Urgent Need for Diamox

[whatnot45]

Can anyone loan me some? Ill pay for shipping, or i could pick up locally My male Erectus has GBD and he is barely hanging on. I need it NOW! or tomorrow. I live in south San Jose, California.

 

[JennyL]

Diamox is a prescription med, have you tried your local vet?

 

[whatnot45]

yes, they wont look at my seahorse its "exotic"
what i do not understand is why you can buy it online, but you can't buy it from a pharmacy... makes no sense at all.

 

[techigirl78]

Have you tried calling some different vets in your area?

 

[ann83]

The places you can buy it online are in other countries, where you can also buy other prescription meds you can't get here without a prescription. Thats why it takes so long to ship.

 

[whatnot45]

it just seems pointless though... whats the point of restricting its sales in the US if you can still buy it from other countries...

My dad actually has a docotor's appointment today, and he is going to try and get the (people) doctor to prescribe him some for me.

 

[whatnot45]

SWEET! the doctor prescribed my dad 2 tablets of diamox is that enough?

 

[panmanmatt]

3 days is the reccomended minimum treatment with 5 days being the most common.

So no 2 tablets won't be enough for a full treatment as it takes 1 tablet per day.

 

[whatnot45]

How do I treat him?

 

[panmanmatt]

Isolate him to a 10 gallon tank with matched water from his main tank. A small filter or an airline plus something to hitch onto will be fine.

Dissolve 1 tablet in a small container of tank water ( a stick blender is great for this) and add it to the QT tank.

Repeat this daily for 3-5 days after doing a 50% water change daily. The water change will help keep you water parameters in check.

If you can go with a 5 gallon tank instead, that will give you 4 days of treatment with the 2 tablets. Just use 1/2 a tablet daily instead of a whole one.

 

[whatnot45]

Ok ill do the 5 gallon one. I have a 5 gallon tank in its 4th week of cycling right now for dwarf seahorses, and its taller than a 10 gallon, so i think he will like it. HOwever, i have one question. WIll the diamox effect my dwarfs later on when i get them, and after he has been moved? Also, should i put his female in with him as well for moral support?

 

[ann83]

Do not ever treat a fish that isn't showing symptoms. So, no, don't put the female through the diamox treatment just for "moral support". They will both be fine on their own for a while.

 

[whatnot45]

ok thanks im starting the treatment now!

 

[cateyes]

good luck!!!! let us know how it goes....

 

[whatnot45]

So i was relieved this morning to find that he made it through the night, however his condition hasn't seemed to improve at all yet. He still is floating at the top of the tank. Last night i put in 4 hawaiian volcano shrimp, and my mom said she saw him hunting them this morning, they are gone now so i assume he ate them.
Tonight, ill do the water change, and add more diamox. I have a question when you say dissolve it does mixing it in water untill its like a fine powdery substance floating around work or does it actually have to dissolve?

 

[panmanmatt]

That's fine, it won't all totally dissolve.

Have you tried doing a pouch evacuation on him? Is there anyway you can provide a pic either here or in your thread over at Sh.Org?

 

[JennyL]

You need to do a pouch evacuation on this male to relieve his bouyancy problem and the stress he is experiencing and continue the treatment.

 

[whatnot45]

I am doing pouch evacs, but im not getting a whole lot of gas out anymore. I know that on his tail there are at least 3 small bubbles, and 1 fairly large one underneath his skin. I think the other ones may bee trapped in his lower pouch where it connects to the tail. He keeps trying to swim down, and he ends up swimming upside down here are some pics, they are not great i couldn't get a very clear shot in the small tank with its hexagon shape.

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i235/imatallboy/Seahorsesick4.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>

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[JennyL]

You did not mention previously that he also has external gbd problems. Be sure you have lowered the temp in the hospital tank and have plenty of open airlines to aid in the treatment.

I would suggest you examine the main tank carefully and find the cause of the problem , do some good maintenance and check that the temp is not too high as well as having plenty of good water flow.

Good luck and hopefully he will recover fully.

 

[whatnot45]

Well my main tank seems to be doing fine... I have a lot of flow in about half the tank, and the other half has only a little bit. My temp is at a constant 73 (my chiller wont go any lower than that)

I did a pouch flush w/ diamox last night, and while i did not get any bubbles out, he is doing a LOT better. The bubbles in his tail are gone, and he is hitching normally once again. He is not floating on the surface, he can even swim down, but he still has some posative boyancy.