What do you feed seahorses?

[Seahorsekelly69]

Thanks to captive breeding efforts, hobbyists can keep seahorses in aquariums much more easily these days. We have it so much easier than keepers 10 years ago, who had to struggle through "figuring things out", work with wild caught seahorses and learn mostly through mistakes. Today, we can literally buy seahorses used to aquarium life, eating frozen foods, and healthy as.....well, horses .

Still, it falls on us as keepers to KEEP them healthy! The following is my latest article about feeding seahorses in aquariums. I would love feedback on how you provide variety to in your seahorses' diets? Or if you have had long term success with frozen food only, please let me know your experiences!

http://seahorsewhisperer.com/what-do-seahorses-eat/

 

[SaltBabies]

Well since I'm relatively new to horse keeping I can't talk about long term.

I provide frozen mysis everyday, twice a day. But I also stock my copepods, amphipods, grass shrimp (occasionally), mysid(occasionally) and have a live brine feeder. The grass shrimp don't last long, neither to the mysid, the amphipods get hunted with vigor. I've see the occasional snick of live brine. I think the copepods go mostly to the pipefish.

I also have a Reed copepod product I sometimes add and frozen amphipods.

I think with a variety they have a better chance of getting minor minerals and such for health. I don't supplement their mysis so I want variety of live foods. I read somewhere that in the wild, amphipods is the largest share of their diet. I try to keep an amphipod population in their tank. I breed amphipods outside the tank and I also buy large quantities about 3 x per year.

I just started trying to breed opau (a small red shrimp) for them as well.

 

[Tautog]

+1, mysis and brine, if your pony isn’t eating, wait 2 days, and try again. If still not eating, buy live brine shrimp. They need a low flow area.

 

[rayjay]

They need a low flow area.

That used to be the recommendation many years ago when I first started in 02-03 but has been dispelled since that time.
Now, the recommendation is for a MINIMUM flow of 10X tank volume with many of us around 20X or higher.
The criteria is basically to have areas of low, medium and high flow with hitching in each of these areas so they can choose at any given time just where they want to be. It is obvious though that you should have NO flow strong enough to be able to direct the seahorse against something (i.e. live rock) to be damaged so any such strength should be directed towards open water.

 

[rayjay]

My principal food has always been Hikari frozen mysis in 16 oz flat packs. I feed enriched live adult brine shrimp once or twice a week, with the enrichment supplying the needed DHA component.
I have evolved over the last 15 yrs from feeding 2 or 3 times a day, to my present protocol of feeding 4 times a day.
Anecdotally, I have found that the more frequent feedings have led to far fewer problems with all my seahorse tanks, not ALL due to the more feedings though, as the years of experience have also taught me (usually the hard way) the levels of husbandry and water changes I need for each setup so that I don't encounter the dreaded nasty bacteria problems.
For those feeding small live foods like brine shrimp nauplii and small copepods: first, many adult seahorses don't take much interest in the small stuff and second, it would take a WAY too much of them to have any affect on the nutrient level for the seahorses.
Dan Underwood of seahorsesource.com likes to compare it to humans eating a grain of rice at a time and I think that is a perfect analogy.
My recommendation is that for adult seahorses, the live foods you use should be at least the size of adult amphipods. The smaller copepods though are an excellent additional food for the fry tanks.

 

[SaltBabies]

I find my seahorses eat more when I turn the tank off for feeding. I usually leave it off about 2o minutes then clean any obvious left over food. I know my male eats like crazy the first 5 minutes but then he picks a few more over then next 15 minutes.

I really don't think that the live foods are a grain of rice. My female often times hunts so much live food that she turns her nose up regularly to the frozen food. I suppose if all you had was copepods that would be true but as I stated the copepods mostly go to the pipefish and mandarin. The feeder is for the pipefish and the mandarin but my female likes to snick a few too. I was surprised since they are small but she just seems to enjoy live foods and the hunt. When I haven't added amphipods in a while she'll show up for both feedings and make herself be seen. But if I've added ghost shrimp or amphipods anytime recently she'll stay hidden and only eat if a frozen mysid is squirted at her and then it is way less. As I've stated she'll often times be hidden and not eat at all. With about 1/2 to 1/3 of her food coming from live foods that should provide some good nutrition. I understand many people don't provide this level of foods and a little bottle of copepods is not going to make much of a dent but those of us who provide a large variety of live foods certainly are changing the nutrition from frozen mysid. One could argue whether that is a good or bad thing but not that it isn't happening.

