Has anyone ever tried keeping pygmy seahorses

[Oscaror]

Has anyone in the whole marine aquarium hobby, ever tried keeping pygmy seahorses?
I'm not talking about dwarf seahorses, i'm talking about these little guys!

They can literally spend their whole life on a single gorgonian so if you had a large gorgonian in a mixed reef I'm pretty sure they'd just sit in it nice and safe, I really need to know if there's a reason why nobody has tried to keep these because they have got to be the most beautiful seahorses in the world.

 

[Collinslice]

I've persoaly have never seen them collected for the hobby. Then again I just saw a weedy sea dragon on a wholesale list, I've always loved these little guys.

Maybe someday I'll get a gorg in that has them already in it hahaha

 

[Oscaror]

I've persoaly have never seen them collected for the hobby. Then again I just saw a weedy sea dragon on a wholesale list, I've always loved these little guys.

Maybe someday I'll get a gorg in that has them already in it hahaha

I acually did some research until about 1am after posting this and it turns out we don't know how they eat, but some theories are that it picks food that the gorgonians polyps catch, and it's why they can only live on a certain gorgonian, and die when it dies. And it's of course an extremely difficult to keep species that many public aquariums can't keep, the ocean needs to lower its standards.

 

[soggytees Verified Sponsor]

@SeahorseKeeper might have some information to help with here.

 

[coral tarracino]

I have a few Seahorses Put away but not Pigney!

 

[Squishie89]

These are not available in the hobby yet. The Steinhart Aquarium managed to get some either last year or 2 years ago and has been raising them. They are extremely difficult seahorses, you can't even really imagine how tiny they are, and they need their sea fan host, which has its own complexities with its diet and care needs. The area they live does not allow collection if I remember correctly, Steinhart worked hard for years to get all the permits to collect them.
http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/20...y-sea-horses-hatch-at-steinhart-aquarium.html
http://packedhead.net/category/steinhart-aquarium/
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/steinharts-baby-pygmy-seahorses-are-growing-up-so-fast

These just so happen to be my favorite seahorse so I try and keep up to date on them haha

 

[Dtackett]

http://seahorse.com/shop/Hawaiian-Hippocampus-fisheri.html

apparently they are available, well out of stock but it shows they were available.

 

[Dtackett]

http://seahorse.com/shop/Pixies-Hippocampus-zosterae.html

not "pygmy" but I think they are still actual pygmy seahorses they just call them pixie

 

[Ed Urias]

 

[vlangel]

http://seahorse.com/shop/Pixies-Hippocampus-zosterae.html

not "pygmy" but I think they are still actual pygmy seahorses they just call them pixie

No, nothing Ocean Rider has is the same as true pigmies. They have dwarfs and H fisheries both which are much different than true pigmies.

 

[Chrisfish]

Really nice video, they are awesome

 

[sunken3]

Has anyone in the whole marine aquarium hobby, ever tried keeping pygmy seahorses?
I'm not talking about dwarf seahorses, i'm talking about these little guys!

They can literally spend their whole life on a single gorgonian so if you had a large gorgonian in a mixed reef I'm pretty sure they'd just sit in it nice and safe, I really need to know if there's a reason why nobody has tried to keep these because they have got to be the most beautiful seahorses in the world.

Can I revive this thread? has anyone found these for sale yet?

 

[rayjay]

Sorry, NOT AVAILABLE

 

[Alaeriel]

The answer is they are absolutely not available, nor SHOULD they be at this point. Dedicated researchers are struggling to keep them, so it would be genocidal to offer them to the pet trade. As potentially the single most adorable creatures on the planet, for their sake I'm happy.

 

[sunken3]

The answer is they are absolutely not available, nor SHOULD they be at this point. Dedicated researchers are struggling to keep them, so it would be genocidal to offer them to the pet trade. As potentially the single most adorable creatures on the planet, for their sake I'm happy.

i suppose.. it was just a question. If they are really that expert only, i would agree.. but I also havent read anything that said they were impossible to keep... they lived off the gorgonian.. .so it seems if you can keep those, ... well.. youre mostly there.