Gas bubble syndrome, Need some help!

[breutus]

Hi all, I have kepta pair H. Erectus for a couple of years now, And luckily I have never had any problems with them at all... Till last night...

I week ago or so I noticed the ponies doing there dance in the water, I have really been trying to get them to mate for a while now, Well to me it seemed like it might have happened. A few days go by and his pouch is swelling slightly, well by a week out it was getting big, But I noticed he was having trouble swimming and staying upright!!!

So I instantly jump into to action. I threw some gloves on, picked him up and started gently pressing on his pouch, I ended up having to be pretty forceful to get it out much more pressure then I would have expected. But he "burped" and I am happy to say, though very stressed, he seems to be okay this morning.

So my question is two part.

This morning it still looks slightly swollen up high in his pouch. Could there still be gas in there? Or is it just swollen from the pressure of pushing on him? He also looks like he might have a small bruise on part of where I pressed??? Is this okay? He does seem to be swimming just fine today, And the horses did there normal morning greeting. But he did not go over to the dish for food Which I felt was a little odd for him but not completely out of character for him in the morning.

Second if it is more gas in there should I try to burp him again? should I do it immediatly or give him time to rest and heal up a bit as long as he's swimming okay?

Thank you all so much for any help!

 

[breutus]

nobody??? could really use some guidance here

 

[ReefNutPA]

It's possible there may still be some air trapped - but as long as the seahorse is swimming normally again at the moment.... I wouldn't do anything for now. My male seahorses do have slight "bumps" above the pouch opening - which is normal. If that's what you're seeing, then all is well.

Also, when you "burp" the pouch, you gently apply a rolling pressure with your finger from the bottom of the pouch upward towards the pouch opening. While you're doing this, something (usually a thin/blunt object such as a thin cathetor tube) is inserted at the pouch to pry the pouch open. This will allow all the air to escape as you're gently applying pressure.

Hopefully the bruise heals quickly - just keep an eye on it. You can do skin damage, so hopefully you didn't press TOO hard.

Best of luck!

Tom

 

[breutus]

Thank you very much Reef nut PA, He did eat this evening and is up around the tank swimming well So I hope he is doing better, the bump is not like a normal bump though visible when you look at him front on it poofs out to the sides more.

I did feel like I was applying to much pressure but I was surprised to find little or no information on this on the net for this procedure!
You use something like a ctahder aor go to a medical store and buy a catheder? Useful to know Because I would like to keep something on hand! ANd when you do it you just gently push it in there !!! LOL

 

[DanU]

A catheter works. My wife prefers them. I like using a bobby pin with a rounded tip. You should always open the pouch before trying the force air out. A gentle manipulation to move the air to the opening is all that is needed. You should not have to force the air this way. Rules here prevent me from putting in a link to another website that has the info you are looking for. It is on a seahorse specific message board.

I agree with Tom. If he is swimming normal, I would not do it again. If he has buoyancy issues, then an evac is warranted.

Dan

 

[TamiW]

I prefer catheters too. I have always been able to get mine from the vets office. They usually remove the needle but that's fine, I don't need it.

I agree with the others, don't do it unless it becomes a problem again. But I would keep an eye out for it. Also keep an eye on your water parameters. My experience has been it seems to show up more often in poor water quality. Though some males seem more predisposed to it than others.

One other thing of note, I have seen both in person and photos of people rubbing the hell out of the seahorses pouches to get the air out, resulting in sloughing skin and secondary infections. Please be sure to apply direct, firm pressure, but no rubbing. Another reason I prefer the catheter - its easier to get the air out with less pressure on the pouch.

 

[breutus]

First off I want to say THANK YOU!!! i needed a schooling here lol

Soooo I kinda did the procedure all wrong LOL live and learn I guess!!! But he is still doing very good, I will try and take some picture of the "bruise" to let you guys see it.

