seahorse question

[luv4qt1004]

I've had my seahorse for the past 4 months and everything was fine. I added some caulpera macro algae and now it seems like the seahorse is always moping around the ground and never swimming. Or it would hide near the rocks. i feed the seahorse mysis shrimp twice a day. roughly 3-5 pieces it'll eat fed by a bamboo stick.

wut could be the problem? been doing this for 2 weeks

 

[Faerl]

I'll bite.

It could be a lot of things. The Macro algae isn't a likely issue. What are your water parameters, what size tank, what temp are you keeping it at, any other fish in the tank, any corals in there? Any one of the above issues could be a possibility but without knowing anything other than you've had them for 4 months and have some macro algae in there isn't any real info to go on. Post your specs and someone may be able to help.

 

[rayjay]

I've not had any healthy seahorses that only ate that small amount.
I don't just add a few, but prefer to broadcast feed 3 times a day, in the tank with the pumps off for a while and then siphon out the uneaten pieces. This way they get sufficient to eat.
Seahorse digestive systems do not include a stomach, and normally would feed throughout the day like a tang would be grazing throughout the day.
Another possibility is that the macro introduced a pathogen that the seahorse to this point hasn't acclimated itself to.
IMO, bacterial infestations are probably the biggest cause of seahorse death, with other pathogens that they haven't been exposed to while growing up being the second most common cause.
Hiding near the rocks MAY be just the seahorse searching for food.

 

[luv4qt1004]

hey guys. there are no corals, no inverts and no other fish. just one seahorse. only thing i could think of is when i added the macro algae there were bristle worms.

i ended up getting a 5g tank and moved everything there, and took out all the macro algae for now. it is still eating fine. eats 3-4 pieces twice a day~ maybe its jus ****ed off.

thanks guys

 

[Faerl]

Bristle worms won't cause a problem with seahorses. If nothing else is in the tank I'd go with your tank is either too small (you haven't stated the size), that the temp is getting too high (bacteria) or your water is getting too high in nitrates (bad filtration). Without the specs there's not much else to guess at.

Even with one horses you should have a 30g tank with a chiller and decent filtration. A tank that size can house more, but anything smaller and you start running into various issues.

 

[Meus]

Seahorses are social creatures, maybe its lonely and because of the lack of social interaction, depressed.

 

[rayjay]

Dan Underwood has mentioned that placing a mirror against the glass so the seahorse can see itself could possibly help.

 

[DanU]

I believe Ray's point about being underfed has merit. 3 to 4 mysis twice a day is like you or I having 1/2 a sandwich for breakfast and dinner. We would survive for a while but not feel much like doing anything except looking for something else to eat. Seahorses are grazers. They feed throughout the day. They eat a lot more than many folks think. What is fed to them is usually move completely through the digestive track within 10 hours. If you were to place 50 to 100 live mysids in the tank, I doubt they would last more than 2 to 3 days to give you an idea of what I am referring to.

Dan