H. Erectus on Hunger Strike

[tjdouglas]

One of my female H. Erectus has been on a hunger strike over the last two days. All the water parameters are in normal range - specific gravity of 1.023, ammonia and nitrites are zero and nitrates are about 10 ppm.

She had always been a hardy eater since I acquired her in early October. Her H. Erectus tankmates are all eating well, but for some reason she is refusing to eat anything (live ghost shrimp, live enriched brine shrimp and thawed mysis shrimp - all of which she eagerly ate until 48 hours ago).

I can see no lesions or marks or erosions on her fins, tail or body, her breathing is normal and her eyes are actively looking around the tank. however, she remains consistently in anchored to one place in the tank.

The tank water has been cooler - currently at 70 degrees - than usual for the past couple of weeks due to the cold spell we have been having in the area. Normally the tank runs at about 75 F. I do understand that cooler water can slow down their metabolism, but relative to her tankmates, she has suddenly become very sedentary while the others remain quite active.

Any suggestions about how to treat her are welcomed!

 

[rayjay]

My best guess is that it is an internal bacterial problem, or a chemical imbalance in her system.
The bacterial problem would be solved using something like Furan II, and the chemical imbalance would be treated with Diamox.
Unfortunately I can't tell you how to determine which of the two it might be.
In my case, I sometimes guess wrong and sometimes get it right. If wrong, there isn't always enough time to get to the second try.
I would normally transfer the seahorse to a hospital tank and lower the temperature to 68° which would slow up any progression of bacteria growth.
If she goes more than four days without eating you will need to tube feed her at least once a day.
Use a cannula (I use 18mm) and syringe to get about .5ml of food mush PAST the gills.
If the cannula isn't in far enough, the food will come out the gills and/or back out the snout.

 

[tjdouglas]

Thank you for the advice Rayjay. I very much appreciate it! Still not eating today, so I may have to try to tube feed tomorrow. I will see if I have Furan II on hand. If not, I will go pick some up,

 

[tjdouglas]

By the way, if I use something like cyclopeeze and thawed rotifers to tube feed, is that alright? Or should I mash up some mysis?

 

[rayjay]

First off, try to source Diamox as you will probably need a vet's prescription to get it. Also find out how long to get it if you need it.
Personally, I make the mush out of spirulina powder and Dan's Feed. (seahorsesource.com)
If you can mush other foods up sufficiently to pass through the 18mm cannula then it will probably be OK. I just like as much nutrition as possible.
Unless the rotifers are enriched, they don't have much nutrition, worse than brine shrimp which at least has a lot of protein.

 

[tjdouglas]

Thanks for the info Rayjay. I actually do have some diamox on hand...so that is not a problem. I am glad you told me that rotifers are not a good nutritional source, I will avoid using them. I do have some spirulina flakes I could much up,,,maybe with some cycopeeze.

 

[rayjay]

Rotifers are an excellent vehicle for enrichment and then feeding to fish/fry that require very small live food.
Brine shrimp should be enriched as well but at least they have a decent level of protein, just lacking in fatty acids.