Seahorse Help

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Hey guys! Posted here since its an emergency to me and the seahorse board is kinda slow. I bought 2 hand raised juvenilles (Romeo and Mercutio) from DNA about 3 almost 4 weeks ago and they are healthy as can be eating well and everything. I went back a week and a half ago and bought the 5" XL wild caught one they had (Horatio). I didn't want to buy it first as I wanted to make sure it was healthy and eating which they said it was. It seemed fine but I can't get it to eat any frozen brine shrimp. That's not worring me as much as the tip of its tail has now turned white overnight. The very tip, solid white and its not curling it normally. I read that seahorses are prone to tail rot disease and that it's very contagious. Romeo and Mercutio look just fine. I don't have another tank that the horses would be safe in as my other tank has fish and corals that wouldn't be the best for a horse. I might be able to move the Horatio to my sump in the reef tank, but would his tail rot sickness affect any of my reef fish? He's large enough that he could fit in the sump without getting caught up in the return pump. But I'm just leary of moving him right now. Don't want to loose him. Can I just dose the entire seahorse tank with an antibiotic or something? Any suggestions are GREATLY appreciated as I am about to go to DNA to try and buy something to help treat the poor guy. And I'd like to make sure the little ones don't catch it so should they be treated as well? I'm not 100% sure what Horatio has, but it looks like tail rot. Help please! Thanks! -Mandy
 
I can't see any redness on the tail--only white. If you can't see any red, I don't think it's tail rot (bacterial infection) instead, I'd assume she was burned by something (could be a chemical or temperature burn). I think the primary concern would be to keep a close eye on her for signs of a bacterial infection. As long as it doesn't progress, I'd personally avoid stressing her any more by trying to treat her for anything at this point. IF it is a bacterial infection, such infections arise as a result of abrasion or injury, and thus I really wouldn't worry too much about it being contagious to your other fish.
Do everything you can to get her to eat something.
 
Are your seahorses in a tank with zero competition for food? If you have fish with them, fish are quicker to snatch it up. Live tiny ghost shrimp are the most tempting food for them.

With tailrot, you can dip the tail of the horse in a solution, but it was so many years ago that I did that that I can't remember what the product was.

Lower temperatures and lower light tanks are best for some species of seahorses. Do you know what type they are? H. reidi for example would do better in 72F water, rather than 79 to 81F that we keep our reefs at.
 
thanks for the reply. got back from dna a little while ago with no luck. they were not sure what to recommend dosing with that wouldn't be harmful. they did give me some live brine shrimp to see if i can get horatio eating again. no luck there. romeo and mercutio were quite happy with the new grub, but horatio didn't touch it. i always thought that redness was a sign of a fungal infection with whiteness being bacterial. i could totally have that backwards though. gonna hafta look it up. i was just looking up symptoms and treatment of seahorse tailrot and i really think thats what horatio has unfortunately. it looks as though the white tip of his tail is flaky. i was hoping it was something that could be treated with melafix or primafix but its not looking that simple.

here are two methods i've found so far:
http://www.seahorse.com/FAMA_-_Freshwater_and_Marine_Aquarium_magazine/Horse_Forum_2003/Horse_Forum_-_October_2003/

http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic33975-12-1.aspx

the guy at dna suggested putting the two smaller guys in my reef tank for now to keep them away from horatio in case it is tail rot. most everything in the reef tank would be ok for them except i do have one small anemone that i'd be concerned about for their safety. would my fish bother them too badly? i have to gbm clowns, a bristletooth tang, some little blue fish with a yellow tail (forgot what its called), a little goby, and some little black and white stiped thing i forgot the name of too. pretty much all the corals should be safe for them. just concerned about the anemone and fish bugging them. my clowns are pretty territorial. would putting romeo and mercutio in the reef tank be a bad thing if it were just for a couple of weeks?

has anyone else had this issue before? how would you treat the tank? should i find another tank and put some of the water and a hitching post and maybe an airline in it and set up a little "hospital" tank for horatio? then maybe put romeo and mercutio in the reef tank? just not sure if i can dose the tank they are in right now without killing the coral and live rock and other little creatures that are currently in the horse tank. i just really am not sure what i should do at this point. i just know my horse is sick and i don't want to loose him.
 
marc, guess i was typing my book when you replied. but they are erectus. no fish, just the 3 horses, a couple of tiny crabs, and a sandollar. there is zero food competition. and horatio (the big one not eating) is 5 times bigger than the little guys. i donn't have a temp gauge on that tank but i'll check the temp with my other one and see. it shouldn't be too warm at all. there is only one light on the tank a 175w mh pendulum style light so its not getting too much lighting.
 
