Zulu Lulus

Dear Big:

Providing you can keep their aquarium cool enough, Zulus are great seahorses for a beginner to start with. For best results, I would recommend at least a 20-gallon aquarium for two pairs of Zulu-lulus (Hippocampus capensis). They can be kept in smaller tanks in a pinch, but it’s best to go with a larger setup if you can afford it and have the rule because the small aquaria require more frequent maintenance and are more susceptible to rapid fluctuations in pH, salinity, and temperature. If you want to breed your Zulus, consider a 30-gallon aquarium that’s a MINIMUM of 15 inches tall (a tank 20 inches in height or more would be even better) that’s well planted with macroalgae. A 20-30 gallon Extra-High All Glass Aquarium would be great for a couple pair of Zulu-lulus and allow you room to expand your herd in the future while providing you with a reasonable margin for error.

For example, this is some how Neil Garrick-Maidment, an extremely successful breeder with the Seahorse Trust in the UK who has worked extensively with this species, describes his experience with Hippocampus capensis:

<Quote>
They’re an amazing Seahorse. I kept them for some time and bred thousands of them; in fact the ones you have are probably descendants of them.

They are intriguing as they tend to live on the bottom most of the time and the young in particular drop like stones when they are born and hold on from day one. If there is a Seahorse that is suitable as a first time one then it has to be the Knysna Seahorse (Hippocampus capensis). The brilliant thing about them, in the wild they naturally feed on nonmotile food so it makes them a god send for training onto dead food and the young
do really well on newly hatched Artemia, without enrichment.

Hippocampus capensis is an amazingly tolerant Seahorse and dare I say if there is one
Seahorse that is more suitable than any other as being kept in a home
aquarium then it is H.capensis. They tolerate being in larger numbers than
others as well, this is not to say you should keep them in large numbers but
they cope well in larger stocking densities than most Seahorses. In ideal
conditions I would keep 3 to 4 pairs in a 48" by 15"(high) by 12"(wide). the
height is mainly for breeding and mating purposes as they naturally sit on
the seabed (even the fry sink like stones when they are born, unlike other
seahorses that are free swimming). It is crucial for them to have the tank
heavily planted with caulerpa algae or similar. In the wild they live in
amongst the weeds and even feed on non-motile food, which allows them to be
converted to dead food very easily in captivity. (and they thrive on it)
As a lot of people know I am a great advocate of simple filtartion such as
Undergravel filters and these work very well with H.capensis, just make sure
that they have a weekly water change of 10 to 20 %. I usually have a
canister filter in the corner for larger particles, it also creates a good
strong flow of water in the tank. this is vital to all Seahorses (and
particularly Seahorse fry). There is some evidence to support the fact that
a good flow of water aids digestion in Seahorses but it is also a major
benefit to adults as well. Again bearing in mind where they live in the
wild, there is always a good flow of water on the seabed, especially in the
knysna where the lagoon is influenced by tide and water current from the
rivers.

It is crucial for them to have the tank
heavily planted with caulerpa algae or similar. In the wild they live in
amongst the weeds and even feed on non-motile food, which allows them to be
converted to dead food very easily in captivity. (and they thrive on it)

As a lot of people know I am a great advocate of simple filtartion such as
Undergravel filters and these work very well with H.capensis, just make sure
that they have a weekly water change of 10 to 20 %. I usually have a
canister filter in the corner for larger particles, it also creates a good
strong flow of water in the tank. this is vital to all Seahorses (and
particularly Seahorse fry). There is some evidence to support the fact that
a good flow of water aids digestion in Seahorses but it is also a major
benefit to adults as well. Again bearing in mind where they live in the
wild, there is always a good flow of water on the seabed, especially in the
knysna where the lagoon is influenced by tide and water current from the
rivers.

The H.capensis is also a dream for breeding and will regularly as clockwork
give birth every 21 days to anywhere up to 300 fry when they are fully
mature. The fry sink straight to the bottom and should be removed into a
glass bottomed tank with sponge filters (using a siphon tube transfer them
in their own water, do not expose them to air). using the system of feeding
five times a day with newly hatched (within two hours) artemia. Within a few
weeks you can train the onto finely chopped dead mysis and then ultimately
onto adutl frozen Mysis.

They come from the Knysna and Kuerbon lagoons in South Africa and due to the
seasonal flooding in that region it means that they can cope with a wide
range of salinities including I am told freshwater for a very short length
of time (personally I wouldn’t try this). They can also cope with a wide
range of temperatures as well. A few years back I had an outbreak of Vibrio
and stopped in its tracks by dropping their temperature down to 16°C (61°F)
rapidly and then slowly raised it back up to 20°C (68°F) over the next couple of
months and they coped incredibly well with this.

They were the first Seahorse to be listed on the South African red data list
as ironically for an animal that breeds so well they are down to just a few
hundred in the wild.

