry or even up to juvenile size but are often ignored by adult seahorses.

Amphipods are a great live food but you'd need a ton of them and they are quite expensive usually if you can find them.

Persistence is key, keep trying the frozen and try to get an appropriate sized live feed for your fella to see if you can stimulate his appetite.

 

[Paulie069]

Here he is.

That’s a good looking Erectus, I have all Erectus and found that the first three or so days they don’t eat ,, then they see the others eating it they get the hint and start eating. That’s just my own observation from my own ponies, I’m definitely not an expert but kept 20 seahorses going strong

 

[Paulie069]

That’s a good looking Erectus, I have all Erectus and found that the first three or so days they don’t eat ,, then they see the others eating it they get the hint and start eating. That’s just my own observation from my own ponies, I’m definitely not an expert but kept 20 seahorses going strong

This is what feeding time looks like army place, notice ponies are on bottom snicking food from pebbels, I call it ,, raining shrimp