What happens to dwarf seahorses when you go on vacation?

[LordJoshaeus]

Hi everyone! I have long desired to keep dwarf seahorses, but something has always held me back. What is that something? Vacations Since they need live food daily, I have not yet come up with a way to have dwarf seahorses survive even short vacations. What could I do about that? If I left for a short (3 day) vacation, could I simply add a very large portion of copepods to the tank to sustain the seahorses until I return? Would hotels allow me to bring a small brine shrimp hatchery and a gallon or two jar filled with the seahorses with me? Could I even refrigerate some live baby brine shrimp and leave directions for a petsitter to feed them to the tank?

 

[James M]

Following along

 

[LordJoshaeus]

A dwarf seahorse seller on ebay (not necessarily the best source, but still worth noting) says that his dwarf seahorses do fine over week long periods as long as you have a bunch of copepods and rotifers in the tank beforehand. Thanks for your interest, by the way

 

[vlangel]

I have not kept dwarf seahorses myself but I have the greater seahorses. I read everything I can on them however. Like you, vacations is my concern.

I have read that you can refridgerate hatched baby brine shrimp. The cooler temperature slows their metabolism down. They would not be as nutritious but for a short duration it could probably work, especially if you heavily seeded the tank with copepods before you left. You could also have some mysis shrimp in the tank and when they breed the dwarf seahorses prey on the larvae shrimp.

 

[LordJoshaeus]

Would dwarf seahorses eat live rotifers? I have found a bunch of live rotifer vendors round about, and if they did eat them I could simply leave some live rotifers in the fridge with directions to a pet sitter of how to dose them.

 

[vlangel]

Would dwarf seahorses eat live rotifers? I have found a bunch of live rotifer vendors round about, and if they did eat them I could simply leave some live rotifers in the fridge with directions to a pet sitter of how to dose them.

I do not think live rotifer are large enough. Also I have kept rotifer cultures, (or I should I have attempted to keep rotifer cultures), its not easy. Hatching bbs is much easier.

 

[LordJoshaeus]

OK! More meant keeping some pre purchased rotifers in the fridge and feeding them to the ponies...but if that doesn't work, I'll save it as a vacation CORAL feeding schedule.

 

[vlangel]

Maybe you could set up a bbs hatchery and start hatching. You could keep some in the fridge and see how long they last. That way you will get a taste of what it like on a daily basis to have DSH without risk to the animals.

 

[LordJoshaeus]

Maybe you could set up a bbs hatchery and start hatching. You could keep some in the fridge and see how long they last. That way you will get a taste of what it like on a daily basis to have DSH without risk to the animals.

I think I will just pass on the dwarves...I have hatched BBS daily in the past, but I am still worried about vacations. Especially if they are longer than a couple days...

 

[vlangel]

I think I will just pass on the dwarves...I have hatched BBS daily in the past, but I am still worried about vacations. Especially if they are longer than a couple days...

Yes, that is why I don't have them. They are adorable but the rigors of daily hatching and enriching bbs and then trying to find someone to care for them when I am away was just too much.

 

[Jerry Gunn]

I set up a 2.5 gal green water tank with Nannochloropsis/Isochrysis, Tetraselmis/Porphyridium (not sure which one takes over but probably the Nanno since the water is pretty green), added a small sponge filter, hung some plastic chains from the top and hung a LED grow light over the tank on a 18 hour on/6 hour off timer. Then added some brine shrimp naupilii. The shrimp slowly grow by eating the algae. The shrimp fertilize the algae naturally. Add up to 10 seahorses. The seahorses eat the shrimp and also fertilize the algae.

This setup has kept alive 6 dwarf seahorses for about 5 months so far. I have left them unattended for up to 2 weeks.

I replace one gallon of fresh seawater monthly. Also have a HOB filter on the tank which I run just before the water change. This stirs up any gunk on the bottom of the tank and filters it out. The dwarves hang on to the chains and get blown around a bit, but its only for an hour. This also filters out any shrimp. I hatch out a new batch 2 days before this and then add enough to last a couple weeks after running the filter.

I check them occasionally to assure there are enough brine shrimp in the tank.

Of course you cannot really view the seahorses since you can only see about 2 inches into the tank. So for a display tank...not so good. But you could keep a green water tank going and just use it for dwarf storage and raising fry (which I have not tried yet).

If the water starts to get a little too clear, I add 2ml of Guillard's F2 alage fertilizer and a bit of baking soda to buffer the pH and also provide some carbonate for the algae.

I also add about one drop of Selcon concentrate directly to the tank daily when I am around. This provides some HUFAs to grow healthy brine shrimp in the tank. Also I notice a few Copepods in the tank...so much the better for the dwarves.

Feel free to ask any questions.

JG