Help with seahorse

[ThePurple12]

Yeah, might as well

 

[Lkemja]

Yeah, might as well

Here's the other prob. What about the dwarfs. I believe 2nof my males are pregnant and I have 6 ponies

 

[NashobaTek]

I wouldn't stress the preg males

 

[rayjay]

Here is info by the best of seahorse breeders, Dan Underwood of Seahorsesource.com

How To Give A Seahorse a Freshwater Dip | FusedJaw

Freshwater dips for seahorses is often necessary to remove external parasites. Dan Underwood of Seahorse Source explains how to perform this easy procedure.

web.archive.org

At this time you don't need to do the other one that shows no signs of a problem. However, the longer the tank goes without rectifying the "water quality", the more chance of it coming down with a problem also. Might even be a different problem caused by the same water conditions.
I also think you need to set up the hospital tank now and transfer it without waiting any longer. Leaving it too long means less chance of a successful turnaround.

 

[Lkemja]

Here is info by the best of seahorse breeders, Dan Underwood of Seahorsesource.com

How To Give A Seahorse a Freshwater Dip | FusedJaw

Freshwater dips for seahorses is often necessary to remove external parasites. Dan Underwood of Seahorse Source explains how to perform this easy procedure.

web.archive.org

At this time you don't need to do the other one that shows no signs of a problem. However, the longer the tank goes without rectifying the "water quality", the more chance of it coming down with a problem also. Might even be a different problem caused by the same water conditions.
I also think you need to set up the hospital tank now and transfer it without waiting any longer. Leaving it too long means less chance of a successful turnaround.

Ok will do that as soon as I get home. I have an emergency tank but haven't had chance to get it up and running yet.
I will diff do the fresh water dip whem I get home. Ill pay attention to PH

 

[Lkemja]

I dont know guys, I think I'm loosing her.. i did fw dip. Took her out after 5min. She wasn't doing well

 

[rayjay]

It doesn't look good unfortunately.
What actually happened when you placed the seahorse into the FWD? Was there a lot of thrashing around and could you see anything come from the seahorse? It would look like maybe tiny food particles but in fact if anything does come off it is parasite exploding due to the fresh water. After the initial thrashing the seahorse usually calms down and lies motionless pretty well but moves again if you touch it.

 

[Lkemja]

The pic is back in her tank. The breathing,moved a bit. Oreo,(blk and wht) is fine and eating. Dipped her in too.this is what i see in the bucket. Maybe food from a plant? I really can't tell and not sure what I'm actually looking for

 

[rayjay]

Is this the FWD bucket? If so, it will be remnants of the parasites from the seahorse as I expect you would have rinsed the artificial hitching decor before placing into the bucket.

 

[Lkemja]

Yes I did rinse it. Yes thats the fwd bucket. Probably not great but I did rinse
How often should the fwd happen?

 

[rayjay]

I never do them more than I really have to. If it is still scratching it's head and gill area it shows the parasites are still out of control and it needs a dip again. HOWEVER, with the seahorse lying on the bottom I'm hesitant to say do it again.
If it was mine, I'd have it in a hospital tank with fresh salt water matching s.g., temp and pH of display tank, heavy aeration from open ended air lines and artificial hitching. As there are no physical signs of infection I would assume the main problem to be internal bacterial infection and as such, treat with Furan II and/or Tri-sulpha.
Unfortunately treatment doesn't always work if it is not started early in the progression of the disease.
At this point, even if it is NOT bacterial, we have no way to know for sure, but if left without treatment you will certainly loose it, but treatment MAY save it.

 

[Lkemja]

Thank you so much. I will get on it in the a.m. hope it won't be too late. Itching started yesterday. No more than 2 days

 

[rayjay]

I have a page with Seahorse meds and dosing for most meds used that came from ANN on seahorse.org. As I didn't know how long the site would be working, I put the thread on my website so if you are interested you can view it at: http://www.angelfire.com/ab/rayjay/MEDICATIONS.html

 

[Lkemja]

I have a page with Seahorse meds and dosing for most meds used that came from ANN on seahorse.org. As I didn't know how long the site would be working, I put the thread on my website so if you are interested you can view it at: http://www.angelfire.com/ab/rayjay/MEDICATIONS.html

Thank you so muchrayjay. I greatly appreciate all your help

 

[Lkemja]

Sad to say,I lost nugget. Must have been sometime lastnight. Im devastated. She wasn't just another seahorse to throw away. I love all my guys the same. I know some.people are just ah just another dead one and throw them in trash or flush them down the toilet. Not me. My husband and myself are passionate with out tanks and whenever 1 is lost,we get sad and upset.

