How to Feed Dwarf Seahorses

Dwarf seahorses only grow to be about an inch long, and although they look like miniature versions of their larger seahorse counterparts, they require different care. If you want your delicate dwarf seahorses to live long, healthy lives, you must feed them appropriately. Preparing and disseminating nutritious feed in your seahorse's aquarium can seem daunting, but once you learn the process, it doesn't take long to complete.

Things You'll Need

• Water
• 3 gallon container
• Baby brine shrimp eggs
• Aquarium air pump
• Unscented bleach
• Brine shrimp net
• Cone-shaped container with bottom aeration
• Salt
• Strong light (optional)
• Enriching container
• Self emulsifying liquid concentrate

Instructions

Decapsulate Baby Brine Shrimp Eggs

1. Pour a gallon of fresh water into a clear-sided container that can hold at least 3 gallons of liquid.

2. Add 1 pound of baby brine shrimp eggs to the container and let them soak for an hour. Don't let the eggs stick to the sides of the container. Keep the water aerated with an aquarium air pump.

3. Pour 1 gallon of unscented bleach into the container. Make sure the bleach you use contains 5 percent chlorine. Decrease the amount of oxygen the air pump introduces into the water to prevent foaming.

4. Allow the eggs to soak in the bleach and water solution until they turn from white to orange. Once the eggs have turned orange, you've successfully decapsulated them.

5. Pour the decapsulated eggs and bleach and water solution through a brine shrimp net and rinse the brine shrimp eggs in fresh water until you can no longer smell bleach.

Enriching the Decapsulated Eggs

1. Transfer decapsulated baby brine shrimp eggs into a cone-shaped container with aeration that originates from the very bottom of the container. Fill the container with a saline solution that contains 1 pound of salt for every 6 gallons of water.

2. Allow the baby brine shrimp eggs to hatch. This should occur within 24 to 48 hours of decapsulation. A strong light can help with this process.

3. Prepare a new container with 35 parts per thousand salinity (about 1.8 pounds of salt for every 6 gallons of water) and bring the water temperature to 82.5 degrees Fahrenheit.

4. Pour the hatched baby brine shrimp through a brine shrimp net, rinse with fresh water, and add the shrimp to the new container and allow them to absorb their yolk sack. (The absorption will take between 18 and 24 hours).

5. Add 10 drops of Self Emulsifying Liquid Concentrate (SELCO) to the container once the brine shrimp have absorbed their yolk sacks. Allow 12 hours for the shrimp to absorb the concentrate.

Feeding

1. Remove the top from the dwarf seahorses' aquarium.

2. Sprinkle live, enriched baby brine shrimp into the water until your tank seems to be undergoing a moderate snow shower. (Adjust the amount of baby brine shrimp you provide to only what your dwarf seahorses can consume in about 4 hours.)

3. Turn off the tank filters for up to an hour and allow the baby brine shrimp to settle near the dwarf seahorses.

4. Feed the dwarf seahorses two or three times each day.

Tips & Warnings

• Plan to feed the seahorses first thing in the morning, and then twice more during the day.

References

• Seahorse.org: Tankmates: The Care of Dwarf Seahorses
• University of Florida IFAS Extension: Decapsulating Brine Shrimp Eggs
• Brine Shrimp Direct: SELCO