Tom Neal
Seahorses - A Real Challenge
May 27, 1998 on #reefs

The Seahorse is by far the most rememberable of all fishes. With a prehensile tail, horse like head and armor plated body, you are very likely to remember the Seahorse for the rest of your life once you have seen it once.

Even though they don't look it Seahorses are true fishes. They belong to the order Syngnathiforme, family Syngnqnathidea and genus Hippocampus. There are currently 35 described species of Seahorses. It is presumed that there are many more undescribed species..

The only relatives of the Seahorses are the Pipefish, Seadragons, Snipefishes and Shrimpfishes. The closest relatives being Pipefishes and Seadragons.

Seahorses vary greatly in adult size. The smallest, Hippocampus bargibanti, barely reaches an adult size of 1 1/2 inches. This animal is found off of the coast of Australia. The largest seahorse, Hippocampus ingens reaches a whopping 14 inches. Seahorse species are found all over the world in tropical and temperate waters. I live in coastal New Hampshire, it is very common to find Hippocampus erectus within the nets and lobster traps of fisherman. They come up with the Gulf Stream from their native Florida waters.

Seahorses breed in a most unusual way. The female lays her eggs in the males brooding pouch, which is located on his lower stomach. The male approaches the female very cautiously. Every few inches the male would stop, attach himself to an object. He would then shake and quiver his body all over. If the female stays put then he keeps approaching her. Finally he will sit right next to her and quiver and shake - trying to entice her. In the Dwarf Seahorse, Hippocampus zosterae, the male and female will actually hook tails together and swim off looking like a lovely couple. This swimming together is part of a mating ritual. Once courtship is over the female lays her eggs within the males pouch, where they are fertilized.

I have had the pleasure of watching the Dwarf Seahorse, Hippocampus zosterae, give birth in my aquarium. The male - when birth is immanent - starts to shake all over. After a few minutes you can actually see him having muscle spasms in his stomach. You can actually see the male trying to push his babies from his pouch. All of a sudden I saw the tails of several babies sticking out of his pouch. The next push and out came five babies. This procedure happened two more times with a total of fifteen babies being born. The amount of fry born varies from species to species. H. zosrerae, the Dwarf Seahorse gives birth to between ten and twenty babies while species such as H. erectus gives birth to several hundred babies at one time.

Seahorses are in trouble all over the world. Every species is teetering on the verge of possible extinction. They are killed by the thousands accidentally by fisherman who catches them in nets and discards their living bodies onto the ground to die. They are also collected by the millions for the medicine trade in the far East. Myths say that Seahorses can cure everything from impotence to baldness. This disrespect for this animals kills millions every year. Even the aquarium trade, even though it is not as much as the other problems, still contributes to the overall decline of Seahorse populations around the world. Dr. Amanda Vincent - through her wonderful documentary seen on public television, showed the plight of the seahorse. The photographs of thousands of dead,dried Seahorses in baskets waiting to be sold makes one cry.

Because of the dilemma involved in Seahorse populations it has been suggested that they should not be imported as aquarium fishes at all. I can understand stand that idea - but I don't agree with it. The only way to help the Seahorses is through education. Nobody cares about what they don't see; therefor, if Seahorses were banned then most people would not get to see them and in return not care about them or their environment.

I am going to try and dissuade the common marine hobbyist from keeping Seahorses. They require lots of different foods to stay healthy. Unfortunately, most Horses die within a few weeks or months due to starvation and malnutrition. To maintain and especially breed them and then raise their young the Seahorse enthusiast must learn how to culture many different cultures. This include micro algae, rotifers, brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, gammaras and other small foods to keep your horses healthy. Larger species of Horses usually can be trained to eat frozen foods - such as brine shrimp, mysis shrimp and plankton. Unfortunately this is not always the case. If you have any thoughts of breeding these wonderful animals then culturing small prey items is a must - you will fall flat on your face if you don't.

These animals also require superb water quality. They will eventually decline if their water is not nice and clean. Ammonia and Nitrites must be below 0 PPM. Nitrates should be under 20 PPM. Depending on species the specific gravity should be around 1.020 and 1.024. Temperature should be in the upper 60's to mid 70's range. Again this depends on species. But I have found that most people keep their Seahorses too warm.

OK - if a haven't talked you out of Seahorses yet then I might as well go ahead and try to help you keep them happy and healthy. A Seahorse's tank needs not be fancily set up, as a matter of fact I have found the the simpler the setup the happier the Seahorses are. The first thing too remember is that Seahorses don't like strong currents. Therefor, power filters are really bad for the long term health of your Seahorses.

For filtration I use a simple corner bubble up filter. I fill it with dolomite and/or crushed coral - this not only acts like a portable biological filter but the dolomite will help to buffer your water and stabalize your pH. The only cleaning needed is to remove the corner bubble up filter evert month or so, dump the contents into a bowl, stir in used seawater and then pour off the dirty water. Repeat this procedure two or three times until the water runs from the dolomite clear. When this is done put the dolomite back into the corner filter and replace it back into the Horses tank.

