What to do the first day I get my horses...

[skewch]

OK, I have been reading for a year on caring for seahorses and finally, I am getting mine in 2 days. They are being flown to me, and I was told 3 hrs max in the bag (flight only 1 hr).

I am getting a male and female captive bred yellow reidis. I have a 35g tall hex tank all up and running. Tomorrow I am finishing up the feeding station and putting that in place to see if they take to it. Their diet will be PE frozen mysis enriched with selcon, and if they don't like that, I have Hikari mysis that I feed my regular reef guys.

Other than standard acclimation procedures, what should I do the first day I have them? Do they need to eat or will they not want to for a few days or??? I haven't read much on what happens when you first get them. I will assume they will be stressed out somewhat, but I am hoping that will be shortlived.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Sygnath&Elasmos]

Okay here is my advice to you.

Step one: Breathe. These guys are special, trust me I breed them, I know.

Step two: If you are getting them from a good source they will be fine in the bag for longer than 3hrs. At the lfs I work at we get horses from hawaii.....Average bag time is almost 12hrs. So if they are from a reputable source you should have at least 6hrs of bag time. So again you can relax a little more.

Step three: I recomend floating the bag for about an hour. Let the bag temp match the tank temp as dead on as possible. Too sharp a difference and they could die of shock.

Step Four: After an hour open the bag and add some (about a cup) of your tank water to the bag, or put them in a bucket and do this step. The added tank water to their water does three things. One it helps to re-oxygenate tehir water, two it helps dillude the ammonia they have probably been swimming in, and three it helps them regulate their body to the tank conditions before being completely immersed in the tank.

Step Five: Pick them up gently, and remove the from the bag or bucket and place them in the tank. I never add bag water to my tank.

Step six: Give them a normal feeding. Seahorses lack a stomach and require more feedings than normal fish. This will up their energy levels and give them a better chance of fully adjusting to the tank. It also helps them to relax and offers them a kind of reward for exploring the tank. They should eat the PE frozen mysis, that's what my guys eat. If not try adding some live brine to the feeding with the mysis, this usually gets them interested in the frozen food. If you want brine makes a great treat, but remember brine doesn't offer much nutrtion so it doesn't make a good staple. And selcon is a great supplement. It wil lhelp keep your seahorses nice and fat.

Step seven: ENJOY!!!

Hope that helps you out some!

[Swanwillow]

yes, normal acclimation. I had my boyfriend do it, and he doesn't know crud about fish AT ALL, much less seahorses...

don't use a net on them. I have the same tank, kuda instead of reidi.

mine ate in the acclimation bucket, but not in the tank the first day. The next day they ate a little.

for the first week they probably won't eat as much as normal, but they'll slowly increase thier intake.

you'll be fine!!!

[mano]

I prefer the drip acclimation and not floating the bag in the tank. I would open the bag and you can then place that in a bucket with the horses still in the bag. Check the bag water parameters and your own and get a small siphon going from your tank to the bucket. Airline works great for this and you can either tie knots in the line to control the flow so that it drips or any of those airline clamps and valves work too. Once your parameters match move them, but not the water into their new tank. You can try feeding them after they explore their new home for a little while but don't worry if they don't eat right away. If they are helathy horses they will eat soon.

Good luck!

[skewch]

Thanks everyone for your insightful responses. I have been down and out with the flu so I haven't been on since I posted my question.

I am so excited, this is going to be so very nice to have these special creatures in my house.

I will ensure I follow your advice tomorrow when I get them home. I am going to be hopefully getting some macro algae that is more than what I have. I only have a little amount growing in our pod tank because my 230 has tangs and they haven't allowed much for macro to grow.

Anyways, thanks again everyone, I will post pictures tomorrow of my new babies to share with everyone. :)

Susan