seahorse not eating

[sarahbab]

ok, a few days I broke a thermometer in my tank, it was an alcohol thermometer. the alcohol didn't leak out, but the metal pellets in the bottem did. My husband and I got all of them out as far as I can tell. A few days prior to this incident, my male cb erectus refused food for a few days. He returned to eating. Now my female has not eaten since I broke the thermometer. so I cant' tell if this is some type of parasite or from the thermometer. She hasnt' eaten in about three days. She seems to be hiding and sleeping a lot. my male isn't eating the way that I would like him to, but he has always been a picky eater. The female has lost a lot of weight,as she used to be really fat. my tank parameters are as follows ammonia-0 nitrite-0 nitrate-0 ph-8.2 temp-79
I have had these seahorses for about 4 months.

 

[Liisa]

Sarah:
What species of seahorse do you have?
A 79* temperature is rather high for almost any seahorse
in a closed system such as an aquarium.
Could you please give more info as to the tank size your
seahorses are in, filtration, Protein Skimmer (?), substrate,
as well as any other fish or invertibrates you have with them.

At this high temp, chances are your seahorses are quite
stressed out. When this happens, they are prone to many
viral & bacterial diseases.
A stressed seahorse will have a diminished appetite, get
lethargic & will also turn a darker color.

I suggest that you do a large water change and start lowering
your tank temp a few degrees each day. This needs to be
done gradually.
Most tropical seahorses do best between 72*- to a max of
75*.
I have H. erectus which I keep at 72*, the max in the summer
that my tank will go to is 74*.
Even seahorses that are bred & raised at 74*-75*, should
not go over that temperature for long term health.

I also wonder about the validity that your Nitrate reading is "0".
Please redo your tests, this is very important as with a Nitrate
reading of "0", your tank could be going through a mini-cycle.
Liisa

 

[sarahbab]

I have cb erectus in a 45 gallon with a wet/dry.
I have a skimmer and a dsb. I also have 45 lbs of LR.
I have a jawfish and a clown goby in with them as well as snail, hermits,and a peppermint shrimp. I have had my tank set up since september and have never had nitrates higher than 0. I redid my tests and they still say 0. I don't have any reason to be going through a mini cycle right now. I haven't added anything recently nor has anything died. I'll start to lower my temps now. I have read about people keeping erectus in up to 80 degree temps successfully, so I didn't realize that 79 would be too high. thank you so much for your reply and info!

 

[Liisa]

Hi Sarah:
Yes, I have heard of people keeping H. erectus at those high
temps also, but for how many years?
I still have a couple of my original H. erectus that are going
on 6 yrs.
They have bred up to the 5th. generation at the degrees I listed.
I would not recommend keeping H. erectus at temps over 75*,
however, that is just my opinion.

Good luck with your seahorses & if you see any fungal or
bacterial infections on them, I'd suggest you set up a hospital
tank.
Contact DanU & hopefully he can recommend a medication,
a couple of photos could be helpful if you see anything out
of the ordinary.
Liisa

 

[sarahbab]

the only thing that I think is out of the ordinary on these seahorses is that they have some algae growing on them. I will try to get some pics for you later today. thank you so much for your help.

 

[sarahbab]

Now neither one of them are eating. It has been about four days since my female has eaten so I am starting to get really worried. Today they seemed to be looking for food all day. I would put it right in front of them and they would back up or turn the other way.

 

[pledosophy]

I would offer live food imediatley.

Fresh water ghosts/grass shrimp, the smaller the better.

I would alsolower your temp gradually.

 

[sarahbab]

here is the really weird thing. Last night when I went to bed my female was looking really thin and emaciated. Now this morning when I woke up, She looks like she always does. Her stomach looks fat and healthy. She is still refusing to eat, so I will go get some ghost shrimp. thanks!

 

[sarahbab]

forgot to say my temp is down to 75

 

[sarahbab]

the most important thing that I forgot to add. Last night I observed feces that had a long sting or worm in it. don't know if it was from the male or female or what the string was, but I am kind of worried that they have some type of worms or intestinal parasites.

 

[sarahbab]

Well, after tube feeding and setting up a hospital tank, medicating with metronidazole, furanase, and furan2 as per manufacturers directions, I still can't get them to eat. They are still swimming around hospital tank, but have not eaten in over two weeks. What should I do now? Have they forgotten to eat frozen? are they still sick from some mystery disease? I am trying so had to save these guys. any imput will be great!

 

[williams-crist]

They have refused even the live food?What live foods have your tried?

Are the ghost shrimp too big for them to snick?

 

[sarahbab]

they may be eating a few amphipods from my live rock. I think that ghost shrimp are a little too big for them to eat.

 

[Swanwillow]

wow-one of my females is kinda doing the same thing.

if you treated for worms, did any come out during the hospital stay?

its been a month, they must be eating SOMETHING....

 

[sarahbab]

I didn't see any come out in the hos. tank, however, I didn't use lighting. I had them by a window for natural lighting. So I may not have seen them. I do agree, they must be eating something, but I don't see it. When I put mysis in, they act as if they don't even know what it is. They even swim away from it. I am at my wits end. I feel like I am waiting for them to die, because I don't know what else to do and it just doen't make sense. I almost want them to die, so I can quit agonizing about it. Every morning I go down stairs and am shocked that they are still swimming around. Tomorrow I am going to make a little drive to get some brine shrimp, because I saw my female snick bare water. It made a really loud pop when she did it. It is the first time that I have seen either one of them snick anything. So at least now I know that they can. I had been thinking that maybe they had a stuck trigger. I have seen that problem a lot on seahorse.org. Good Luck Swanwillow!!!!

 

[Swanwillow]

mine actually looks like its sulking... I brought her up to the feeding station once, and all she did was look at it, watch the other two eat, and swim away...


I'm not treating her for anything, shes not really swimming around alot either: almost looks depressed. I caught her sitting in the same spot for two days in a row last week... she just doesn't move..