Seahorses not eating!!!!!

[bubble14]

Hi,

About 8 or 9 weeks ago i received 3 female H. erectus seahorses from a local breeder. They were very healthy and beautiful! everything has been working out great until i tried to feel them this afternoon..... They have all turned different colors and i can hardly tell who is who. levels seem to b fine and temp is 74 degrees. they would not eat today, and it seemed as though their "snick" was very weak so they could not eat... This is my first time with seahorses so I'm not sure what to do... they are amazing creatures and I would hate to lose them. Should i do a freshwater dip? Thanks for any advice

 

[DanU]

The seahorse in your avatar is not H. erectus if that is one of them.

A FW dip would be a good starting point. I start with 8 minutes and if they react negatively to the dip, I extend it to at least 12 minutes. This seems counter intuitive but if the FW dip impacts any parasites in the oral cavity, it will make them thrash about as the parasites try to burrow deeper to get away from the osmotic difference. If they don't react at all to the FW dip, then you probably need to look elsewhere for the cause.

Parasites in the oral cavity can cause weak snick. Normally it comes on one at a time, not all seahorses at the same time.

Dan

 

[bubble14]

yes, thank you i think i will try a FW dip..

 

[DanU]

Let me know how they react to the dip. It will determine what to do next. You will need to give them 24 hours post dip to see if they resume eating correctly or improved.

Dan