Edema in H. Erectus

[tjdouglas]

Hi All...I have an H. Erectus female who has been suffering from what appears to be edema for a couple of weeks. I have been tube feeding her, but she is not happy about that. She is very bloated and not eating at all on her own. She does not float, so it does not seem to be internal gas bubble disease. I have had her for a couple of years and hate to see her like this. I have not yet been able to capture a good picture of her in her condition but will try to post one later. Whatever she has does not seem to be contagious, my other seahorses do not show any symptoms. The tank params are:

SG 1.024
Alk 8
pH 8.1
NO3 < 5
PO4 = 0
temp 72F

Any suggestions on how to treat? Thanks!

 

[rayjay]

Internal gas bubble disease is treated in a hospital tank with open ended air line for water movement, and with hitches that surface so the seahorse can hang on with less stress than floating free.
Treatment is with the prescription drug Diamox which can be hard to get a vet to prescribe.
The problem is usually associated with water quality and while some have told me they fix the water and the problem goes away, I've never been that lucky.
For me it has happened seldom but it happens after my husbandry slackens a bit.
It is a chemical imbalance internally that causes the bloating.

 

[tjdouglas]

Hi Rayjay, so even though there is no positive buoyancy, you think this is still probably internal gas bubble disease? (She is very bloated, but does not float or exhibit trouble swimming.)

 

[rayjay]

In the Working Notes, A Guide to Seahorse Diseases, it is mentioned in the IGBD part but doesn't specify a different treatment so I've always assumed it to be also using the Diamox.
I just did a search on the "org" and came up with this thread.
Check Ann's reply in post #7 as she is probably as knowledgeable as any on the org for disease problems.
Seahorse Edema

 

[tjdouglas]

Dear Rayjay...you are too generous with your time. Many thanks for the link!

 

[SantaMonica]

That's good to hear that gas bubble is not a pathogen.

 

[rayjay]

For a lot of us, the pathogen treatments are easier to obtain than the Diamox needed for this. Also, pathogen treatment, based on my ten years of keeping, has a higher success ratio than treating the Diamox based problems.