The aquarium set up itself is also very simple. I use coral sand for the substrate - layed in to about two inches. I use plastic plants for the Horses to hook onto. The plants vary in size and diameter to allow different sized Horses to find their perfect hitching post.

I have found that the easiest way to keep the Horses water quality high is too do frequent partial water changes. I change 25 - 50% of my Horses water every seven to ten days. This helps to maintain the pH, alkalinity and other important water parameters in check.

Seahorses need to be fed all day long. In nature they feed constantly, picking up small prey items all day long. These animals must eat all day as they have no real stomach; therefor, no place to store large amounts of food. They are deisigned to eat all of the time.

Foods of adult seahorses, except for the smallest species, consists of live adult brine, daphnia, mysis shrimp, gammaras and small fish. These usually need to be living, though a Seahorse can be trained to except frozen items with time an patients. Feeding is the major problem with keeping Seahorses. Every food item must be fortified with a vitamin/fatty acid booster such as "Selcon".

The live foods are better because you can put an over abundance of them in your horses tank to feed on throught the day. This will keep them healthy and happy. Frozen foods on the other hand are more convienent, but you must hand feed the Seahorses at kleast three or four times a day. The way to train your horses is to use a turkey baster and gently sqirt the food in their direction - so that it wikk drift slowly past their nose. This may take severable attempts. You may want to feed live foods first in this manner, this will get your Horses used to the turkey baster and realize that when they see it it means food. Once they except live foods from the baster it is a simple matter to slowly mix frozen foods in with the live - eventually giving nothing but frozen foods.

One exception to this is the Dwarf Seahorse, Hippocampus zosterae. These animals are small enough to eat baby brine thru out their whole lives. The baby Dwarfs can also feed on baby brine shrimp. This makes this Horse a definate possibility for the new seahorse keeper. The brine shrimp should be fortified with "Selcon" before being fed to the Horses. Even though it is said that they can do well on a sole diet of baby brine I prefer to also feed them, especially the babies, rotifers. They are tiny little creatures about 1/3 the size of newly hatched brine shrimp. The Dwarf Seahorses, young and old alike, really go for this food also. Rotifers are very easy to culture and I'll cover it in a future article.

As mentioned earlier in this article - the males give birth. I have not found Seahorses to prey on their young. As a matter of fact they live quite comfortably with their babies. Even so I seperate the babies from the older animals. I do this because the less competition for foods the better the youge ones will do. When I see that I have a pregnant male I seperate him into a small birthing container. This container can vary is size from one to ten gallons, depending on the species. At least fifty percent of the containers water should be from the main aquarium. I leave the male in here untill he gives birth. Once the babies are born he is removed to his original aquarium.

We now have many babies to feed here, this is the tricky part. These must be an over abundance of live foods, rotifers and baby brine for the fry to find. The less energy the baby uses to find his/her food the faster it will grow. A baby Seahorser can starve to death in just a few hours if they run out of food - it must always be present. So dense that it looks like a thick cloud in the fry tank. It is advisable to leave the light on over the babies tank twentyfour hours a day. This will allow the babies to feed constantly.

As the fry grow so must their foods. In four to six weeks the larger species of Seahorses fry will be ready to graduate to different foods. This is a very difficult time for them. At this point you should have cultures of mysis shrimp, glass shrimp and larger brine shrimp ready to feed your babies. If it is not ready then your babies will starve to death. It is also at this point in your fry's lives that they are put into larger grow out tanks. Also - a word of warning, never catch baby Seahorses with a net. It will surely kill them.

As you can clearly see from this article Seahorses are not meant for the average marine hobbyist. Their care involves much more work than your average fish. But, if you are willing to do the extra work then it is a wonderful feeling knowing that you can help gather information that will help these wonderful animals to survive.

Before I end this I must thank people of The Seahorse Research Society. This is probably the best forum to obtain knowlegde on Seahorses that I have ever seen. World renowed Seahorse keepers readily hand out their knowledge to help us. It is set up in an interactive media. There is no cost to join. Simply send an e-mail to seahorse@bright.net if you want to get on the mailing list. In the subject and body of the e-mail put subscribe seahorse. It's that simple. Without people such as Carol, Peter, Heather, June and of course Michael Allen Gates, the creator and moderator of this group, I would not have been able to acquire the knowledge to write this article. i thank all of you. My Seahorses are much happier since I have met all of you.

There is another site that is packed full of Seahorse information. It is called fish at the 2th. The e-mail address is fish2nth@traveller.com. Carol will be glad to help you in any way she can.

I hope that you have learned something here about Seahorses. If you have any questions, comments, critisizms or anything else please feel free to e-mail me at TNeal40469@aol.com

How are seahorses caught in the wild?

Believe it or not cyanide and bleach is used quite often
Cyanide is sprayed all over the grass beds and some collectors just wait for the horses to float to surface

I'd like to get a real seahorse expert involved in this discussion, Carol Keen.

<SeaDragon> Many seahorses are caught by trawlers, but most are poisoned with bleach or cyanide. :(
<SeaDragon> I like to get my horses from divers, or a place that is NOT catching horses with chemicals!