 

[Lkemja]

I have a page with Seahorse meds and dosing for most meds used that came from ANN on seahorse.org. As I didn't know how long the site would be working, I put the thread on my website so if you are interested you can view it at: http://www.angelfire.com/ab/rayjay/MEDICATIONS.html

Should I treat the tank? I don't see any of the other seahorses scratching or anything. 2 of my dwarfs are preg and there are ponoes that are 3 weeks old

 

[rayjay]

I'm sorry for the loss. Most of us have gone through it before you. In my case it has happened MANY times over the 18 yrs I've been keeping them, especially in my earlier years.
NEVER TREAT A DISPLAY TANK!! Treatment should ALWAYS be done in a hospital/quarantine tank which for most people is a ten gallon tank partly due to convenience as med dosing is usually based on 10g. Some use a 5g so it just means 1/2 dose of medicine.
The first thing that should be done is the separation. Get a small tank set up (2-5g depending on how many dwarfs you intend to keep) and transfer the dwarfs to it.
That will make it much easier to maintain water quality for the remaining erectus to survive in the 15g tank. If you wish to get another erectus, or even more, you can first set up an appropriate sized tank for the numbers you wish to keep.
Before you buy more seahorses though, I'd suggest doing more research into their needs (that have changed drastically over my years in the hobby as we have learned more about them) to give the best chance of success.
Different people have succeeded with varying methods, but the key is to maintain water quality that CANNOT be tested for with any test kit available to hobbyists. It's something that doesn't happen immediately as it's more a gradual decline, the rate of which depends on each system and protocols for cleaning/water change, and equipment set up to deal with it. (an extremely oversized protein skimmer works very well to help by removing dissolved organics)
Anyway, one thread is not enough for you to get insight on everything, or the variety of ways to accomplish success.
At the top of this forum there are a LOT of stickies that you can read through with some info more important than other.
If you are on Facebook you can click on "FiLES" on https://www.facebook.com/groups/Seahorsesource and "FILES" on https://www.facebook.com/groups/SeahorseSolutions for more sources.
I decry the advent of social media that has displaced forums, but they are in fact what most people now choose to use so you can get a lot more traffic going to the Facebook pages although forums were MUCH easier to locate specific information at any time.
Facebook though can usually give you a faster response if you have an emergency situation, and a greater variety of opinions on other questions you may have.

 

[Lkemja]

I'm sorry for the loss. Most of us have gone through it before you. In my case it has happened MANY times over the 18 yrs I've been keeping them, especially in my earlier years.
NEVER TREAT A DISPLAY TANK!! Treatment should ALWAYS be done in a hospital/quarantine tank which for most people is a ten gallon tank partly due to convenience as med dosing is usually based on 10g. Some use a 5g so it just means 1/2 dose of medicine.
The first thing that should be done is the separation. Get a small tank set up (2-5g depending on how many dwarfs you intend to keep) and transfer the dwarfs to it.
That will make it much easier to maintain water quality for the remaining erectus to survive in the 15g tank. If you wish to get another erectus, or even more, you can first set up an appropriate sized tank for the numbers you wish to keep.
Before you buy more seahorses though, I'd suggest doing more research into their needs (that have changed drastically over my years in the hobby as we have learned more about them) to give the best chance of success.
Different people have succeeded with varying methods, but the key is to maintain water quality that CANNOT be tested for with any test kit available to hobbyists. It's something that doesn't happen immediately as it's more a gradual decline, the rate of which depends on each system and protocols for cleaning/water change, and equipment set up to deal with it. (an extremely oversized protein skimmer works very well to help by removing dissolved organics)
Anyway, one thread is not enough for you to get insight on everything, or the variety of ways to accomplish success.
At the top of this forum there are a LOT of stickies that you can read through with some info more important than other.
If you are on Facebook you can click on "FiLES" on https://www.facebook.com/groups/Seahorsesource and "FILES" on https://www.facebook.com/groups/SeahorseSolutions for more sources.
I decry the advent of social media that has displaced forums, but they are in fact what most people now choose to use so you can get a lot more traffic going to the Facebook pages although forums were MUCH easier to locate specific information at any time.
Facebook though can usually give you a faster response if you have an emergency situation, and a greater variety of opinions on other questions you may have.

Thank you.i will diffenitely look into that. One of my preg dwarfs had fry this a.m. now i have 3 adult pairs,6 or 7 that are 3 weeks old and not sure how many newbies. Happy to see them

 

[Doctorgori]

OP, I’ve only got a lil over 18mos with seahorses. So I’m. Just supplementing RayJays comments:
- Bacterial issues follow temps; 77F + = “bad”
- I wouldn’t read or follow any of the “I don’t change water” threads
- You do need to enrich your BBS. Allyssa and Dan both sell a enrichment. I’ve raised some on just green water fed BBS, but either way Plan a 48-72 HR BBS pipeline and use 2-3 hatchery setups in rotation
- Seahorses are sloppy eaters. Dish training helps and so do softies & LPS near the feeding station: I have Gonis and Lords stationed around the dish. I’ve observed no stinging issues

 

[Lkemja]

I went to fish store to get med,this is what they suggested. What you think?1 push for 1 gallon for 1 hr. 25%water change 24 hr later and repeat treatment in 1 week to make sure no more parasites