sea dragons

[jasin401]

so whats the deal with sea dragons? anyone breed them for captivity?

[Mongo77]

I don't think they are available in the states.

[rayjay]

Aquamarine International has two types but you would have to find a store that brings in their comes and reidi seahorses and get the LFS to see if the transshipper would bring some in for you on their next seahorse order.
http://www.aqua-marines.com/seahorse_catalog.htm

[helicoprion]

Every time I've seen either species they've been in the high four to low five figure range. I'd also be very cautious of Lacey Act violations with these things... it says that this company is in Sri Lanka, but to my knowledge Sea Dragons only come from Australia. You don't have to do much more than fart in the wrong direction to get a Lacey charge, and Australia is always a great place to start if you want a vacation at club fed for a year or two ;)

[rayjay]

First off, Aquamarine International, even though it is located in Sri Lanka, has a very good reputation.
For their seahorses, the ocean water is filtered and properly treated to remove pathogens before being used in their breeding programs and as such, the seahorses can be properly termed "True Captive Bred".
With the dragons, I'm assuming that they too are captive bred and this is possible if the brood stock originated legally before prohibitive law came into being. (it must be proved to still be legal)
There have been quite a few sites that have offered them for sale, but as mentioned, they are pricey.
The other problem is that if you did find one, the odds of keeping it alive are slim to none. Even public aquariums had a hard time initially, but many have found ways to succeed in later years.
Leafy sea dragons are harder than weedy because they are selective and only eat certain crustaceans.
In the US, the only place I've heard of having raised seadragons is the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga in 2003.
I've seen postings about other offshore successes but I don't have that information at hand.

[Pico Perfect]

The Minnesota Zoo feeds their dragons frozen mysis, so you don't always need live mysis.

[snorvich]

I have spent time in the water with them (my avatar is a pregnant male leafy) and they are amazing animals. Cold water to say the least. We used a safety diver above them to keep them from getting decompression sickness from rising up too quickly. Great care must be exercised in photographing them.

The only location I am aware of is Southern Australia (I was on Kangaroo Island) and they are highly protected by law. Those who dive with them do not disclose the dive site locations unless they feel very comfortable with you.

When I have seen them for sale, the price is in excess of $10,000 USD for leafies, somewhat less for weedies.

[jasin401]

10,000 $$ holy moly....

[snorvich]

10,000 $$ holy moly....

In excess of . . .

[Bluemon]

i heard ribbons are making their way into the trade. any info? they clook really cool

[pledosophy]

I only know of one source CB Leafy's, two places in the states breeding weedy's one does not sell them.

The cost being reported here is high for what I could pay for them. The room for the tank and equpiment is much more expensive then the actual animals.

The Aqauarium I worked with was breeding Weedy's, had babies on my birthday, great gift. So fun to see.

[Tiffanyxoxo]

They are beautifullll

[AquaticEngineer]

Hmmmm, I do have an already established 325 gallon coldwater system I could easily convert to be sea dragon friendly.........

...........Anyone wanna loan me 10 G's?

[pledosophy]

Your missing a zero on the end of your tank size thee Aqua.

[DanK13]

I dove with them as well and I was surprised how much they loved the nasty water they were in.
As far as purchasing them, by all means get out your platinum card and get one if you have a 2500g tank in your house and can find an institution that is willing to sell one (which i doubt). If you get them from a "breeder" outside the US then you bear the burden of proving that its legit when USFW gives you a call. Before you add that little guy to your checkout make sure your lawyer is on retainer first.

[c.declivisowner]

they are the most amazing creatures! does anybody actually have one besides a public aquarium?

[AquaticEngineer]

Your missing a zero on the end of your tank size thee Aqua.

True.

I'll stick to breeding coldwater Pipefish and Spiny Lumpsuckers, they take up less room :D

[snorvich]

they are the most amazing creatures! does anybody actually have one besides a public aquarium?

Not that I know of in this country. I seem to recall someone in Japan with a breeding pair.

[Rploaded]

I believe the Dallas aquarium has them too..... Absolutely amazing....

[A_Z]

seahorse.org sums it up nicely

You don't. Seadragons are a protected species, so you will need special licensing to obtain them. This type of licensing is only available through research institutes, breeding facilities, and public aquariums/museums.

If by chance you were able to obtain one, getting the licensing to import it would be just the beginning of your problems. They are extremely difficult to keep in captivity. They need to have large aquariums, at least 36 inch high, 72 inch long and 48 inch wide as a bare minimum. You also need to run chillers to keep the temperature at around 60F - not a small task. Feeding would also be a nightmare as they usually only eat live mysis shrimp. They are also startled by sudden changes in light, and their leafy appendages (on both leafy and weedy seadragons) are exremely fragile. If they break, infection almost always occur, usually to the demise of the animal.

There is rumor of some seahorse breeders working with sea dragons. Considering their requirements though, it seems unlikely they'd be readily available to hobbyists.

[kudagirl]

Hi, Seattle has them as well.

Sue

[Ostentum]

There is a pair down here near me also at Moody Gardens. I have had a couple discussions with the Curator of Fish down there and basically the background is this. There are a few mated pairs across the country, most have produced eggs but the fry have never survived. Its almost like there is a pod or some sort at about the 3 week mark that they are missing in its food chain. So getting them to eat at about that mark is proving extremely difficult. There is only one guy in Australia that has a license to catch the dragons. And the number he can catch is extremely limited and once he catchs that number he is done until Australia tells him he can go catch more, hince the price. So basically the only way you will ever seen one in a private house is if A) somehow they convince this one guy to sell them one or two B) you steal one from a public aquarium or C) you illegally dive in Australia, collect one or two and ship them back to the states.

[snorvich]

There is a pair down here near me also at Moody Gardens. I have had a couple discussions with the Curator of Fish down there and basically the background is this. There are a few mated pairs across the country, most have produced eggs but the fry have never survived. Its almost like there is a pod or some sort at about the 3 week mark that they are missing in its food chain. So getting them to eat at about that mark is proving extremely difficult. There is only one guy in Australia that has a license to catch the dragons. And the number he can catch is extremely limited and once he catchs that number he is done until Australia tells him he can go catch more, hince the price. So basically the only way you will ever seen one in a private house is if A) somehow they convince this one guy to sell them one or two B) you steal one from a public aquarium or C) you illegally dive in Australia, collect one or two and ship them back to the states.

When diving in Southern Australia (option C), the dive site location of sea dragons (especially leafy sea dragons) is a guarded secret. Even if you could fine one, remember they are highly susceptible to decompression sickness so the process for capture, removal, and subsequent transport would be "nontrivial".