Hi Kathy -- WC and CB horses are rather hard to come by these days. WCs are scarce due to CITES, and CBs are difficult to get ahold of simply due to supply and demand. However, CB horses are strongly recommended for several reasons, particularly with regard to health and feeding.
Our Emergency forum at seahorse.org is full of problems with WC horses, and many of them don't make it. Horses are highly susceptible to bacterial infections, particularly the many strains of Vibrio, and finding an antibiotic that is effective against it is proving difficult. A pathologist working with us at the .org has performed necropsies on over 30 horses from our members over the past year, and he has identified at least 8 different types of Vibrio. Though Vibrio wasn't the actual cause of death in a few of the cases, it was in the vast majority.
We are learning how horses can be carriers of 1, 2 or even up to 4 strains of Vibrio. The carrier(s) may seem perfectly healthy, but when mixed or added with other horses, illness can happen in as little as 2-3 weeks if the other horse(s) has no resistance to the bacteria.
With regard to feeding, many WC horses cannot be trained to frozen foods. The cost of frequently purchasing and maintaining ghost or other live shrimp can really add up over time. Though WC horses are typically much less expensive than CB initially, if you factor in feeding costs, WCs are significantly more expensive in the longrun.
Certainly, some people have luck with WC horses, but they are few and far between. The odds of success with WC horses are far less than with CB animals.
The most common places to locate CB horses are Ocean Rider and Marine Depot Live. Other etailers periodically have them, too, such as
Premium Aquatics and etropicals. There are also a handful of successful breeders on our boards who occasionally release their juveniles for sale. ORA was hit by the hurricanes and they did lose some of their breeding stock. I know they are shipping fish, but I believe there may be a delay before they have horses available again. At least that's what I've heard.
Another possibility is keeping temperate horses. The drawback there, of course, is the need for a chiller. But if that is something you might want to consider, we have a breeder on our boards who I believe currently has temperate species available for sale. There isn't nearly as much of a demand for the temperate animals as there is for the tropical and subtropical.
Regardless of which way you decide to go, quarantining is strongly recommended.
If you'd like more info on anything, please let me know and I can help to point you in the right direction. Hope this helps.
