Cpt. Copepod

Try a beer cooler - they are marine grade stainless steel, pubs and breweries dispose of them every few years, even if they are working. You may be able to pick one up for next to nothing.

Both NIWA and Hawkes Bay Aquaculture ( Blair Grey) have developed methods to culture large numbers of sea horses for the aquarium market. I don't think HBA are selling any at the moment. Here are a couple of scientific papers that may help: Woods, C.M.C. (2000). Preliminary observations on breeding and rearing the seahorse Hippocampus abdominalis (Teleostei: Syngnathidae) in captivity. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 34: 475-485. Woods, C.M.C. (2000). Improving initial survival in cultured seahorses, Hippocampus abdominalis Leeson, 1827 (Teleostei: Syngnathidae). Aquaculture 190: 377-388. Woods, C. (2002). Seahorse culture. Seafood New Zealand, Vol. 10 No. 1 (Feb 2002).

Hi Thanks for the responses I need newly hatched guppies as a live feed for larger fish larvae. A few hundered would do as a trial. At this stage quality isn't a major issue. What's out there and what do they cost ?

Hi - happy to add comments where I can, but probably only of limited use as I don't keep fish, but have been involved in commercial aquaculture - I suggest you look up mysids (and copepods) on any internet search engine, they're out there! ( Also to be found in shallow coastal areas and estuaries). My main interest at the moment is to find a source of newly hatched guppies in NZ - any ideas ?

I'm interested in obtaining some newly hatched guppies - anyone know a breeder in NZ ?

Try using live mysids if you can catch them. Or frozen ones if you can't. Artemia are OK but need to be enriched to meet the nutritional requirements of marine fish.