What are the limitations, if any, of mixing seahorses with corals/fish?

There are some very large limitations on this
As far as corals and such there could be two problems.
1 - the horse holding onto the coral could keep it from opening
2 - the horses may be stung by the corals. Another thing is the strong currents of the common reef tank are not conducive to the horses liking

Fish - as far as fish is concerned you must be very selective of tank mates

Most fish are not compatible with horses
The reason is that most fish steal all of the horses food, then they end up starving.

Are there any particular seahorses that are "easier" to maintain than others?

Yes - the Dwarf Seahorse - Hippocampus zosterae in the easiest. Basically because its food requirements are much easier to provide. Their small size makes them perfect for anyone without much room

Is it better to keep a single seahorse in an aquarium or a few together?

The large seahorses once mated mate for life.
So I would keep at least a pair
The dwarfs would probably get along ok alone but it might be considered cruel because they do enjoy each other's company

Why do so many water changes with such simple filters, wouldn't some form of low gph overflow, into a sump/refugium with seagrass, macro's, mangroves, be easier to maintain water quality? Less work, for people who don't have the time, or want a more "high tech" system?

Too some degree you are right. I have learned there is no better way to keep animals than too change their water often
I also keep all of my tanks in a similar way. All simple all 135+ of them
But more aggressive filtration will elevate some water changing but never replace it.

Why are you using dolomite? And what about live rock?

dolomite - because its cheap
Live rock - don't use it because I try to simulate natural grass beds with plastic plants

What types of non-sessile inverts go well with Seahorses?

It depends on what you have in mind. I don't keep any with mine because my goal is to breed them
<SeaDragon> Well, I don't have much in with my horses, because I am also breeding.

In buying sea horses, can you buy a captive-bred one, if you can, what is a good supplier of them?

Captive-bred horses are rare the dwarf can be found captive bred now and then
It's really hard to select a fish that doesn't die
Sometimes they die for no apparent reason
They will be eating like pigs one day - dead the next
This has happened to me with horses that I have had over 4 months

<SeaDragon> Most of the other seahorse species are not being bred allot yet, there are some Erectus that are tank raised, but not on the market much yet.
<SeaDragon> I think often they die from chemicals in their bodies, or starvation at the holder's tanks. Not all places know how to hold horses!

Is the lack of captive breeding due to the easy of catching them or due to the difficulty in keeping them?

It is due to the lack of knowledge on proper husbandry and food requirements

<SeaDragon> When you go to buy a seahorse, then ask them how it was caught, and look for good eye movement in the horse. This will reduce the risk of dying seahorses in your tank!

How long would you expect a Dwarf Seahorse - Hippocampus zosterae to live (full natural life) in a home aquarium?

<SeaDragon> I would think that they can live their full 2 years of life, once we raise one from a baby, with the right foods! They have to have more than just brine shrimps!

Can a reefkeeper transfer the knowledge his/her knowledge in maintaining their system be able transfer that to maintaining sea horses?

Water quality - no matter how it is kept . As long as the quality is high then it makes no difference as to how that goal is maintained
But I think that approach may get a little too complicated

<SeaDragon> I would say yes, to that, as long as you don't put things in with the seahorses that aren't compatible!

What non-sessile inverts will work with sea horses?

Some snails. Very small hermit crabs
I wouldn't use most shrimps because they are fast enough to catch baby seahorses and eat them

<SeaDragon> Gorgonias will work with seahorses.

Problem is gorgonians don't live very long in captivity. They should not be imported

<SeaDragon> Probably not, but if you get some by mistake, or are given some, the horses do like them!

Why do you think we don't see more captive breed seahorses on the market,specially the fancier ones, because the are one of the marine fishes that readily breed in captivity?

Because the mortality rate in baby seahorses is very high. Sometimes only 3 or 4 babies will live out of several hundred
We must keep learning about natural foods - this will be the key to success

<SeaDragon> Because there are really quite few seahorse breeders!
<SeaDragon> Also, the fancier the horse, it can be harder to bred them!

Will a horse die if it s mate is lost or dies? If separated?

No it won't
May pout for a while :-)

<SeaDragon> Not if you can get it a new mate of its breed. They do get VERY lonely!
<SeaDragon> I have had one die of sheer heartbreak!

Why should we need to take horses from the wild for retail sale, when they can be purchased from breeder's captive bred? Excuses such as taking wild horse via other horse trades such as medical are not an excuse. Comments.

<SeaDragon> There are not yet enough seahorse breeders to meet the demand of the consumers.
<SeaDragon> They are not as easy as other live bearers, due to the foods they need.

I agree with you - I currently bringing in some captive-bred erectus for me to work with. But as Carol stated before there are not that many seahorse breeders

Isn't the natural life span of the horse about seven years? Not two?

<SeaDragon> IT depends on the species of the seahorse. The pigmies have the 2 year lives.

<SeaDragon> There are records also, of 8 years, but a 4 year life on a big seahorse species means something was wrong!

Two for the dwarf and 7 or more for the larger species

Thanks Tom and Carol!

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