Seahorse Advice

ericguzman49 · Jun 1, 2020

I have a pair of seahorse that have been doing really well in my tank swimming around and doing fine. They’ve been nipping at the live rock for copepods. But recently I started noticing that one of them will curl its tail up and seemingly scratch or pick at his head. I also watched him rub his head against the wood earlier. I’m thinking there is a parasite or even ich situation. What is the recommended ways to treat seahorses? I’m thinking doing a freshwater dip and then do hyposalinity. Or should I go with a medication? Here’s a picture of what he looks like. Any advice? Both are swimming and going around the tank

Shorething · Jun 2, 2020

Probably some sort of parasite. Freshwater dip may help. Are they wild caught?

Doctorgori · Jun 2, 2020

Same here FW dip or I use Formaldehyde 35% from Amazon ...I’ve heard cilliates are the cause but not sure

ericguzman49 · Jun 2, 2020

Shorething said:
Probably some sort of parasite. Freshwater dip may help. Are they wild caught?

They are aquacultured apparently when I got them

Shorething · Jun 2, 2020

Formalin dip is a great way to treat parasites and many other ailments in seahorses. Just make sure you run an airline while using it. Also only use it in a hospital tank or container. It will destroy your biological filter.

ThRoewer · Jun 2, 2020

ericguzman49 said:
They are aquacultured apparently when I got them

At a local store, I have seen aquacultured seahorses coming in from the farm with large fish lice (Argulus) on them.
Flukes (Capsalidae, a family of monogenean flatworms) are also quite possible in open aquaculture systems.
Do a thorough inspection of them with a magnifying glass to see if there is anything on them that shouldn't be there. Be aware that those things may not be easy to spot for the untrained eye so inspect any anomaly with extra scrutiny.

ericguzman49 · Jun 2, 2020

Doctorgori said:
Same here FW dip or I use Formaldehyde 35% from Amazon ...I’ve heard cilliates are the cause but not sure

I will look into that thank you!

ericguzman49 · Jun 2, 2020

ThRoewer said:
At a local store, I have seen aquacultured seahorses coming in from the farm with large fish lice (Argulus) on them.
Flukes (Capsalidae, a family of monogenean flatworms) are also quite possible in open aquaculture systems.
Do a thorough inspection of them with a magnifying glass to see if there is anything on them that shouldn't be there. Be aware that those things may not be easy to spot for the untrained eye so inspect any anomaly with extra scrutiny.

Thank you, that’s a good idea; I’ll inspect them closer for any signs!

ericguzman49 · Jun 2, 2020

Shorething said:
Formalin dip is a great way to treat parasites and many other ailments in seahorses. Just make sure you run an airline while using it. Also only use it in a hospital tank or container. It will destroy your biological filter.

Do you have a recommended formalin product?

ericguzman49 · Jun 5, 2020

Quick update: I did a freshwater dip on the seahorse pair but almost immediately they really stressed, thrashing around and trying to swim up and out. I was only able to keep them there for about 6 minutes since they started to lay on their side towards the end. I immediately put them back in their tank. It took a bit but they finally recovered and back to swimming around. Im wondering if perhaps there’s another method? Is Rally effective for this kind of thing?