My female erectus is acting very bizarre. She's leaning against rocks while hitching, she didn't eat this morning, and she's black instead of her usual silvery color. She's swimming normally, when she does move, and she has no visual scrapes or stings. My boy is just fine. Any ideas?
Lethargic seahorse
- Thread starter gnu
- Start date
Does she eat normal and are the feces normal?
Any physical appearance change other than the darker comment?
Does she interact with the male?
What size tank, how long have they been in this tank and are there other tankmates? corals?
Any changes to the tank lately, or changes in food or feeding pattern?
Any physical appearance change other than the darker comment?
Does she interact with the male?
What size tank, how long have they been in this tank and are there other tankmates? corals?
Any changes to the tank lately, or changes in food or feeding pattern?
No other physical changes. Tankmates are a CB target mandarin, assorted snails, and 5 peppermint shrimp. I have several species of macro, a few types of sponges and photosynthetic gorgonians, and corals that are rated 0-1 on the org list (mushrooms, zoas, Kenya tree, duncans, acans, lobo, and a pagoda cup. The tank is a 57g, which is 4 months old, and I've had the horses for about 4 weeks. No recent changes to the tank or feeding schedule. She's usually fairly active/interactive, just not today. She didn't eat this morning, but I had just given her a quick exam to check for stings, bumps, etc. I've honestly never witnessed a seahorse BM, so am not sure what to watch out for.
OK then I would suggest that you just observe really close for a bit, monitoring food intake and mood changes so that if she takes a turn for the worse, or doesn't eat, you can place her in a hospital tank and get the temperature down to 68°F.
It may be nothing to worry about, but it could also be something internal like a liver problem, or a bacterial problem due to water quality, or a pathogen exposure from the mandarin or corals you've placed in there. A lot of possibilities but now just keep a close watch.
It may be nothing to worry about, but it could also be something internal like a liver problem, or a bacterial problem due to water quality, or a pathogen exposure from the mandarin or corals you've placed in there. A lot of possibilities but now just keep a close watch.
Still no food intake, I'll get her something live tomorrow if she doesn't eat by then. She's moving around a little more, but still leaning and breathing somewhat heavily. IF her respiratory rate and behavior are still the same tomorrow, how should I treat her? Methylene blue dip?
First off, you can't treat until you know if it's bacterial or pathogenic, or fungal.
I'm sure it won't be fungal, so that eliminates Methylene Blue as I believe it is for fungal treatment. Also, I've not heard of it being used on fish.
At this point the only thing I'd recommend is still watching and seeing if you can get her to eat and that would include live food, enriched if possible.
If it appears to be a snick problem, you could try a fresh water dip, matching temperature and pH, duration for 12 minutes unless the seahorse becomes unresponsive when you touch it.
You haven't given enough sign to really indicate a treatment mode yet.
You may also want to post this on the org to see if more experienced people can help you better.
I'm sure it won't be fungal, so that eliminates Methylene Blue as I believe it is for fungal treatment. Also, I've not heard of it being used on fish.
At this point the only thing I'd recommend is still watching and seeing if you can get her to eat and that would include live food, enriched if possible.
If it appears to be a snick problem, you could try a fresh water dip, matching temperature and pH, duration for 12 minutes unless the seahorse becomes unresponsive when you touch it.
You haven't given enough sign to really indicate a treatment mode yet.
You may also want to post this on the org to see if more experienced people can help you better.
TamiW
Seahorse Wrangler
What is perfect? I only ask because about half the time someone says this either their definition of perfect is different than what seahorses require OR they're not actually testing everything. Not too long ago, on one of the forums someone was reporting similar results. In their case, when pressed they were only checking ammonia and nitrate. Once pressed to check more, nitrite was high, and ph was low, and ammonia was 0.25.
If you could, please give the readings for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph and salinity.
Ammonia=0, nitrite=0, nitrate=.5, pH=8.1, salinity=.025.
Most likely bacterial, she's laying on her side, and very weak. All local stores are closed due to inclement weather, so I'm unable to get proper meds until tomorrow. I only have anti parasitic and anti fungal, no antibiotics.
Most likely bacterial, she's laying on her side, and very weak. All local stores are closed due to inclement weather, so I'm unable to get proper meds until tomorrow. I only have anti parasitic and anti fungal, no antibiotics.
Unfortunately, she passed away last night.
I put her in a hospital tank with lowered temps, but whatever she had was very fast moving. My only guess is that she possibly found an old piece of mysis. I'm going to bump up the detritivores, just in case. I got her from an excellent breeder, and keep the tank very clean, I don't know what happened.
I put her in a hospital tank with lowered temps, but whatever she had was very fast moving. My only guess is that she possibly found an old piece of mysis. I'm going to bump up the detritivores, just in case. I got her from an excellent breeder, and keep the tank very clean, I don't know what happened.
