They are finally Here!

[yveterinarian]

Took some more pictures today of the babies and thought I would post some of them.

One of the girls getting nice and close.

Another little girl.

One of the boys

All are doing very well. More babies were born today but I took them to Ray as I still have no room for them. At least they have a chance.

 

[sunnykita]

Absolutely adorable ! I can hardly wait til I'm able to pick up mine

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

 

[BigReefer]

wow thats soooo neat!!

 

[yveterinarian]

Took a new set of pictures today. I am always amazed at how they seem to love to hitch together even if they have lots of other hitches in the tank. More of the females are turning a light color now and their markings are fabulous.

One of the groups of girls just before feeding this morning.

A closeup of a little girl

I love the markings on this little boy!

 

[heath]

they are beautiful, you have done an amazing job..

 

[yveterinarian]

they are beautiful, you have done an amazing job..

Thanks, It has been quite a journey and a joy to see these little guys grow from something that is about the size of a mosquito larvae to this. I have loved every minute of it.

 

[heath]

reading about them and your journey has/is sparking my interest.. maybe after the 75 gal, shhh don't tell anyone, this was going to be my last tank..

 

[sunnykita]

they're gorgeous Yvette !

 

[SamB]

Awesome Yvette !!

 

[yveterinarian]

they're gorgeous Yvette !

Thanks Sherry

Awesome Yvette !!

Thanks Sam

Today I spent the last 3 hours doing a much needed and often put off full cleaning of my fry system. I rinsed out all of the filter floss and bioballs in saltwater so that I didn't destroy the beneficial bacteria and thoroughly cleaned the section of the sump where they were housed. It is difficult for me to reach that section because it is blocked since I put the 75 gallon tank in there. I had to do some interesting contortions to get in there and clean it properly. I was appalled at the amount of brown, dirty water that I removed when cleaning. A large water change completed the cleaning and I poured in some Stability just in case any of the bacteria was flushed out in the dirty water. Tomorrow I will test the ammonia to make sure I don't get any spikes due to my intense cleaning. I have the "Prime" ready and waiting just in case.

 

[sunnykita]

I've got to get organized so I can bring some ponies home Your dedication shows Yvette !

 

[yveterinarian]

Yesterday I was looking at my 60 gallon tank with all the little girls and what do I find? A little boy in there!! Now I know I separated them all months ago and there were no boys in there. I remembered reading something on Seahorse.org where Hermaphroditism can happen sometimes so I went back and did some more reading. Apparently, if there are too many girls and no males, some of the girls will change sex and become male. As far as they know there have been no cases where males become female.
The ratio of males to females that I was able to raise is approximately 2:1 so I couldn't afford to have any more of my females converting so I decided to put some males in with them to stop this phenomena from happening again.
The only downside to this plan is that I will be getting another rush of babies soon...

 

[heath]

OMG, I guess there is no way to (try) controlling mother nature..

 

[heath]

is that common, would they do it if there were say just 2 females ?

 

[yveterinarian]

To tell you the truth I don't know how common it is. I have seen it mentioned a few times on Seahorse.org but it doesn't seem to be the norm when people have a couple of girls in their tank.

 

[heath]

you just have very fertile ladies

 

[scubasteve]

lmao thats good to know lol maybe she was a tomboy at heart

 

[Nonuser]

I'd call her Caitlyn

 

[yveterinarian]

Some updated photos taken this morning.

These first ones are of the males in my fry system. They are constantly on the move so it is difficult to get a good, clear shot...

They like to congregate together so it is very hard to get an individual shot these days. They are all approximately 6-7" long and there are probably 6-10 seahorses all on this one decoration - they have lots of others to choose from but somehow they like to clump together, LOL

These one are shots of babies I have put into my display tank. As you can see, since I have light colored decorations in here, they tend to be lighter than the above pictures but they are from the same batches of seahorses. Color can vary from time of day, to mood, to surroundings and if they are flirting etc. This morning I noticed one of them that was black and white on the bottom half and his head was tan yellow! Unfortunately the camera wasn't nearby so I missed the shot. There are so many variables that affect color...