feeding holiday

[rayjay]

On all the seahorse forums I've been going to, I see various threads saying to skip feeding the horses once a week, but I've never been able to find a reason why not to.
Anyone with the proper explanation for this?

[DanU]

One company suggests this as a way to prevent fatty liver disease.

Dan

[rayjay]

Thanks for replying.
Do you know how fatty liver disease develops in horses?
In Lionfish, it happens with feeding freshwater food like guppies and goldfish to the lionfish.
If the freshwater mysis cause fatty liver disease in horses, why would it be the recommended food?
Why not instead feed the horses on "Ocean Plankton" and brine shrimp then and prevent the possibility in the first place?
I feed mine a balance of frozen mysis, frozen brine, and frozen ocean plankton.
Once a week I feed live adult brine shrimp that I raise on Tahitian Blend.

[pledosophy]

Brine shrimp and plankton are not suitable foods for seahorses.

While brineshrimp can be enriched, there value is very low.

I am not sure if I am not familiar with a product line, but plankton is not a seahorse food.

There are many alternatives to feeding seahorses if you find frozen mysis not to your liking. It is the most commonly used method because of it's long term succsess and affordability.

You could always feed live palestrina shrimp, but the cost is prohibitive for long term care.

My food bill is over $500 a year per horse to feed live. That does not include the cost of running the feeder tanks.

[donsods]

Is the "plankton" actually small krill from SFB?

[rayjay]

Originally posted by pledosophy
Brine shrimp and plankton are not suitable foods for seahorses.

While brineshrimp can be enriched, there value is very low.

I am not sure if I am not familiar with a product line, but plankton is not a seahorse food.

"there value is very low"
WHAT value is very low? WHY are brine shrimp not suitable?

"plankton is not a seahorse food"
WHY is plankton not a seahorse food?

Sorry for being so inquisitive, but in my 12 years of reefkeeping, I've learned to question statements that don't have facts to back them up.
When I first got a computer, I found out I couldn't do all the things I'd been doing for many years, and now, I still do them.
A big thing with me is the brine shrimp misconception that prevails. Some people keep repeating that myth that brine shrimp have no nutrient value (I hope that's not what you meant above) when in fact, they have plenty of nutrient.
As nauplii, they have high lipid content with lower protein levels, and as juveniles and adults, they have high protein levels but lower lipids.

Cultured juveniles & adults 49.7 - 62.5% Protein 9.4 - 19.5% Lipids
Wild adults ____50.2 - 69.0% Protein ________ 2.4 - 19.3% Lipids
Instar-I nauplii __41.6 - 47.2% Protein _______ 20.8 - 23.1% Lipids
The above information is from the nutrition section on Artemia in the UN article on live foods for aquaculture from the Artemia Research Center.

SCROLL DOWN TO SECTION 4 - ARTEMIA
Then see section 4.4.1 on nutrition.

[rayjay]

Originally posted by donsods
Is the "plankton" actually small krill from SFB?

No, the product I'm using is from Hikari and isn't krill (or at least not like the package of Hikari krill I have) but doesn't say on the package just what it is, just ocean plankton.
There is a main crustacean about the size of the mysis I feed, but there are some smaller crustaceans in it as well.