The ground dwelling behaviour is perfectly normal for them, in fact many
people are disappointed when they spend all their time on the bottom, having
said this, a tank of a minimum of 15 to 18 inches is better for egg swapping.
Apart from the two British species, Knysna seahorses have got to be my
favourite.

Best wishes

Neil

Neil Garrick-Maidment
Director
The Seahorse Trust
<End quote>

Yes, sir, it’s perfectly acceptable to supplement the staple diet of your Zulu-lulus with occasional feedings of adult brine shrimp, or to provide them with adult brine shrimp on their fasting day. Their feeding habits are discussed in more detail below, and they will greedily accept adult Artemia as well as most other foods.

Also known as the Knysna Seahorse or the Cape Seahorse, Hippocampus capensis is well suited for beginners. For one thing, these ponies are just the right size for the average home aquarium and are natural born gluttons — the easiest seahorses of all to feed. They are smallish-to-medium seahorses, but they have BIG appetites and will eat most anything and everything the giant breeds do. They are aggressive feeders and, in an impressive display of voracity, even small specimens will unhesitatingly tackle large frozen Mysis that may take them two or three snicks to successfully swallow. A hungry Cape seahorse will often have more than half of a large mysid protruding from its snout, making it look like a sword swallower in mid-performance as it gradually works its gargantuan meal down with a series of mighty snicks! It is an amazing sight to watch an undersized capensis choke down several oversized frozen Mysis in quick succession and come hurrying back for more like it was starving with the tail of the last shrimp still sticking out of its mouth! They are capable of remarkable feats of sheer piggery, and everyone marvels at how rotund they are when they get their first good look at well-fed, captive-bred capensis.

Of course, they love frozen Mysis relicta and are accustomed to eating that as their staple diet, but these chow hounds are not at all picky when they put on the ol’ feed bag. These galloping gourmets also eat rotifers, adult brine shrimp, amphipods, copepods, red feeder shrimp (Halocaridina rubra), Caprellids — you name it and they’ll eat it. All the usual seahorse foods are taken with relish and these seagoing gluttons don’t seem to mind a bit whether they are live, freshly killed or frozen. They normally feed on nonmotile food in the wild (Garrick-Maidment, pers. comm.), so they thrive on frozen food in the aquarium. In short, feeding these fat little fellas is the last thing the hobbyist has to worry about!

However, they are temperate seahorses that prefer cooler temperatures than tropical seahorses. The do best at stable temperatures between a range of 70°F-75°F (22°C-24°C) and don’t tolerate temperature spikes above 75°F well at all. Due to the tendency of nano cubes to overheat, you will most likely require an aquarium chiller to keep your 12-gallon tank within the comfort zone for Zulus (H. capensis) at all times, Big.

Finally, there have been a few other threads on the Ocean Rider Club discussion board at seahorse.com from hobbyists who were just starting out with seahorses that you should very informative, Big. They discuss setting up an ideal system for seahorses, filtration, feeding, lighting, circulation and so on. I’ve provided links to those discussions for you below, so please check them out when you have a chance. That would make a good place for you to start your reading and research into the care and keeping of seahorses:

Click here: Seahorse.com – Seahorse, Sea Life, Marine Life, Aquafarm Sales, Feeds and Accessories – Re:ok stocking density…
http://www.seahorse.com/option,com_simpleboard/Itemid,144/func,view/catid,2/id,1526/#1526 <http://www.seahorse.com/option,com_simpleboard/Itemid,144/func,view/catid,2/id,1526/&gt;

Re:Hello, newbie here! – O <http://www.seahorse.com/option,com_simpleboard/Itemid,144/func,view/id,1004/catid,2/&gt;

Click here: Seahorse.com – Seahorse, Sea Life, Marine Life, Aquafarm Sales, Feeds and Accessories – Reetting up a 100gal for
<http://www.seahorse.com/option,com_simpleboard/Itemid,144/func,view/id,1382/catid,2/&gt;

Re: Guidance on Keeping Seahorses:
<http://www.seahorse.com/option,com_simpleboard/Itemid,144/func,view/id,639/catid,2/&gt;

Re: New to seahorses and I have lots of questions!
<http://www.seahorse.com/option,com_simpleboard/Itemid,144/func,view/id,152/catid,2/&gt;

Re: Tank set-up advice
<http://www.seahorse.com/option,com_simpleboard/Itemid,144/func,view/id,715/catid,2&gt;

Re:New with lots of questions
http://www.seahorse.com/option,com_simpleboard/Itemid,144/func,view/catid,2/id,1050/#1050 <http://www.seahorse.com/option,com_simpleboard/Itemid,144/func,view/catid,2/id,1050/&gt;

Best of luck with your ongoing research and interest in seahorse keeping, SFBIG! Please let us know if you have any more questions when you get your seahorse project up and running.

Happy Trails!
Pete Giwojna