Dear Lucy:
Okay, I I think I know what you’re talking about now. I believe the company you are referring to is ZM Fish Food & Fishroom Equipment, also known as Zebrafish Management Ltd., which is based in the UK.
And the dry food that is working well for your Hippocampus reidi and H. barbouri fry and juveniles must be their ZM Fry Food, which is semi-buoyant when first added to the aquarium so that it stays suspended in the water column longer and simulates live foods. The ZM Fry Food includes shrimp meal which acts as a odor attracted to help stimulate a strong feeding response, as well as stabilized Vitamin C & Vitamin B-12. But what I really like about the ZM Fry Food is that it’s available in a number of different particle sizes, which are suitable for fry at different stages of development.
For example, the ZM-000 Fry Food has particles that are less than 90 microns in diameter and can be used as an alternative or supplement to live rotifers for fry that are too small to accept newly brine shrimp, such as your H. reidi fry.
Likewise, the ZM-100 Fry Food has particles from 80-200 microns, making them a little smaller than most newly hatched brine shrimp. That would make them a possible alternative or supplement for newly hatched brine shrimp (1st instar Artemia nauplii).
The ZM-200 Fry Food (150-200 microns) is similar in size to newly hatched brine shrimp, and can be used as a substitute for Artemia for fry that are a little larger and ready to accept 2nd instar brine shrimp.
And the ZM-300 Fry Food (300-500 microns) could be offered to the juveniles when they are ready for slightly larger food, and so on.
If seahorse fry will actually accept the ZM Fry Food, that would be a tremendous boon for seahorse keepers, especially the home breeders. Offering these particle foods to the newborns and young seahorses would be much more economical and convenient, sparing the hobbyist from the hassle of culturing rotifers and copepods or preparing copious amounts of newly hatched brine shrimp on a daily basis. So please keep us informed on the progress of your H. reidi and H. barbouri juveniles and how well they are eating the ZM Fry Food, Lucy.
Thank you very much for bringing this easy alternative to our attention — this is a very exciting development if the seahorse fry readily eat the dry foods and show good growth and survivorship on such a diet.
Best wishes with all your fishes, Lucy!
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.
