seahorse not eating

[volivier]

one of my new horses is just hanging on the bottom, don't think he's eating the other is going after food, what should I do?

frozen mysis, daphnia, baby brine shrimp, cyclopees all frozen. I'm trying the mysis and baby brine now, fed mysis and daphnia (for the pipe)

[volivier]

he/she is eating just not as well as the other. I will have to look at the sexing thread to remember which is the boy and girl...LOL I did see him eat though, but he's not going after the food like the other SH.

[STAR FYRE]

Contact the person you bought the seahorse from and ask them what they were feeding. Maybe they are accustomed to a particular brand. If he/she/it continues to not eat, try adding garlic drops to the food.

[VWD]

Valerie, ijust like kids or babies, are they all the same, no, Give them time, don't think because one is eating like a pig and one is not that something may be wrong. You have only had them since thursday,

[krystalclown]

I don't keep seahorses, but I was just reading an article on having trouble feeding them in a FAMA magazine from last year. It suggested trying live foods if they're ignoring frozen to spice up their routine.




Taken from article "Feed Them What They Want":

There are a few advantages to offering your seahorse a diet of live foods. It can be a wonderfully varied diet as there are so many different live foods available to aquarists nowadays, such as live Mysis shrimp, Gammarus amphipods, Caprellids, ghost shrimp and grass shrimp, various copepods and so on. Variety is the spice of life, and there's no denying that seahorses naturally prefer to hunt living prey rather than forage for nonliving prey.

On rare occasions, evene farm-raised seahorses sometimes lose interest in a steady diet of frozen fare over time and begin to eat it half-heartedly. This is uncommon with captive-bred seahorses that eat frozen mysis relicta that's loaded with natural odor attractants that stimulate a seahorse's feeding instincts, but it still happens from time to time, especially when geuine M. relicta isn't available.

Live foods are the answer to this problem. When seahorses tire of the same old boring frozen food and refuse to eat their "veggies", they crave living prey, including Mysids, ghost shrimp, Gammarus or adult Artemia, the fact that it's alive and kicking.

Nothing stimulates a seahorse's feeding instincts like the frantic movements and evasive maneuvers of real, live, "catch-me-if-you-can" prey items. Live foods are guaranteed to perk up an ailing appetite and excite the interest of hte most jaded "galloping gourmets."



So, yeah, I know nothing about seahorses but i'd guess if you just got them they may just be settling it but thought i'd add this as I thought it was interesting.

[volivier]

Thanks everyone, I just don't want to loose them. Is one cube of mysis twice a day too much? I was thinking half twice a day.

[VWD]

Valerie, In the beginning trying to feed try even 3 or 4 times aday, just smaller amounts, Do check water quality also, I don't get to worried about them as long as they are getting some food, So just watch and see how much he eats

[STAR FYRE]

Do you have anything else in the tank?

[VWD]

I think she hads a pipefish, I don't remember if She hads anything else

[Twitterbait]

another thing to keep in mind. only go to live food as a last resort. i have had horses that went to live for a little while and then would not go to frozen again. add some garlic and do what Vinnie said with feeding 3-4 times a day in smaller amounts right in front of the horse.

[Loverotties]

If they're new it sometimes takes a couple days and they always liked brine shrimp.