Pygmy seahorses in danger of ich?

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Plasticmask

New member
Hello,
I can't find anything via Google, and I hate to bother you good people but I really need to know.
I have pygmy seahorses in a 12g nano, they've been perfectly fine for weeks along with a zebra flounder and some snails and hermits.
I added a yellow clown goby last week. The goby suddenly got covered in the white dots and fell dead a day later. Googling DID help me in this case; it definitely looks to be the marine ich.
What I'm bugging you guys about: Are my seahorses in danger? Do I need to drop the salinity for 4 days as suggested in the Sticky on the topic just to be sure? Everything else seems perfectly fine in there, but again, as suggested on the Sticky in this Forum, that might be a false sense of security on my part and I'm mostly worried about the seahorses. Thanks hugely for any information on this, we are very worried here.
 
If it is Cryptocaryon it can take between 3 and 28 days (or even much more in some cases) before the next wave of infection hits the fish. It may take a day or two more before the infection becomes visible. In many cases the peak of the next wave hits the fish in about a week or two.
Dropping the salinity can not be done in a system that contains inverts or corals of any kind. Also, you would have to drop the salinity significantly and for quite some time if it is meant as a treatment.
The best thing you could do right away is to remove all fish from the potentially infected system and put them into a clean tank. Nothing but the fish! Anything else in the tank has to be viewed as infectious.
After that - if you are certain about your diagnosis - you could continue to move the fish to a new, clean tank every 3 days (search TTM for the finer details)
I would also strongly advise to read up on quarantine and why it's important to quarantine!

The most important thing right now is to get the fish out of the infected tank.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 
ThRoewer said:
If it is Cryptocaryon it can take between 3 and 28 days (or even much more in some cases) before the next wave of infection hits the fish. It may take a day or two more before the infection becomes visible. In many cases the peak of the next wave hits the fish in about a week or two.
Dropping the salinity can not be done in a system that contains inverts or corals of any kind. Also, you would have to drop the salinity significantly and for quite some time if it is meant as a treatment.
The best thing you could do right away is to remove all fish from the potentially infected system and put them into a clean tank. Nothing but the fish! Anything else in the tank has to be viewed as infectious.
After that - if you are certain about your diagnosis - you could continue to move the fish to a new, clean tank every 3 days (search TTM for the finer details)
I would also strongly advise to read up on quarantine and why it's important to quarantine!

The most important thing right now is to get the fish out of the infected tank.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

My understanding was that the LFS quarantines. I know, I know, I did something stupid. That's what I get for being stupid. I can take it; fire away at me. I deserve it, I'm sure.
Anyway.
Back to my question, though.
Are the seahorses susceptible to marine ich? Thanks hugely we are very very worried here.
 
Last edited:
Plasticmask said:
My understanding was that the LFS quarantines. I know, I know, I did something stupid. That's what I get for being stupid. I can take it; fire away at me. I deserve it, I'm sure.
Anyway.
Back to my question, though.
Are the seahorses susceptible to marine ich? Thanks hugely we are very very worried here.
Click to expand...

Yes, seahorses are susceptible to marine ich. Also, no LFS can provide adequate quarantine do to the nature of the business model (lots of fish moving in and out, limited treatment space, cost of holding inventory etc.) The only person I trust to quarantine properly is myself.
 
Deinonych said:
Yes, seahorses are susceptible to marine ich. Also, no LFS can provide adequate quarantine do to the nature of the business model (lots of fish moving in and out, limited treatment space, cost of holding inventory etc.) The only person I trust to quarantine properly is myself.
Click to expand...

Have you had many seahorses come down with it? Did you lose them? Thanks
 
I have not kept seahorses specifically, but marine ich (Cryptocaryon irritans) can infect all teleost fishes. It typically does not kill quickly, but it can overwhelm the fish if left untreated - typically, a few weeks' time.
 
Deinonych said:
I have not kept seahorses specifically, but marine ich (Cryptocaryon irritans) can infect all teleost fishes. It typically does not kill quickly, but it can overwhelm the fish if left untreated - typically, a few weeks' time.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought. Thanks anyway
 
I have reef Flagtail pipefish (D. exisus, D. janssi, D. paulus) and the excisus and paulus got some light ich, but none died of it.

But seahorses are far more sensitive to skin-infections, so while they may be able to handle the ich I would be very concerned that they succumb to secondary bacterial infections that often follow when the ich parasites leave the fish.

TTM is your best bet and you want to start RIGHT NOW without any further delays and fuzzing around. If the goby died of a massive ich wave, you really don't want the next even larger wave to hit the sea horses.

BTW: stores have no interest in quarantining fish - not only cost it money, but it is also a risk they don't want to take.
 
ThRoewer said:
I have reef Flagtail pipefish (D. exisus, D. janssi, D. paulus) and the excisus and paulus got some light ich, but none died of it.

But seahorses are far more sensitive to skin-infections, so while they may be able to handle the ich I would be very concerned that they succumb to secondary bacterial infections that often follow when the ich parasites leave the fish.

TTM is your best bet and you want to start RIGHT NOW without any further delays and fuzzing around. If the goby died of a massive ich wave, you really don't want the next even larger wave to hit the sea horses.

BTW: stores have no interest in quarantining fish - not only cost it money, but it is also a risk they don't want to take.
Click to expand...

What's TTM, thanks

And I won't argue with anyone about the LFS quarantining their fish before they sell them. That is simply what this particular man does at his little shop, and it doesn't matter what I say anyway, I've read more than enough on this forum to know that I'll just be called a liar. :) So I will just let that one go, if I may, please, thank you very much.
Thanks in advance for explaining what TTM is since you're saying that it's my only option. I appreciate your responses very much.
 
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