 

[rayjay]

I really don't think that the live foods are a grain of rice.

Just to clarify, live foods are not LIKE a grain of rice to seahorses, small live foods like artemia nauplii and similar and smaller sized copepods are. Enriched adult artemia and adult amphipods along with many of the shrimp family like your ghost shrimp, that are similar sized or larger, would NOT be considered to be like a grain of rice.
For the seahorses that DO go after the smaller "grain of rice" type foods, they will still be OK as long as there is sufficient food of the larger size for them.
I can saturate a fry tank with all tisbe and artemia nauplii and they do just fine, but if I did that with the adults and had no larger appropriate foods for them, they would perish.
Whatever one feeds live though, it will be much better to enrich with a high DHA product first. Even ghost shrimp and amphipods.
For me, I turn off my systems with timers when I feed and they automatically turn back on after 45 minutes. I use other timers to power one large powerhead on the bottom at the start of feeding that shuts off at end of feeding time and comes back on again later for 45 minutes to stir up the bottom again for the crap to get trapped in the filter.
Without turning off the systems I'd loose too much food to the filters and sump socks.
FWIW, when I first started, I used to feed 2-3 times a day but over the last 15 yrs I've evolved to feeding four times a day, noting that total consumption is up now, and, I seem to experience much less in the way of trouble than I used to. I think the increased consumption is making for healthier seahorses that end up with more resistance to problems.

 

[cracker]

Thanks for the slow motion feeding videos sea horses are so cool. I'd never even try !

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

When I had my tiger tail sea horse pair , they ate frozen mysis primarily, frozen krill, and on occasion brine shrimp

 

[Seahorsekelly69]

Well since I'm relatively new to horse keeping I can't talk about long term.

I provide frozen mysis everyday, twice a day. But I also stock my copepods, amphipods, grass shrimp (occasionally), mysid(occasionally) and have a live brine feeder. The grass shrimp don't last long, neither to the mysid, the amphipods get hunted with vigor. I've see the occasional snick of live brine. I think the copepods go mostly to the pipefish.

I also have a Reed copepod product I sometimes add and frozen amphipods.

I think with a variety they have a better chance of getting minor minerals and such for health. I don't supplement their mysis so I want variety of live foods. I read somewhere that in the wild, amphipods is the largest share of their diet. I try to keep an amphipod population in their tank. I breed amphipods outside the tank and I also buy large quantities about 3 x per year.

I just started trying to breed opau (a small red shrimp) for them as well.

Let me know if you decide to sell the shrimp! And very good points

 

[Seahorsekelly69]

+1, mysis and brine, if your pony isn’t eating, wait 2 days, and try again. If still not eating, buy live brine shrimp. They need a low flow area.

Agree! Live brine can absolutely help in a case of a new seahorse not eating. CB seahorses rarely have that issue, but it's always a good idea to mention! I'm trying to break down the different aspects into multiple articles, but it's hard to look at only a part of the whole

 

[Seahorsekelly69]

I find my seahorses eat more when I turn the tank off for feeding. I usually leave it off about 2o minutes then clean any obvious left over food. I know my male eats like crazy the first 5 minutes but then he picks a few more over then next 15 minutes.

Great point! I talk about wavemakers that can be turned off without worry of forgetting to turn them back on...in another article. lol. In a completely manual situation, I never recommend turning off the system, because it's too easy to forget to turn it back on.

My erectus will chase and consume any and every thing that flies by. My Reidi and barboui however like to look their food over and determine whether to eat it. They get confused if there is too much or it comes at them too quickly. With certain species, the "feed options" on wavemakers are a very good thing!