Water parameters are perfect and are very stable, I have the tank plumbed into Over 300 gallons that includes three other tanks including my main reef system And everything is tested weekly by lab grade test with redundancy, I did a double check the night it happened to make sure something odd was not askew. My biggest problem is temp, and I wonder if it could lead to this as well, I have had these two guys for some time now just over two years, And I have always ran them A little warmer then many SH tanks, about 76 degrees, actually it varys from 75.8 to 76.4. Mainly because its harder then one would think to cool of a tank that is plumbed into a reef system at 78-79 and it's only 15 feet away LOL. BUT Over the summer I remodeled my lower lvl and we put much higher grade insulation in the house. Well the downstairs in general has been getting a lot hotter and my temps have raised this winter to 78 degrees in the SH tank, It has only been this way for about a month or so now maybe two. Could this contribute to the problem? Also he was flushing his pouch just a week or so ago for the female could gas have gotten trapped then?

 

[breutus]

Well I fear I have bad news... I am not sure what it is exactly but he is not doing better, He was very reclusive at first but did eat that following night, That is the last time he has eaten from me...

He sits on the bottom of the tank now and his snout is red almost like with blood. I can only assume the bends equivalent has taken over.

I have a vet making a house call in the morning to prescribe me diaxom and see if he can make it through a few baths... But I fear the worst right now

I have slowly dropped there tank back down to under 74 degrees over the last couple of days, the female still seems completly normal except she goes and lays by him a lot...

One side of his pouch is a little poofy again but still not like before. When he does swim it looks very strained and then sinks straight to the bottom. I am not seeing any bubbles on his tail or head but his eyes are slightly puffy And tip of snout is red. Hopefully he can make it through the diamox treatments If anyone else has any other suggestions please input! I hate to loose this guy

 

[breutus]

Well, I am sad to say Mushu took his last breath at 3:23 this morning... The female Sapphira came over and sat with him the last few minutes of his life, I don't know if it's possible but it really seemed like she knew...

Wish I could have found this vet a day or two earlier... It is very hard here in Saint Louis to find a vet that will come out and look at none the less even think about prescribing a medicine for seahorses or most aquarium fish... this is the same guy that will prescribe interceptor to my club for red bugs but he was un-willing to prescribe diamox with out seeing the patient first

I have been researching and researching on causes of this and the most everyone says it is undetermined there are a lot of speculations...

If it helps anyone who may read this at some point down the road...

PH 8.3
KH 10
Calcium 540
magnesium 1510
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate less then 5
Phosphate .06
Temp at time of first pouch swell being noticeable was 77.3
Temp at time of death 73.8 (this was due to me cooling off this tank to hopefully help with infection)
Highest temp recorded in the past month 78.2


Other factors,

There is a titanium grounding plug in this tank as I do have stray voltage, It was working correctly.

I purchased a new skimmer about two months ago, and have been having more micro bubble problems since I got it. This could possibly be contributing factor as well.

If anyone would have any other questions just let me know I will answer them the best I can...

And once again thank you to everyone here that helped... I feel if only I would have had the information sooner I might have been able to save this little guy...

 

[namxas]

sorry you lost your SH.

the temp you cooled your tank to is the correct temp for tropical SH, so i'd run it there from now on.

the question i have is where did your stock come from (LFS or breeder) and what species are they?

the reason i ask is there are some poor quality SH that make it into the LFS that are being sold as "TR" that have a very dismal survival rate.

 

[breutus]

They both came directly from ocean riders, and they were Hippocampus erectus.

I know it's best to run them that low especially since infections can happen easier at warmer temperatures. And normally I keep my tank at around 75-76 as earlier post states, which for over two years have been good for them, not saying perfect but good...

The problem was we remodeled the lower level this summer and I did not pay enough attention to how much the temp raised as we got towards winter and just didn't give it much thought for there health in my mind I was putting it off till another day... bad bad me I know...

either way these had been kept for over two years, and then it was sudden so I figure cause has to be tems or skimmer or something else entirely lol