Seahorse Food

Seahorse Food: Brine shrimp

Seahorse food. Brine shrimp

Adult brine shrimp are probably one of the most common foods recommended by local fish shops to feed a seahorse. However they are very low in nutritional value and should be enriched with vitamins before feeding them to seahorses. A seahorse will happily eat brine shrimp but will die if no other nutritional foods are fed to them.

Seahorse Food: Copepods

Seahorse food. Copepods

Copepods are very small crustaceans that can be found in plankton. In an established aquarium with live rock there will be plenty of different species available. They can often be seen on the glass before you turn the tanks lights on. They are a good food source for fry but hard to maintain in large numbers

Seahorse Food: Chameleon shrimp

Seahorse food. Chameleon shrimp

This food source is readily found in rock pools so if you live by the sea then they will be a eagerly eaten by your seahorses. They are up to 2.5 cm long and change color depending on what algae they eat.

Seahorse Food: Mysis Shrimp

Seahorse food. Mysis shrimp

Mysis shrimp are a great food to feed seahorses. They are about 2.5cm long and an adult seahorse will happily consume 30 of these per day. They are not readily available in a fish store and certainly live ones are very hard to come by.

Seahorse Food: Rotifers

Seahorse food. Rotifers

Rotifers are very good when helping to raise seahorses. They are very small and available from most fish stores. It is always a good idea to enrich these before giving them to seahorses.

Seahorse Food: Rockhoppers
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These are a good food source for seahorses but hard to find in the wild. They are found under rocks in rock pools.

There are many important considerations to think about when looking after seahorses, not just what to feed them. You will need to learn what 'Type of Seahorse', you have so that you can provide the most natural living conditions for it to thrive. It is also recommended that you learn how to 'Treat a Sick Seahorse', so that you are prepared for this possible scenario. 

Because Seahorses numbers are dwindling at an alarming rate you should only purchase captive bred ones, and if you have a healthy pair, you can do your part and try to breed them to help increase the numbers of captive bred seahorses. Home Aquarium keepers really are helping to boost captive bred seahorse numbers which is a great thing. 

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