something's fishy with my alligator pipe

[fishyvet]

He has a small area on his tail which looks like his "skin" is peeling back and it is white underneath. It almost looks like algae but the white underneath does not look like his normal skin tone. His appetite is great and he is not behaving abnormally. His tank mates include a radiant wrasse, blue lined pipe, and a few sand sifting shrimp. I've had him with these inhabitants for the last 6 months and everyone basically ignores each other so I wasn't thinking it was a wound from being picked on. Your thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated!

Whole pipe....

Closer view of lesion... best shot I could get, he's a bit wily

 

[rekn]

looks like he mightve grasped something rough

 

[fishyvet]

Thanks for your input rekn. I have some plastic plants in there for him to hang on to. Other than that, I have rock work which I guess is sort of rough. Think either of these might be the culprit? If it was due to grasping something, wouldn't the area be on the underside of his tail that wraps around things? I run a good bit of UV on my tank so hopefully that will help cut down the chances of secondary infection. Do you think I should just let it be for now?

 

[pledosophy]

It looks like vibriosis to me. Not a pipe expert but it that were a seahorse I'd be sure. Since my knowledge of pipes is limited I would suggest a second opinion before starting antibiotic treatments.

I would remove now to a hospital tank either way and drop the temp 4 degrees a day until you hit 68F. I would also suggest enriching food with beta glucan. Neomycin or wound control would be in order. Either can be applied topically or you can use the neomycin in the pill form at 250mg per gallon of water. It is a 10 day treatment. I'd suggest triple sulpha for your antiiotic.

There are a few who know a bit more about treatments around, maybe they'll come along. If you can't find anwsers here then I suggest following the link

Emergency Seahorse care

HTH