Seahorse infection

[Samira Waters]

Hi everyone. I’m hoping someone can help me as I have no idea what to do. I have a pair of adult erectus that I’ve had for about 3 months. The male looked like he developed a sore on 2 of his spines but it went away. About 3 weeks ago it came back but now it’s getting bigger and bigger. It also seems that there is an abscess like bump under that sore. I’ve dosed kanaplex as directed, tried putting neoplex directly on it but it seems to be getting worse. The tank is a 75g cube, water temp is 72, nitrates 25, po4 is 0, ph 8.1, salinity 1.024. Tank mates are 2 ruby red dragonets, a sleeper goby, peppermint shrimp (had an aiptasia outbreak). Corals are zoas, gorgonias, mushrooms.
I’m desperate at this point.

 

[TheShrimpNibbler]

Could it have stung itself on one of your mushrooms?

 

[Samira Waters]

I don’t think so. It’s been in there with him for a while and the other seahorses are fine. They come close to the mushrooms and nothing happens

 

[Paulie069]

I don’t think so. It’s been in there with him for a while and the other seahorses are fine. They come close to the mushrooms and nothing happens

Reach out to rayjay or Match makers magic those two have a lot of experience with the horses and care also reach out to Veeteguy or seahorse keeper They are all members of this website and are extremely informative on the RX of Seahorse. I myself have had many erectus seahorses for a few years now and I’ve never seen anything like that I manage to keep 15 seahorses in a 20 gallon tank for two years and the worst thing that ever happened was tail rot

 

[Paulie069]

Reach out to rayjay or Match makers magic those two have a lot of experience with the horses and care also reach out to Veeteguy or seahorse keeper They are all members of this website and are extremely informative on the RX of Seahorse. I myself have had many erectus seahorses for a few years now and I’ve never seen anything like that I manage to keep 15 seahorses in a 20 gallon tank for two years and the worst thing that ever happened was tail rot

When you did the medications I’m sure that you did it in a hospital tank how long did you treat for also have you tried furan ll tri sulfa these medications you use together at the same time and do a 10 day treatment I know that you mentioned that you tried the kanaplex how bout metroplex,Focus,,
I really hope everything works out for you the Erectus Seahorse is a beautiful creature

 

[Samira Waters]

When you did the medications I’m sure that you did it in a hospital tank how long did you treat for also have you tried furan ll tri sulfa these medications you use together at the same time and do a 10 day treatment I know that you mentioned that you tried the kanaplex how bout metroplex,Focus,,
I really hope everything works out for you the Erectus Seahorse is a beautiful creature

Yes I’m dosing in a hospital tank. I’m doing general cure now because someone suggested doing praziquantel as well, so I figured general cure would work. I’m also doing a furan II dip and putting neoplex. This morning I found him at the top of the tank and his abd(not pouch) looks bloated.

 

[rayjay]

If it were mine I'd treat in hospital tank (hitching and heavy open ended air line aeration) with Furan II and Tri-sulpha. It's important too to drop the temperature to 68°F or as close as possible to inhibit the bacterial growth.
However, as you mention a bloated abdomen that is NOT pouch related, you may also have to treat with Acetazolamide (Diamox) as well. Treat for the full duration recommended and you probably will have to repeat the treatment as it takes time to really get the healing underway so you can see a difference. I've done up to 3 full treatments to get results.
Now, the really unfortunate part is that you MUST rectify the cause of this which is water quality conditions.
The water quality has deteriorated to the point the nasty bacteria have expanded to plaque proportions causing those visible wounds and possibly organ failure as well. THERE ARE NO TEST KITS available to the hobbyist to tell you when the water has degraded to this point so pro-active husbandry and water changes are needed, not re-active after the fact.
You can have all the normal test kits showing OK but none of those are going to show you the problem.
If there isn't sufficient husbandry/water changes for that particular system and tank loading, the degradation eventually shows up with these problems and it can take anywhere from months to even a year or so.
You might not be cleaning out the mechanical filters often enough (for me twice a week) and/or not removing trapped detritus and uneaten food (usually out of sight) combined with insufficient volume of water changes and frequency.
A highly overrated protein skimmer will help tremendously. (rated for AT LEAST 3X your volume)
Now as I see this as bacterial, General Cure and Praziquantel are for parasitic problems and not going to help at this time.
While aiptasia stings can cause wounds that get infected by bacteria, the location on your seahorse to me indicates those spots aren't likely to have been aiptasia related. More likely aiptasa stings show on the tail as it drags across them.

 

[Paulie069]

If it were mine I'd treat in hospital tank (hitching and heavy open ended air line aeration) with Furan II and Tri-sulpha. It's important too to drop the temperature to 68°F or as close as possible to inhibit the bacterial growth.
However, as you mention a bloated abdomen that is NOT pouch related, you may also have to treat with Acetazolamide (Diamox) as well. Treat for the full duration recommended and you probably will have to repeat the treatment as it takes time to really get the healing underway so you can see a difference. I've done up to 3 full treatments to get results.
Now, the really unfortunate part is that you MUST rectify the cause of this which is water quality conditions.
The water quality has deteriorated to the point the nasty bacteria have expanded to plaque proportions causing those visible wounds and possibly organ failure as well. THERE ARE NO TEST KITS available to the hobbyist to tell you when the water has degraded to this point so pro-active husbandry and water changes are needed, not re-active after the fact.
You can have all the normal test kits showing OK but none of those are going to show you the problem.
If there isn't sufficient husbandry/water changes for that particular system and tank loading, the degradation eventually shows up with these problems and it can take anywhere from months to even a year or so.
You might not be cleaning out the mechanical filters often enough (for me twice a week) and/or not removing trapped detritus and uneaten food (usually out of sight) combined with insufficient volume of water changes and frequency.
A highly overrated protein skimmer will help tremendously. (rated for AT LEAST 3X your volume)
Now as I see this as bacterial, General Cure and Praziquantel are for parasitic problems and not going to help at this time.
While aiptasia stings can cause wounds that get infected by bacteria, the location on your seahorse to me indicates those spots aren't likely to have been aiptasia related. More likely aiptasa stings show on the tail as it drags across them.

Would like to know how ur seahorse is doing