Visit to Draco Marine Aquaculture in Baltimore MD *UPDATE*

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
Fluff

Fluff

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Apr 30, 2004
Messages
11,423
Location
West Virginia
I had the opportunity to visit Draco Marine today. It was awesome. More seahorses than I've ever seen, let alone in one place. And Jorge is very knowledgable, helpful and just a super nice guy. They currently breed three species of seahorse. (erectus, reidi and kudas) I walked away with a pair of erectus and a pair of reidi. Here are some pics of my visit. Anyone in the area interested in seahorses, I would encourage you to set up a visit to Draco Marine. They are currently working on a website. It's not finished yet but you can get their contact info from there. http://dracomarine.org/
It's my understanding that they will soon be fully operational and shipping will be available. I got the chance to listen to Jorge speak at MACNA this year and it was great getting to meet and talk with him one on one. Ok, here are some pics. Oh, and they also had several pairs of seadragons there that they are working with them in the hopes of propagating them. They were incredible. :D

The first pics is of his brooding stock. These horses were huge and very pregnant. The other pic, though it's hard to see, is a tank full of babies. Seems there was babies in every tank. lol
 
Wonderful! and best of luck with this batch. If yours do well, I just may get a few in the spring. Sure wish he had barbouri....where are the pics of yours? :)
 
I have been lucky enough to have seen the leafy and weedy seadragons in the wild, diving off the east coast here. Beautiful creatures and a very reclusive species. Very lucky to have the dragons in Australia only. Its good to see they are trying to breed them rather than decline the small amounts that are already left. I have heard stories of American collectors paying upwards of $15,000 dollars for these guys. That was 2-3 years ago.
 
Here are my new horses. The filamented ones are H. erectus. The yellows are H. Reidi. :D Have to excuse the air bubbles on the fake plant. :?
 
Cool! Where in Baltimore are they located, I couldn't find the location on their website. And are they only going to have seahorses, or will they be having fish also?
 
His prices vary depending on species from 50-65 ea. Very reasonable. They are feeding strictly on mysid shrimp twice daily with a supplement powder added once a day. I'm not sure what size Draco's tanks are, I'm gonna guess they are around 70-80 gallon tanks. The tank I have mine in is a 44g Hex. They had the seadragons in vats of several hundred gallon though. They have several systems and each system was, I estimate about 500g each. As well, each system contained 6-9 tanks of horses. The skimmers on the system were HUGE. I'm guessing about ten feet in height and each row had their own skimmer. I don't know what specs your looking for. Or if my explanation makes sense. lol Wish now that I would have taken more pictures but I didn't want to take advantage of their generosity in letting me take the ones I did. They are a new business but are well on their way to something spectacular. Dr Mac & Sons is now carrying Draco seahorses as well. http://www.drmaccorals.com/sys-tmpl...w.nhtml?profile=tankraisedseahorses&UID=10013
Check out the reviews at their website.
 
20 20

Seahorses only is my understanding. They're address is:

Draco Marine Aquaculture
Center of Marine Biotechnology
Pier 5, 701 East Pratt Street
Baltimore, MD

Pretty easy to find. We parked at the Pier 5 parking garage and the building was beside the garage, and just a hop away from the Baltimore Aquarium. There is no sign outside advertising Draco. You have to go inside the Center of Marine Biotechnology to find them. (Be sure to set up an appt. first so they are expecting you. You have to sign in at the security desk and wait til they come get you to get inside.) If you've ever been to Baltimore or the Aquarium, you've seen the building and just didn't know what it was. It's the building with the white canvas roof.
 
Yep, I know where that is, I've been downtown many times. Was just at the Aquarium a month ago. Thanks.
 
A 25g would be fine for a pair of horses, maybe two. They get 12" long so height has to be a factor when your choosing a tank IMO. When I talked to him I told him I had a 30g and he suggested two pairs.

On a side note, I think my male Reidi is pregnant. 8O
 
I got baby seahorses. Doubtful they will survive the 48hrs I will need to get food for them though. I'll be posting pics in a few.

Ok, here are some pics. They are so small, it's really hard to photograph them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

L
angelfish are so cool!
Replies
3
Views
504
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
Janet H
  • Sticky
Forum Update - We're back! Ask your questions here.
Replies
5
Views
1K
Autumnsky
Autumnsky
L
angelfish update
Replies
3
Views
517
LVstealth
L
E
What should I add to my tank alongside my current neon tetras?
Replies
5
Views
628
Joe_D
J
F
Time to help my platties on their way
Replies
7
Views
355
Andy Sager
Andy Sager

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom