Seahorse disease

[Angel_Anthias lover]

Can anyone tell whats wrong with my seahorses tail, it seems to be almost like dislodged scales and im worries it could be a bacterial infection, the inside of her tail is whiteish. Ive had her for 3 weeks now. She eats and behaves normally otherwise, and still uses her tail to get about

 

[Samina]

They don’t have scales on their bodies so it wouldn’t be due to dislodging. Possibly mucus sloughing?
Do you have a hospital tank and furan 2 on hand?

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

Oh yea thats right they dont have scales, and i dont have a hospital tank, but if i bathed her in furan 2would that help, i dont have it, but i could order it

 

[Samina]

Do you have a 5g bucket and some bottled bac you could possibly use? It could be just sloughing excess mucus which in some cases it’s normal. But it could also be an onset of a bacterial infection. I personally would order the furan 2 and go that route. It’s good to have on hand anyway in case you need to use it. Gradually acclimate her to a lower temp of like around 68F and have good aeration in the bucket also.

Let’s get more eyes on this for you though

#reefsquad

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

Thanks for your help, ill try and get some asap.

 

[Samina]

Thanks for your help, ill try and get some asap.

Good luck!! I’m sure folks with more insight will chime in soon for you also!

Gorgeous horse by the way

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

Thanks, shes a half spined seahorse, she was brought into the lfs basically in hope of someone buying her for christmas and nobody did and her partner died so i thought id try and give her a better chance, especially cause she wouldnt get much attention over the christmas period cause my lfs is closed for like a week.
She has really pretty fine red spots all over her body sometimes which ive never noticed in a seahorse before.

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

Thats a better photo from a while ago when her tail wasnt so bad

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

More recent photos of the tail if they help

 

[rayjay]

I agree with treating with Furan II in a hospital tank with heavy aeration from an open ended air line(s). You can also treat with tri-sulpha at the same time.
Tail rot like that is due to poor water quality such that the nasty bacteria are expanding to plague proportions and attack seahorses with the weakest immune system first. THERE ARE NO TEST KITS AVAILABLE TO THE HOBBYIST that can tell you when the water has reached this point, and you could have ALL tests kits that you CAN access showing ideal readings so the only answer is to be PRO-active rather than RE-active with regards to husbandry and water change protocols.
This means that while you are treating the seahorse in a hospital tank/container you can start improving the conditions in the display tank at the same time, meticulously cleaning any debris/detritus, especially from unseen areas, cleaning all mechanical filter pads/media, and do a very large water change so that it will be ready when the seahorse is ready to go back.

 

[vonjankmon]

Just to educate a bit about why people are recommending Furan-2, bacteria can be gram positive or gram negative. Many anti-bacteria treatments available only treat one or the other. When you are unsure of what is effecting your livestock selecting medication that deals with both is the best way to cover all possibilities. If for some reason you are unable to find something like Furan-2 make sure you get other medications that either deal with both or buy two different anti-biotics that cover both gram positive and negative.

I have had excellent luck over the 10 years I kept seahorses with treating diseases as long as I had the proper medication on hand to begin treatment in a hospital tank once I detected a problem. Just remember that the medication expires so you need to toss the old and buy new every 2 years or so. The only time I wasn't able to handle the issue is when one of my males got internal gas bubble disease, I had to take him to a specialty vet to get Diamox for him, which I learned you can get in liquid form, shrimped flavored.

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

Just to educate a bit about why people are recommending Furan-2, bacteria can be gram positive or gram negative. Many anti-bacteria treatments available only treat one or the other. When you are unsure of what is effecting your livestock selecting medication that deals with both is the best way to cover all possibilities. If for some reason you are unable to find something like Furan-2 make sure you get other medications that either deal with both or buy two different anti-biotics that cover both gram positive and negative.

I have had excellent luck over the 10 years I kept seahorses with treating diseases as long as I had the proper medication on hand to begin treatment in a hospital tank once I detected a problem. Just remember that the medication expires so you need to toss the old and buy new every 2 years or so. The only time I wasn't able to handle the issue is when one of my males got internal gas bubble disease, I had to take him to a specialty vet to get Diamox for him, which I learned you can get in liquid form, shrimped flavored.

