Dear Jen:
Excellent news! I’m delighted to hear that your rescue horse is doing so well! He certainly is a little fighter!
It is unusual for wild seahorses to take to frozen food so well, let alone to quickly learn to use a feeding trough. For your rescue seahorse to do so after the trauma of being washed ashore and his subsequent ordeal is all the more unexpected. It sounds like your little H. erectus is making great strides, no doubt due to all the TLC you have lavished on him, Jen. Keep up the good work!
Using a feeding station is another good way to avoid the spillage and wastage that occurs when broadcast feeding or scatter feeding seahorses in an intricate environment. It sounds like the plastic cap and suction cup makes an efficient improvise feeding station, but you may want to consider a more aesthetically pleasing natural feeding station at some point. I wrote an article in Conscientious Aquarist explaining exactly how to set up a feeding station and train your seahorses to use a feeder in some detail that you may find to be of interest, Jen. It discusses all the different kinds of feeding stations in some detail, including natural feeding stations. It’s available online at the following URL:
Click here: Seahorse Feeders
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_2/cav2i5/seahorse_feeders/seahorse_feeders.htm
I wasn’t thinking of making your rescue seahorse a resident of your 55-gallon or 125 gallon aquariums, Jen, but rather considering using them to pressurize and decompress the seahorse if they were sufficiently deep in the event that his positive buoyancy didn’t resolve itself. But you’re right, it would be very desirable to move him out of the 12-gallon aquarium into more spacious quarters when you have an opportunity.
Best wishes with all of your fishes, Jen! Good luck with your rescue horse!
Happy Trails!
Pete Giwojna
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.