Seahorses don't need MH lighting at all, and the light reflecting off of sand can hurt their eyes. LED or N.O. bulbs are fine for their needs, which saves money for you in the long run. It also keeps the heat down.

Putting them in your reef tank to protect them from the possible infection may work for a duration. Fish don't really care about seahorses as they are zero competition and the horses may opt to be in areas where they feel safer. Aiptasia, hydroids, and other stinging corals may be a problem for a sea horse. They need something to latch onto, and of course getting them to eat with fish swooping in may be problematic.

Brineshrimp aren't very nutritious, so trying to find ghost shrimp is your best option. Call the other stores to see if they can get you some.
 
the light isn't too bright on the tank. its actually on the tank for the sea grass and mangroves the horses like to hitch to. and to keep a couple soft corals and mushies in there. i was told to gut load some brine shrimp and/or ghost shrimp with beta glucan and metronidazole for them. i plan on picking up some ghost shrimp hopefully today to see if horatio will go for those. i got some adult brine shrimp last night he won't touch. here is the treatment plan i was told to follow:

day 1:
1. move romeo and mercutio to my reef tank
2. setup 10 gallon hosptial tank with water from current tank. only need airline and hitching post.
3. give horatio a methylene blue bath - 1/2 tsp per gallon in sterile tub with hitching post for 20 mins.
4. apply wound control to tip of tail and dose hospital tank with neo3 or neosulfex
5. add meds to 5 gallon reserve of salt water

day 2:
1. apply wound control to affected tail
2. 25% water change in hospital tank ensuring to siphon bottom of tank

day 3:
1. apply wound control
2. 25% water change
3. add new dose of neo3 or neosulfex to hospital tank
4. add new dose of neo3 to remaining reserve water and dose new 5 gallon reserve.

day 4:
1. repeat day 2

day 5:
repeat day 3

day 6:
1. apply wound control to tail. should be seeing signs of healing by now
2. if tail is still staining red from wound control medication, continue using.
3. if tail no longer stains red, discontinue wound control and only use the neo3 or neosulfex treatment alone.
4. 25% water change

day 7:
1. 50% water change
2. if still showing signs of infection, repeat regimine for another week.
3. if recovered, conclude hospital stay with 3 day rest in melafix @ 1 tsp per gallon.

i was also instructed to feed gut loaded brine shrimp and/or ghost shrimp by soaking them in metronidazole and ocean rider artermiagro and vibrance or beta glucan (not sure what that is yet) in freshwater for 30 minutes prior to daily feeding.

my biggest concern is i'm not sure where to get wound control as i think its no longer made. i will be calling a lfs to see if i can find it or an equivalent. any suggestions any of you have would be awesome! thanks! -mandy
 
i guess in addition to the water changes in the hospital tank, shouldn't i be changing the water in the normal seahorse tank to try and remove the bacteria from that water? Like maybe a 50% change first and another in a few days or what would be best to ensure the bacteria is gone from the seahorse tank which contains live rock, a few soft corals and mushrooms, crabs, snails and a sandollar. thanks for any suggestions! -mandy
 
i know. i'm SO very broken-hearted! the two little guys caught it too and now they are gone overnight. i know they are just fishies, but it really broke my heart. i loved those little guys. dna is going to help me out with some credit or replacement horses once my tank is well enough again. the water parameters are all good. i did have the ph a little low which could have caused the bacterial infection to spread more rapidly they told me. but it's nothing that would have caused the issue so they are gonna help me out.

i've done a 50% water change in the seahorse tank now and will plan on another 50% this weekend. after that, how many more changes should i do to make sure the bacteria they caught is gone from the tank so i can start anew? they recommended waiting 3 weeks before trying any others. i think i'm just gonna stick to hand raised horses and not try another wild caught one.

thanks for your help! -mandy
 
Whatever that was, it was a quick moving virus. I don't know how long you need to leave it horse-less, but I don't think changing the water will remove it necessarily.
 
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