Thanks for the help, my mums a vet so hopefully if i get gas bubble disease she may have some of that lol. In the hospital tank what should i put in it for the seahorse to hold onto that wont damage her, and also is chaetomorpha ok to keep in a seahorse tank i was thinking it coild help reduce nitrates to limit algae growth, but thought it may trap detritus too which would help he bacteria grow

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

Just to educate a bit about why people are recommending Furan-2, bacteria can be gram positive or gram negative. Many anti-bacteria treatments available only treat one or the other. When you are unsure of what is effecting your livestock selecting medication that deals with both is the best way to cover all possibilities. If for some reason you are unable to find something like Furan-2 make sure you get other medications that either deal with both or buy two different anti-biotics that cover both gram positive and negative.

I have had excellent luck over the 10 years I kept seahorses with treating diseases as long as I had the proper medication on hand to begin treatment in a hospital tank once I detected a problem. Just remember that the medication expires so you need to toss the old and buy new every 2 years or so. The only time I wasn't able to handle the issue is when one of my males got internal gas bubble disease, I had to take him to a specialty vet to get Diamox for him, which I learned you can get in liquid form, shrimped flavored.

Thanks for the help, my mums a vet so hopefully if i get gas bubble disease she may have some of that lol. In the hospital tank what should i put in it for the seahorse to hold onto that wont damage her, and also is chaetomorpha ok to keep in a seahorse tank i was thinking it coild help reduce nitrates to limit algae growth, but thought it may trap detritus too which would help he bacteria grow.

 

[Gareth elliott]

Ok so admittedly never treated a sea horse but could you add neoplex and kanaplex like you do with scaled fishes to increase the spectrum of bacteria treated? Hope the little guy pulls through

i forget the company name, but can buy sea grass out of a florida company. Which can be used similar to plants in a planted and be a latching source and nutrient eater. If wanted a display algae option.

 

[rayjay]

Hospital tank should not have any live algae or animal in there other than the seahorse(s). Just the treatments and open ended air lines.
Hitching can be anything that doesn't give off any nasties in salt water, like artificial plants, plastic chain etc...
Shouldn't be worrying about nitrates because the water changes done for proper treatment will eliminate that.
If you have something to use but don't have instructions you may be able to find it here.

IPS Driver Error

forum.seahorse.org

 

[Paulie069]

Can anyone tell whats wrong with my seahorses tail, it seems to be almost like dislodged scales and im worries it could be a bacterial infection, the inside of her tail is whiteish. Ive had her for 3 weeks now. She eats and behaves normally otherwise, and still uses her tail to get about

First of all beautiful pony love color, it could be start of tail rot and need to get on top of it ASAP. I only know because I just went thru this situation, check out my thread, My poor little buddy,, and You will see what I mean,, I don’t know enough to start giving advice but the advice I got was great and informative along with a list of meds. Please read that thread you will also get good advice from it

 

[matchmakersmagic]

Do you have close up photos of the area in question?

+1 on the gram +/- meds.

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

Best photo i can currently get sorry, the lights are a bit odd in my tank and make it distorted sometimes

 

[Paulie069]

Best photo i can currently get sorry, the lights are a bit odd in my tank and make it distorted sometimes

How’s ur seahorse doing. Hope you were able to get the meds it needs and he’s getting better. Please keep us informed

 

[matchmakersmagic]

I may have the unpopular opinion here but it looks like a sting/abrasion to me. Tail rot moves very very fast and IMO if that's what your female has it would be quickly moving up her tail by now.

What else do you have in the tank? Corals, fish, crabs, heater, etc - anything that could of hurt her tail? Sorry if you've already answered those questions already, just trying to get the full picture.

Since tail rot can be brought on by small injuries I would treat her with betadine dabbed on her tail a couple times a day. Just hold her out of water and softly dab the area with a dry q-tip then apply the betadine, wait 20 seconds or so then blot dry and release her. Even better if you can find Allicin in the first aid section and do the same as the betadine 3-4x a day.

Hopefully she wont get full on tail rot. Keep us updated!