Live food on hand

[r6413utah]

Just a FYI, here is my method for alway having fresh live food.. I have a 20 gal that I put $15 of brine in. It has a double back hang on filter with a sponge on teh intake (Must clean once per week. I keep a small layer of crshed coral on teh bottom to maintain ph.. or put it in a mesh sack loosley under the flow.

I have 2 10 gallon freshwater tanks with live plants and a filter system that never gets touched (mini biofilter) keep this tank loaded with ghost shrimp altering from tank to the other every other week.

I go to the bailt shop and get small like bay shrimp and quartine them for 2 weeks in a 20 gal tank adding antibiotics and kick ick. I feed all of the tank rots, I keep 16 2 liter bottle of rotsgoing all the time (swiped the 2 liter holders from behind the local grocery store.

I mix the rots with DT's and feed the feeder tanks. recently I have tried baby guppies, takes the horse a few days to get use to but I load them up on fresh water protein sup and vitamins.

Unfortunanly the dotty back and yellow grass are part of teh clean up crew and they are so fat the dotty back can hrdly fit in her favorite hole in teh rock and the wrass does noteven bother to flip round to bury itself, it just does a nose dive from high altitide an it looks like a metor hitting the bottom. gret for realing calcium.

The maderian looks like a dragon float in a chinese parade.

I now also keep baby brine on hand mixed with rots and DT's fir te baby.


I have a 50gal with a mild filtration system I am working on to try to get pods going. Right now I have some beauts in my overflow that will be a good breading stock, I think they are feeding on the baby peppermint shrimp and eggs plus what rots make it to teh bottom.

[BLEEZY]

what is the easiest&/or most nutritious live food to get going for feeding horses?

[r6413utah]

I hand feed ghost that have been gut fed with DT's ans rots. above I describes how I mix up a batch, some times I use the smaller ghost they swallow, I hold the the ghost by the antenna and select feed each horse. I get the funny loking ponds out of the sump (not holding them by hand to creepy) or I do a batch of brine that have been gut fed with both DT's and rots. One of my black females has dark grey bands, when I start hand feeding the bands turn white with black spots, so it must have some kind of effect on them.

[VWD]

I think it is wise to mix it up alittle live and alittle frozen, Even other kinds of food would help, But I have not got them to eat anything but frozen and Brine and pods

[BLEEZY]

so ghost shrimp?
i dont know i am currently doing some more research on seahorse.org, and am going to set up a seahorse tank.
i would like to try my hand at preparing live foods for my reeftank first, this way i will be experienced in raising live food and can keep my reeftank healthy and my soon to be set up seahorse tank healthy.
so what should i try? i dont wanna go through the hassle of mysis, and rots are kind of a pain but i could do them if i need to.

[r6413utah]

Most LFS carry ghost (fresh water shrimp) most Salt shop carry phyto (DT's)

VWD I never have luck getting them to eat frozen what are you feding and how? i.e wiggling it with your hand on the end of a stick etc etc etc

[r6413utah]

A refugium would be another way to keep nutrients going, I was think or elevating a refugium higher the the main tank (hidden) so that the out flow would not go through any machanical pump,,, Don't want it chppong up pods adnother MO's going into the tank. Not sure this is even a good idea. I think the only way to be sure is for me to move a little further south to the Keys and lay about 20 minles of pipe out to a reef and feed it back into the tanks. hehehehehe

[r6413utah]

Not sure but if they where born at the same time, then the feeding is working well because I found another one in the tank and it is almost 4mm smaller. Not I don't know how fast they grow but Mr Ed has only been on the Diet for about a week.

Anyone know the growth rate of horses?

[BLEEZY]

i got some ghost shrimp and am breeding them now, theyre in a little breeding chamber where the babies will fall through. what should i do with them? feed the babies dt's? or will their yolk saks have enough protein?

[VWD]

I feed mysis shrimp, The frozen type, I just shake it in the water and it falls apart and they go get it, They have alway ate it , even when I first got them , I won't buy seahorses unless I see them eat frozen food.

[pledosophy]

I won't buy a seahorse unless it is from a breeder who runs a strictly aquaculture faciltiy.

When you spek of breeding brine for seahorses, are you speaking of fry or for adults.

IME adults have a hard time digesting brine, it is not a good food source.

For Adults I like fresh water ghosts because they do not carry the same pathogens and parasites as salt water ghosts.

For my WC reidi who never ate frozen I fed fresh water ghosts daily, untreated for 5.5 years. He eventaully went blind and then I had to put him down.

You say your having troubl getting horses onto livefoods? Are you refering to fry or adults. As long as the adults have not been eating live in your tanks for to long, there are some ool methods for teaching them to eat frozen that are usually effective. Every once in awhile you get an older stubborn WC that never goes for it.

Good Luck.

[r6413utah]

The brine and rots are for the twins (baby's) and the big guys get a mix of ghost that gut fed, as well as guppy babies

[BLEEZY]

no, i dont have ponies yet. i was just trying to make live foods incase i couldnt get one that is eating frozen. i do have a mandarin i want to fatten up, but i have a tank with enough pods i could put it in. guppy babies? i have lots of them i use for my baby snapping turtle. i could feed the babies? would they need enrichment?

[BLEEZY]

Originally Posted by VWD

I feed mysis shrimp, The frozen type, I just shake it in the water and it falls apart and they go get it, They have alway ate it , even when I first got them , I won't buy seahorses unless I see them eat frozen food.

just wondering, do you strain them out? i have found that if you allow mysis to thaw in a cup then reomve the mysis and test the murky phosphate laden water, it is a liquid microalgae fertilizer, the nutrients arent lost when you strain them, but the liquid nutrients are.
just my .02

[BLEEZY]

and could someone see my other thread on the ghost shrimp please?!