HELP are my seahorses breeding???

[KING OF THE REEF]

Ok i woke up to wierd shriek from my mom this morning (dont ask wh she does that). My seahorses (H. KUDA) were all white with black dots instead of black with white specs. They were dancing around the tank together and playing rougher than normal. They then went back to their hitching post and turne back to black and white. Are they breeding or just putting on a show? I am a SH newb so please dont tlk in HIGHTECH terms. I have them in a 46 bow front reef (mostly zoos and leathers with some fake corals) and a mandarine,watchman gobie,3chromis who live in the hob fuge as they are going to a new home this saturday, and a rainfords goby who was almost dead when i found him in my 20gallon thanks to my gramma). any and all help is needed thanks in advance

[DebsSisterFlo]

wow, that's quite a change! I have no idea, but if I could go off topic for a sec, could you tell me about your rainford goby? What does he eat, is he an easy fish to keep? I'm considering getting one to put in with my future horses.
Thanks and I hope you get a knowledgable answer.... feel free to post pics too!

[JennyL]

Seahorses have a greeting ritual in the mornings. What you are seeing is quite normal. Seahorses are very social creatures.
HTH:)

[KING OF THE REEF]

thanks jenny, (i wonde rhtough are you being sarcastic as i have never ewad this in any post or books not even on seahorses.org).
as for the rainfords goby he is very peaceful and eats algea,live brine, frozen mysis, and or course pellets and flakes great for horses too imo as they move slow and dont bother them

[pledosophy]

In very untechnical terms, they are bumping who ha's.

Your a college student you should get that ! ! !

The mating ritual is real, and very common. It is like a dance and can be read about at length.

Just because they're doin the deed does not mean you will have fry soon, but you might. :)

[luvabunny]

Jenny is completely correct and being totally unsarcastic.
My horses greet each other just after lights on in the morning. I have a mix of WC reidi and CB erectus, and they all lighten up, and dance around with each other.

[KING OF THE REEF]

i wassnt saying she was, but i thought she might have been. and yes i get the who ha part i think every high schooler on this bored will too lol!!! as for them doing that, i am happy to know and they did it again this morning much to my surprise as well. anyways thanks for the help and ill be posting pics of them asap

[km133688]

if you plan to reaise the fry, planning now would be a good idea. I have been reefing for 2 years now and my experience with breeding is that... mated pairs will... its just a matter of time.

So, if you plan to raise fry, now would be a good time to get into the whole process. Learn how to raise your own food (maybe the hardest part of it all), how to clean up a 10 gallon tank each night, how to check salinity and make change water etc.

Its like saving money, it dont' matter how much you save, it matter if you save. Develope the habit first, the rewards will come all by themselves. But if you don't get the habit down, you wont' succeed. Thats why I make carpload of do and still got no money... oh wait... no... that's because I keep a reef...

[KING OF THE REEF]

been in the hooby for lmot 5 years as i helped my uncle clean and care for his tanks. i am totally prepared ofr fry dont owrry bout that

[pledosophy]

Famous Last Words!

Good Luck with that, we'll be here when you need us. ;)