Dwarf Seahorse

Dwarf Seahorse
By Batul Nafisa Baxamusa

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Dwarf seahorses are wonderful aquarium pets that do not have any specific maintenance needs. The following article will cover some dwarf seahorse information that will help you take good care of your friend from the ocean.

Dwarf seahorses are commonly known as 'Seapony'. This name fits quite well, as dwarf seahorses are just about 1 to 2 inches in size. The dwarf seahorse is easy to care for when kept as pets, as long as you adhere to their needs. In this article, we shall learn about dwarf seahorse care, but before that we shall learn a bit more on dwarf seahorse information.

Dwarf Seahorse Information

The dwarf seahorse is the smallest seahorse species that is commonly found in sea grass beds. The dwarf seahorses are found in the waters of Florida Keys, the Bahamas, Bermuda and the Gulf of Mexico. They belong to the genus Hippocampus, the genus where all seahorses are placed. Their species name is zosterae according to their habitat. The dwarf seahorses are commonly found in in the Zostrea sea grass, also known as eel grass, and thus the name zosterae . These seahorses like to live in areas that are buffered from the ocean currents like lagoons or sheltered regions of reefs. Dwarf seahorses mostly feed on copepods crustaceans, micro and macroscopic plankton, etc. in the wild. They breed easily in the wild, having up to three generations of seahorses per year. However, they are not easily bred in captivity. The dwarf seahorse color depending on the environment ranges from yellow to black.

Dwarf Seahorse Care

Dwarf seahorses are really small in size and never grow over 2 inches. They are mostly white in color and looks transparent in some regions of the body. Some dwarf seahorses have cirri, that is, small hair like growths that look like algae. Dwarf seahorses care is not very complicated, but requires your attention everyday. You need to feed the dwarf seahorses everyday and don't ever treat them like goldfishes. They need your care every single day and this means you can't really go for a vacation keeping them in a tank. If you really need to travel, you will need to train a friend or family member all about dwarf seahorse care.

Dwarf Seahorse Housing Requirements

Dwarf seahorses are really small creatures and will get overwhelmed with large tank sizes. You need to get 5 to 10 gallon tanks, as it will be comfortable for your tiny pets. If you get a larger tank, you will need to add many tall sea grasses in it, so that they have enough hiding places. Also, remember that seahorses are not good swimmers. The large tank filters will just toss the tiny ones around, so you need to use sponge water filters instead. You can use fine sand as substrate and fill about 1 inch of the bottom of the tank with sand.

Dwarf Seahorse Feeding Requirements

In the entire process of dwarf seahorse care requirements, feeding is what will take up most of your time. Dwarf seahorses do not have stomachs and need to be fed only live food everyday. You need to feed them with live brine shrimps twice daily. In order to feed dwarf seahorses live brine shrimp, you will need to maintain a special brine hatching tank. You can ask your local pet store regarding setting up an homemade brine hatchery. You should feed the dwarf seahorses with live brine every day and spend 15 minutes daily preparing their food for them. You need to make sure you do not overfeed or underfeed your seahorses. In any case, it may cause death of the seahorses. Thus, it is the dwarf seahorse feeding schedule that will prevent you from taking a vacation or trip. You need to carefully teach someone regarding the feeding requirements of dwarf seahorses or you will end up with a tank full of dead seahorses. Remember, seahorses are not like goldfishes or cats. Never ever, feed dwarf seahorses with pellets or fish food.

Dwarf Seahorses Tank Mates

You can invest in dwarf seahorses tank mates like hermit crabs and cleaner shrimps. They are scavengers and keep the tank clean. Gobies and firefish can also prove to be a safe bet as dwarf seahorse tank mates. Nassarus snails are the best cleaners for the tank and you can try keeping anemone shrimp with dwarf seahorses. You should exert caution while bringing in tank mates as dwarf seahorses might become food for the new inmates. The fry can be eaten up by the hermit crabs, gobies and firefish.

Dwarf Seahorse Breeding

The average life span of a dwarf seahorse is only 18 to 20 months. For this reason, you may want to try breeding your dwarf seahorse. Breeding and taking care of the fry is extremely easy. Dwarf seahorses are gregarious by nature, however, they do not form pair bonds. The male dwarf seahorse like all seahorses become pregnant. The male can have a brood every 10 days and give birth to about 5 to 30 babies in one time. The babies hitch-hike at birth and hang all over the male during birthing time.

The young ones can be fed the same food as the adults and it is seen that raising the babies separately gives higher success rates. You can place the babies in a separate tank if you want to. After about 6 weeks, the babies reach sexual maturity. They will start getting attracted to the opposite sex and soon you will observe a pouch in the young adults.

This was some dwarf seahorse information regarding their care in an aquarium. Apart from the dwarf seahorse feeding requirements, you don't have much to worry. These are beautiful additions to your fish tanks. I hope you have found enough information related to dwarf seahorse care in this article.