 

[Seahorsekelly69]

Just to clarify, live foods are not LIKE a grain of rice to seahorses, small live foods like artemia nauplii and similar and smaller sized copepods are. Enriched adult artemia and adult amphipods along with many of the shrimp family like your ghost shrimp, that are similar sized or larger, would NOT be considered to be like a grain of rice.
For the seahorses that DO go after the smaller "grain of rice" type foods, they will still be OK as long as there is sufficient food of the larger size for them.
I can saturate a fry tank with all tisbe and artemia nauplii and they do just fine, but if I did that with the adults and had no larger appropriate foods for them, they would perish.
Whatever one feeds live though, it will be much better to enrich with a high DHA product first. Even ghost shrimp and amphipods.
For me, I turn off my systems with timers when I feed and they automatically turn back on after 45 minutes. I use other timers to power one large powerhead on the bottom at the start of feeding that shuts off at end of feeding time and comes back on again later for 45 minutes to stir up the bottom again for the crap to get trapped in the filter.
Without turning off the systems I'd loose too much food to the filters and sump socks.
FWIW, when I first started, I used to feed 2-3 times a day but over the last 15 yrs I've evolved to feeding four times a day, noting that total consumption is up now, and, I seem to experience much less in the way of trouble than I used to. I think the increased consumption is making for healthier seahorses that end up with more resistance to problems.

Excellent points Ray. We're fortunate to have experienced keepers to help guide us!

 

[Lollipop]

i have tons of pods in display as well as sump frag tanks. I am looking into adding a pair to the main tank. i thought about dwarf ones in frag tank a little bit but i think i have enough to feed two seahorses... do i have to feed them? ive got 3 pigs (two yellow and one purple) and 4 clowns and 3 clown gobies in the tank. i dont have aggressive hermits etc (only 6 scarlets). if i have to feed them frozen all the time, i shouldnt get them. I set my tank in a way that it could sustain on its own for a week if necessary. feed them frozen recipe (froze, pellets, goni powder, vitamin concussion) once a day when i am around. its a mixed reef...

 

[rayjay]

I've been keeping and raising seahorses now for 15 years and I know of NO seahorse tanks that can go a week without feeding.
Seahorses can decimate the heaviest populated tanks is VERY short order, leaving few to survive on after that.
The pod population is a GREAT additional source and variety of nutrition but it cannot be the only source unless you have a massive culture system to feed just a pair.
Keeping seahorses in a reef tank rarely succeeds because first of all the temperatures allow for nasty bacteria to be more prevalent and that is the number one killer of seahorses. Also, many fish kept in a reef tank stress the seahorses so their already weak immune systems are compromised more.
If that wasn't enough, many other reef tank contents, like clams, and corals and some shrimp can also be problematic.
Most long term successful seahorse keepers would feed frozen mysis at least 3 times a day. For me, I found over the years now that feeding 4 times a day appears to work much better having no real problems since that time. It may be coincidental but I'm not about to change what is working so well now for me.
Anyway, to sum it all up, your feeding regimen would NOT be conducive to keeping seahorses, WITHOUT a major overhaul.

 

[Lollipop]

i do not have massive culture system. they are literally all over. if i dont clean glass for a couple of days, you could see them all over glasses. my fish arent even chasing pods as there are so many all over. So you think these arent even enough? I believe in pods for all reef tank algae problem. i was sort of very excited about the idea but certainly i cannot be home bound like that...

 

[rayjay]

Many of us feel "home bound" at times, but once you find someone to train to do exactly what is needed while away it is much better, although we still worry all the time we're away. Believe me, the heaviest populations of pods are so quickly decimated by just a few seahorses that is just a few days before you need to add more live pods which again would be quickly consumed, or, switch to feeding frozen mysis at least 3 times a day.
I started the reefing hobby in Jan '94 with about 800g of tanks on the go, and I've NEVER encountered any reef inhabitant that was as needy for care as my seahorses that I started in '03.

 

[Lollipop]

thank you so much for your replies! it really settled my excitement and urge to order a pair down and let me see the reality, likelihood of being a bad caregiver and murdering them. i appreciate it! i wonder how many seahorses are bought and how many in fact survive and fill their lifespan.