NEW seahorse babies

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

I have a new pair of H. Erectus that I got on Wednesday. The male looked pregnant to me. I guess he is since I took 2 "tiny" babies out of the QT tank this morning. They were dead. I searched the HOB filter and there arn't any more. They must have been premie. He still "looks" preggo. He's no where near the size of my other male who is preggers. Maybe this is his first brood and he lost some of the eggs in transfer? I am not ready for 2 batches of fry less then 2 weeks apart. That's why I ordered a "JUVI pair"....so I would have time to fix the mess I have now BEFORE the courting started with the new pair. The new pair is smaller then other ones I have. Not as deep chested yet. But pretty just the same.

Angie

[jojo22]

Good luck!!! Sounds like you need it.

[Reef_Angel]

Angie, when I had my 2nd batch of ponies, 2 were born one day and that was all. DavidP and I had talked, and he said it's due to an immature pouch. Snickett is the one that keeps winding up preggers in my tank. His belly was so big that those 2 babies had to have slipped out. The next day, I noticed Snickett was in labor, so I pulled him out and put him right in the Kreisel System to have the babies. I was hoping to photograph the birth. I turned away for a few seconds, and when I turned back, he had over 200 babies and was all done. They birth amazingly fast.

His first batch were very premature and died by the end of the day. The second batch lived 2 days. When I examined the babies as the batch was depleting, the heads on the baby Kelloggii's were turning completely white, but the rest of their bodies stayed dark black. This was different from my first batch of Snickett's babies. They just died and turned clear. Since my seahorse tank is totally seahorse friendly and there are no predators, I might let this batch stay in the tank....mimic the natural reef, keeping the top water moving so they don't get stuck up at the top, cover all my filters so none get sucked in, and see what happens. I'm not into this for money, but I wouldn't mind raising some to a sellable size just to do it. I have someone I'd like to give some babies to, as I know he would be an excellent caretaker! He knows who he is! I know me though. I would have to keep one or two if they actually make it that far!

This whole Seahorse raising thing is a definite learning experience. I can understand why 99% of Seahorse babies that are born in the wild die.

Angie, you are doing great with your Seahorses, so don't let anyone tell you differently! Keep up the good work! ....Angel :angel1:

[JustDavidP]

One of my males, the one with the smallest pouch, sometimes lets two, three or more "slip" the evening before the "big event". I can guarentee you that on the next day, just as the sun is coming up, he has contractions and lets the load go.

Angel?? Your babies died and had white heads? Was it more like a ring around their neck? Or did they truly have all white heads....

D