Seahorses Go Organic
Baby seahorses are soon to be introduced to a new range of specially grown organic foods to increase their chance of survival at the National Sea Life centre in Birmingham.
Born smaller than the size of a 5 pence piece, newborn seahorses have a tough start in life.
“Once the male has given birth, the parents aren’t great at looking after their young. Trying to encourage these miniscule mysterious creatures to grow is quite a task,” said Robin Mannion, aquarist at the centre.
The breeding and conservation centre in Birmingham is specifically designed to research and develop the growth of these declining species of sea creature.
“We have created our own eco system with the help of living rock, live coral and a refugium which develops its own filtration system,” said Robin.
Without the rigorous filtration from the standard tanks, the newly set up tank has started to develop many copepod which are small living creatures feeding off the algae and living rock.
“Once this project has developed a sufficient level of organisms it will provide a rich diet for the young babies 24 hours a day. This is crucial as seahorses do not have stomachs and always seem to be hungry.”
It is an exciting development for the centre who are keen to grow the stand alone nursery and see these seahorses develop to young adolescents.
See the new eco system and seahorses ready to go organic.
Please call to arrange a time to get further images and details.
Issued by the national sea life centre.
For more details contact: Gemma Wallace 0121 643 6777 or 07980 653083.
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