It’s always sad when we lose a pet, particularly one we’ve had for a while. But death isn’t always a sad event–especially when the creature in question has lived a long, productive, and happy life. And that’s the case today. Ghillie joined my reef in early 2011, when he was just under six months old. He adored my adult seahorse, Cygnus–then the dominant male in the tank–and followed him everywhere. Ghillie even got along with Emperor Maximus Angryfish I, our watchman goby. Which led to Ghillie becoming a father: When I returned from dinner, she had died–but Ghillie stayed with her to the
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Magellan: Pixie of the Reef
Those who follow my Facebook page have also followed the saga of Magellan, the Little Seahorse That Could, but in the interest of getting his story all in one place, I’m sharing it here today. Last December, I purchased four baby captive-bred seahorses from Seahorse Source* in Florida (who I consider the best of the captive-bred seahorse suppliers in the United States). When the babies arrived, a couple of them hadn’t tolerated the shipping well, so after a brief introduction to the reef–in which the smallest and most curious baby acquired the name “Magellan”– Shortly after Magellan returned to the reef,
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Those who follow my Facebook Page already know, but in mid-December I bought some new baby seahorses to join my bachelor male, Ghillie, on the reef. The babies arrived two weeks before Christmas. One had a little trouble with the end of his tail (he couldn’t use it properly) After 14 days in the hospital, the two strongest babies were ready to enter the reef… The babies met Ghillie a few hours later–he was afraid of them at first, but quickly realized they didn’t mean him any harm. He even showed them how to use a feeding bowl: The other
Read moreThe Most Patient Shrimp in the World
Most of the time, my seahorses eat at regular places in the tank. The large male (Cygnus) and the female (Ceti) eat near the top of the tank, while the little male (Ghillie) eats alone near his favorite hitch at the bottom of the reef. Last night, however, Ceti noticed me feeding Ghillie and decided to share his dinner instead of swimming up for her own. She quickly discovered there wasn’t enough room for two on Ghillie’s coral hitch, so she snaked her tail around the closest object – in this case, a cleaner shrimp. I ran for my camera,
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