problem with seahorse NEED HELP!!!!

C

c.declivisowner

New member
i have had a black kuda seahorse for about a week now. yesterday it started to look a little pale and today it is much whiter in color and keeps pushing itself to the top of the water and flipping around a bit. Could it be deprived of oxygen?
i have since added a small air stone and it is no longer trying to get to the surface but is still very white and not moving just hanging on to a coral. any idea what could be the problem? please help!
 
ive been lucky enough so far not to have any medical issues to deal with .hopefully one of the experts can chime in. but i would suggest adding more info tank size tanl temp. any tank mates. where you got it is it captive bred or wild caught. what are you feeding it. now for what i do know a seahorse can change colors for many reasons moods ect or health and what you described about top of water does not sound good but hanging onto a coral is a good sign . what are you running for filters thats how the water gets oxygenated?
 
well truthfully idk if its tank bred because i ordered a yellow kuda seahorse from DFS but they sent me a black kuda seahorse so i got a refund. it has no tank mates and its in a 14G biocube with stock filtration the only mod is i turned the flow which i think it said was about 150GPH WAY down like so far down that when i put mysis in that it would just fall to the bottom it wouldnt move at all. i know that thats not a good tank for it so im trying to get a Current USA cardiff 24gal tank i would get the 34G solana but i cant find it and i also cant find the 25 gal solana and i cant afford the 60 gal solana or the 67XL i think its called. is there any other tank you think that would be better the biggest length i could go is 36-40in and the biggest width is 24-26in and like max i have like $1000 for everything and that would be hard to talk my parents into but they like the seahorse so i think they would be ok with it. oh and also i have only tired to ever feed him mysis i have pretty much anything u could think of to feed him i have rotifers, reef plankton, baby brine and pellets, flakes,formula 2, angelfish formula, krill and i have this bottle of stuff i feed the NPS corals and i can go out and buy more food if it will make the seahorse happy.
thanks for the help matt
 
temp is okay no keep it under 74 degrees. turning the flow way down most likely starved your tank of oxygen . seahorses can handle more flow then you think. but your tank is way to small. the cheapest solution would be a 29g tank with a hob filter and hob skimmer. on another note not sure who DFS is but it may have been yellow when they shipped it they turn black during shipping from stress. and may or may not return to that color . never buy a seahorse based on color as all of them can change color at will. frozen mysis is good food a live treat of brine is nice but not nutritional.
 
hes actually gotten a lot worse im not sure if hes sick cause hes back fin looks like it might be a little frayed and it looks like this slime is like peeling off right underneath his like stomach im assuming?

051.jpg
 
Are there other tank mates?
I'd definitely try feeding live adult brine or mysids enriched with Dans Feed from seahorsesource.com.
A video of the flipping around could help with some indication but not certain.
I'm not a big help with diseases so hopefully Ann will see this post as she has much more knowledge than most.
The most common disease my seahorses have gotten over the years is vibriosis. (flesh eating)
She may also be able to give an opinion as to kuda or not as I don't think it looks like a kuda to me.
Put a mirror right tight agains the glass and see if your seahorse responds to the reflection. Maybe it's not happy being on its own.
 
I'm not a seahorse pathology expert or even a seahorse expert. I am a healthcare professional though so I just wanted to just ask...is it the photograph or is something really wrong w/ that seahorses's eye??
 
ok heres the plan tell me if you guys think this is good. i put the seahorse in a 20gal tank i have and put a HOB filter and a eshopps HOB protein skimmer. my dad said if it makes it for a week then we will look into a all in one tank like the innovative marine nuvo tank or something else that is nice like that.
 
ok another update

hes looking terrible hes just laying on the bottom and i honestly thought he was dead but when i put my hand in there he moved up and got caught in the flow and got whipped around the tank and then just fell to the bottom again:(:(:(:(:( i dont think hes gonna make it:(:(:(:(:( the video has about 43min remaining to upload then i will post link.
 
hey guys he didnt make it:(
ill be doing a new seahorse tank build and ill have a few questions i will probably have the thread going in a week or so. ive come to realize that seahorses need more than a stock 14G biocube and that they are sensitive creatures. ill try to give seahorses one last shot and if i mess up this time i will never buy another seahorse again.
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE HELP
Matt
 
So sorry too hear that.

I think it was the quality of the seahorse that caused you the problem and not researching into the needs of the seahorse beforehand (14 gallon is too small of a tank.). A dead giveaway in the quality of the seahorse is their willingness to sell by color. Buy an H. kuda because it is an H. kuda regardless of color. It sounds like you bought a TR or tank raised kuda and they have a dismal record. You can read more about it here.

Kind Regards,

Tim
 
mtc1966 said:
rayjay are you thinking erectus? i was leaning that way
Click to expand...

I would have thought more in line with H. reidi as the spines aren't as prominent as the erectus I have.

c.declivisowner, I'm sorry for your loss. I've had more than my share and it is painful to me, each and every loss I've had over the years.

Before you do any more prep for a new set up, you could read the links at the bottom of "My Thoughts on Seahorse Keeping" that have been written by experienced seahorse keepers as well as an article by Dan Underwood of seahorsesource.com.
Check out the seahorses Dan has available because their stock you know will be captive bred, giving better odds of success.
 
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