Storing fat in tails?

luvabunny

New member
OK, before you laugh me off the board, I am an experienced seahorse keeper, and have even raised a batch or two of babies, however, I've never run across this before.

My male erectus no longer has the "square" shape to his tail, with the prominent bumps. In all actuality, it appears the bumps are being surrounded by fat.

His tail has gone completely round. If you didn't know better, you would swear there was an earthworm in the tank, wrapped around his favorite hitch. I tried my best to take pics, but failed miserably.

There are no obvious signs of trauma with his tail. He is using it perfectly. No marks, no apparent pain of any kind. It bends every direction and he flirts with the girls continually. He is eating like a pig, as always, which leads me to believe it is fat. I feed cubed frozen mysis 1 time daily, usually skipping at least 1 day and sometimes 2 in a week. At least 1 day per week I feed frozen brine shrimp.

The tank is a 75g with "natural" aquascaping....live rock, some corals, caulerpa's and algaes. There are pods, but not an overabundance. There are 3 other seahorses in the tank with him. All are healthy and full, but their tails are normal. I've never run across this before. Anyone have any knowledge of why this may be happening? I don't think it's a bad thing, just odd.....
 
I don't have the answers for you but maybe Ann will see this and help out if she can.
Anyway, I'd get the Diamox handy just in case.
 
It really strikes me more as edema (fluid retention). Have you ever had to treat him with any medications? Is salinity stable and normal? Can you get a picture?

I would drop the temperature to 68* and get your hands on Diamox, just in case.
 
I've never had to treat him with anything. Salinity is stable and normal. He has been in the same tank for nearly a year now.

I took bunches of pics, but nothing came out clear enough to show what I'm seeing. He's a dark purple-y color, I have a bowfront tank and a poor camera that doesn't do macro shots.

I'll keep a close eye on him, just in case.
 
Because Diamox is hard to get, usually having to get it from a vet, you need to get it now and have it ready as normally there is no substitute for this particular medication.
I've had a seahorse that had no problems for many years, but still ended up with problems. How long you've had it doesn't prevent things from going wrong.
 
Diamox is and has been on-hand.
I realize things can go wrong no matter how long I've had him. This is just something I've never encountered before.

As an update, he still appears entirely normal with the exception of the fat tail.
 
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