you were indeed correct about the spike in mortality rates … at a little over 3 months, i am down to only 2 babies. i am feeding them exclusively frozen mysis. one of them is thriving and looks great. the other is much smaller in comparison and seemed to be not eating as well, starting a few weeks ago. he appears to have trouble swimming where he intends to go, bumps into things, and frequently has to make numerous attempts to get each piece of food – he repeatedly snaps at it and misses.
sadly, i started noticing similar behaviour in one of the adults seahorses, and i just found her dead this evening. of the 3 remaining adults, 2 of them aren’t acting quite right. it’s difficult to describe, but they just seem to have difficulty feeding, and are not moving around quite normally. i have tested and retested everything i know to test. there are no traces of nitrates/nitrites/amonia – temp and salinity are normal. i have introduced nothing new into the tank since before the babies were born (unless you count the billions of baby brine i fed the newborns). please let me know if you have any idea what may be happening.
a few other, less critical, questions:
1. i have not discovered any new babies since the originals over 3 months ago. is it likely that they are continuing to breed, but that it was just a fluke that i happened to see them the one time before they became lost?
2. do you know how old the mustangs are typically when you guys sell them? how long do they usually live? when do they become full-sized? the babies i have now are not anywhere CLOSE to full grown.
3. my tank is completely overgrown with plants. it looks pretty, keeps the algae under control, and the seahorses seem to love having all the places to hide and hitch onto. i’ve always thought plants were great for an aquarium, but can you have too much of a good thing?
Ocean Rider, Inc. is an Organic Hawaiian-Based Seahorse Aqua-Farm & Aquarium that Follows Strict Good Farming Practices in Raising Seahorses and Other Aquatic Life.
