Seahorse sudden death, why?

[aquanut6]

My 30 gallon seahorse tank has been up and running for approximately 3 months with no issues. I had 2 reidis that ate well, along with a gorgonian, yumas, xenia, GSPs and zoos. The tank temp is usually around 74-78. I last saw both ponies last night swimming around with no apparent issues. I woke up this morning to find the female laying on the sand bed with no signs of life. The male is doing just fine and even ate with no problems this morning. My tank parameters as of this morning are:

Temp: 78
Salinity: 1.024
PH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0

I checked the seahorse for any signs of external parasites, bloating, etc. and couldn't find anything.

Is there anything else I can check to try to determine the cause of death?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[pledosophy]

There are a lot of things that could cause the death.

Vibrio, a bacterial related illness can be responsible for sudden death.

Internal parasites could also be responsible.

Anything we would give you would really be more of a guess unless you sent the seahorse to be neropsied.

 

[CodyH]

With a constant high temp, the bacteria Pleder mentioned is quite possible.

Him and I both know an excellent seahorse necropsy performer.

 

[aquanut6]

Do you know where I could send the seahorse to be checked and what would it cost? Currently, it's in my freezer in a sandwich bag.

 

[pledosophy]

Most places charge between $200 to $400. There is a hobbyist who will sometimes offer to do them for free, not sure what his schedule is like. He is not very active on this board.

Honestly if the horse has been frozen, it is probably not worth it.

In the meantime I would just keep an extra close eye on your remaining seahorses. Personally I would enrich the food with Beta Glucan just for the added piece of mind. That $10 product you can get at health food stores will stimulate the immune system for the seahorses.

 

[NanoLurker]

deworm as well - least fenbendazole and praziquantel. i would also give a round of metronidazole. it does not matter if your horses are CB or WC, i would do a full course of each of those.

beta glucan, spirulina, and chlorella (to name a few) are just a few of the supplements you can use to boost the horses immune system. just be aware that it takes several days for it to "kick" in and it should not be done every day, for an indefinate time.

unfortunately the horse is frozen so the information may be limited - i would check anyway. just so you know, the best way is to place the horse in a zip lock back without water and place in the refrigerator. ideally the animal should be sent off within 24 hours of death. necroscopies are difficult on fish as they decompose rather quickly so the sooner they're sent off the better. a preservative can also be used however, it makes culturing for any bacterial infections nearly impossible.

 

[NONNA58]

acquanut6,
I had the very same thing happen to me. I had a pair for over a year and a half and all was fine. Woke up one Sunday morning and my female was dead for no apparent reason as well. I will never know why but my male is fine and so are the three siblings that were in the tank with them at the time.
Sue

 

[fnicklaus]

I saw that Vibrio was mentioned and that is a possibilty. But there also could be internal parasites. It is difficult to say. Don't treat if you don't know what the cause of death was. Was your reidi wild caught? She could have been old too.