Brazilian seahorse not eating

[Dkray944]

Cheryl,


Sorry for the delay. I just noticed your post. I wasn't sure how to move the thread so I just started a new one. I have 3 wild caught brazilian seahorses. Two of them I've have had for 2.5 months and the other one I just bought two weeks ago. The two older ones are doing pretty good. One of them moves around like a champ. The other I worry about a little bit because he's gotten a little darker. The 3rd one I just bought was eating frozen mysis but then about a week and half ago stoped eating regularly. She's almost acting lonely. At the store she was the most active and brightest colored but now it's reversed. I bought all if them from Aquarium Design. I checked the water paremeters and everything seams nomal. Attached are a couple pics of the tank for you reference. It's a 30 gallon half circle with a good size sump below with plenty of live rock, refugium, ATO unit and protein skimmer. Let me know what you think. 2546125462

[leliataylor]

Thank you for the information it tells me a lot. What temperature is their tank? Ideally you want to keep them below 74' to reduce the potential for bacterial proliferation. Since your female was taking frozen and has stopped eating the most common cause is ciliates causing a inflammation of the trigger (the hyoid bone and surrounding musculature). This is the mechanism that allows a seahorse to open and close its mouth and creates the suction necessary to ingest food. Does her mouth tend to stay open or not close completely? The first line of treatment is a fresh water dip. I FW dip all my wild caught seahorses and would advise you to treat all 3. The following gives the instructions.


FRESHWATER DIP Preparation Instructions (From Seahorse.org)
Active Ingredient: Not applicable. Works via osmotic pressure.
Indication: external parasites
• Fill a small tank with aged, aerated, dechlorinated freshwater. Match the pH and temperature to that of the tank the Seahorse is currently in.
• Add an artifical hitch and an airline.
• Place the Seahorse into the freshwater and observe its reaction.
• If the Seahorse thrashes or shows signs of irritation leave it in the freshwater for 8 minutes minimum, 18 minutes maximum (Discomfort is an indication that the dip is killing parasites).
• If the Seahorse lays listless at the bottom check to see that it is breathing, its eyes react to movement, and it responds to being touched. If this is the case, leave the Seahorse in the freshwater for 8 minutes minimum, 18 minutes maximum. If the Seahorse becomes unresponsive, immediately return it to the hospital tank.
• Observe the Seahorse for 24hrs for signs of improvement.

It generally takes 24 hours to see a improvement. Another concern is the onset of a bacterial infection, which becomes a secondary problem. If you can drop the tank temp down to 68' this is your first line of defense for bacterial issues. If she will take brine shrimp, you can gut load them with ascorbyl palmitate which the shrimp will convert to vitamin C. This will help boost her immune system.

Can you get a clear picture of her head?

[leliataylor]

Two pictures of the same male the first the hyoid bone is partially extended and the second it is closed.

[Dkray944]

Thank you Cheryl. You are correct. The mouth tends to stay open. Unfortunately I'm out of town however we never did a fresh water dip. I'll try to walk my wife through everything later today. Hopefully she'll be able to do it. I'll let you know how it turns out.

[Dkray944]

Sorry, the temp also stays around 74-75. I appreciate your help.

[leliataylor]

You are very welcome, I am here to help. You can buy a clip on fan and place it over the sump. Typically a fan will drop the temp about 3'. If she does not improve in 24 hours after a FW dip then a formalin bath will need to be done. Let me know and I will post instructions. Once you are back in town I can give you some formalin, brine shrimp enrichment and ascorbyl palmitate. Unfortunately all my antibiotics are outdated as I have not used any in over 2 years. You might also want to consider obtaining some Furan 2 in case antibiotics are needed. I learned the hard way to proactively treat wild caught seahorses before they developed symptoms.

Best of luck and keep me posted.

P.S. I will give you the formalin, enrichment and ascorbyl palmitate.

[Dkray944]

Ok my wife managed to do a fresh water dip on all three for 12-13 minutes. I went ahead and ordered the furan 2 along with some live mysid shrimp. Everything should be here no later then Thursday. My wife stated the one in question isn't looking so good but only time will tell. The other two seem to be doing fine. I'll let you know how they are acting tomorrow.

[Dkray944]

Cheryl,

The main one in question didn't make it. She died yesterday. I'm down to two and one of them is a little iffy. I have some live mysid coming in tomorrow and I'm hoping it perks her up.

[leliataylor]

I am sorry you lost her. How are the other two doing? One of the problems with wild caught seahorses is they require a whole lot of treatment for internal and external parasites and are difficult to keep long term. I have a pair of WC comes that took me about 6 months and several hundred dollars to bring them back into good condition.