The fish that looks like a horse can be an excellent choice for an aquarium but it can be a bother as they tend to eat a lot. If you are planning to own a seahorse aquarium, you will be interested to know what they like to eat so let’s dive in.
Seahorses like to eat little aquatic organisms such as crustaceans (krill, grass shrimps, brine shrimps, copepods), Mysid shrimp, Plankton microalgae (seahorse Plankton), fish larvae, Rotifers, other small invertebrates, and small fish.
Seahorses tend to eat mostly small organisms due to their lack of teeth and subsequently have to suck their food in whole without chewing it.
What Do Seahorses Like to Eat in a Tank?
A seahorse living in a tank or aquarium will require a lot of maintenance as seahorses do not possess a stomach, thereby making everything they eat pass through their digestion system almost immediately. As a result of this, these small creatures are always eating.
A mature adult is said to eat up to 30 to 50 times in a day (I eat only three times!) and baby seahorses are reported to consume up to 3000 pieces of food in a single day as well.
The following are types of food seahorses like to eat to satisfy their fierce appetite:
Crustaceans
Seahorses really do love this group of organisms and tend to lean towards small crustaceans for easy ingestion.
Krill
This is one of their favorite foods. Krill provides a rich source of high-quality protein as well as a nutritious source of Omega-3 fatty acids. Krill is absolutely a good choice for feeding your seahorse and you will be happy to know that the antioxidant levels in the organism are quite higher than those found in fish.
Shrimp
These are necessary food for seahorses as shrimps are very rich in polyunsaturated fats, Omega-3 fatty acids, phosphorus, and vitamin B12.
Shrimp are also known to contain calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, choline, and selenium.
Grass shrimps and brine shrimps are good choices for your seahorse. Brine shrimp is exceptionally popular as food for seahorses compared to grass shrimp, because of its higher nutritional value.
Shrimps are commercially cultured for human and aquatic life consumption. Due to the fact that brine shrimps are poor in eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) when cultured for commercial use, they are fed with emulsions of marine oils high in EPA and DHA. Therefore, when purchasing brine shrimp for your seahorse, you should check to make sure it is enriched.
Copepods
These are small crustaceans that are rich in protein while still possessing good amino acid content (with the exception of methionine and histidine) and fatty acid content.
Mysid Shrimp
These organisms are often confused with shrimps. Despite having the word”shrimp” in its name, mysid shrimps are not a shrimp. It earned its name because of its female brood pouch that bears a striking resemblance to shrimps.
We can rightfully refer to them as false shrimps, but these organisms only maintain falseness in their name as there is nothing false about their remarkable nutritional value. They maintain a high essential fatty and amino acid content as well as possess chitin-based roughage for the good health of your seahorse.
Planktons
Plankton Microalgae
These are a popular food for Seahorses. They gained the name seahorse plankton by being a major source of food for seahorses. They are also widely used in the beauty industry for skincare products.
Fish Larvae or Larval Fish
These are zooplanktons that are loved by seahorses as they are the right size for the seahorse’s swallowing mechanism.
Rotifers
Rotifers are an excellent choice for feeding your seahorse as they not only serve as a source of food but also clean up the water in the aquarium and prevent the accumulation of waste matter.
These microscopic organisms, also known as wheel animals, are very vital to a seahorse’s diet. A baby seahorse finds it difficult to swallow the usual food but finds rotifers quite convenient to swallow.
An adult seahorse does not rely on rotifers as its main meal but feeds on it as a diet supplement which is highly recommendable as they are rich in fatty acids and vitamins C and E.
Do Seahorses Like to Eat Live or Frozen Food?
Seahorses love to eat live food and do not take a liking to frozen foods; hence feeding them frozen food might be an issue but it is quite inconvenient to constantly feed them “live food due to their fierce appetite.”
Therefore, it is always best to start feeding them their favorite, live food, and then gradually introduce frozen food into their meals by mixing them with their live food. Once they’ve become adapted to frozen food, their meals can lean more towards frozen treats.
Their live and frozen meals can easily be purchased at pet stores in your neighborhood or online. It is quite essential to buy their meals in sufficient quantity as seahorses eat a lot despite their small sizes (0.5 to 14 inches).
Final Thoughts
Seahorses are interesting creatures and will create a beautiful atmosphere in your aquarium. Understanding what they like to eat will go a long way in ensuring their survival as they eat a lot.
A seahorse is constantly eating but doesn’t have any notable effect on its size.
They love eating small organisms because of the ease of swallowing them as seahorses have no teeth.”