I have always had an interest in Seahorses and finally 4 years ago I decided to start a salt water tank and have seahorses. It is time consuming as you have to keep the tank at exact levels to keep the Seahorses healthy and happy. I must be doing something right as they have bred many times!
I have 2 pairs at this time. I had one pair and they were both black. The after the male had a few babies he got an air bubble in his pouch. Unfortunately he died. He was just under a year old. The female kept growing and just after she was a year old she started to change colours to a yellow. She was lonely so I managed to get a male for her who was a little smaller but similar colour. I also got a smaller pair. The bigger pair have obviously hit it off as he is pregnant!! His pouch is getting bigger!!
The female has a "right angle" from her tummy to her tail. In the male it is rounded.The male has a pouch at the base of his"tummy". The female inserts her eggs into his pouch by an egg shute and he incubates the eggs and after 14-21 day he puffs out baby seahorses. There can be as many as 300 !!
They will do a courtship "dance" which can last an hour or more. The male will open and close his pouch so the female knows he is ready to accept her eggs. When she is ready she passes the eggs to him. He then shakes them down in his pouch. He literally jumps around making sure they are well in.
Usually the young are born in the early morning. He appears restless and swims around and then literally puffs out the baby seahorses. They are miniature adults. He can have from a few to over 300. Unfortunately they are very hard to raise. They are so small and require a large number of live microscopic food. They also require very clean water. I have been able to raise 1 to an adult.
A pair of seahorses. The male is ahead of the female. You can see the difference where the tail meets the body. The male is rounded and the female a right angle.
The 2 female seahorses. The larger one is the same one in the pair picture. She was black until about a year and then she changed colour to yellow with stripes.
Pregnant males. The black one is the one I lost. The yellow on the right is the one that is pregnant now.
You can see the enlarged pouch.
