GBD On Seahorse??? Help!!!

1Meshy · Apr 7, 2026

Hey guys,

So I added a new skimmer to my tank a few days ago (aquaready hob 1.5 protein skimmer in a 30 gal tank), and it's been producing a lot of microbubbles in the DT. I had read that usually isn't a problem, so I didn't do anything about it other than observe possible issues.

Fast forward to this morning, and my male seahorse now has a bubble underneath his eye! He literally got it overnight!

He is eating normally and active. The other two horses have no bubbles. I do ~20% water changes weekly, and keep the temp stable around 73-74 degrees fahrenheit. I have no other drastic variables that could have caused this other than the skimmer (no temp swings, no bacterial infections, he was fine before the skimmer, etc).

What can I do for him? Is he a goner? Should I just leave him alone and it'll go away on its own? I have no idea where to get diamox on such short notice.. I did turn off the skimmer though in case it did contribute to the GBD.

I really need advice please.. thanks!

1Meshy · Apr 7, 2026

Anyone have any advice??

Mr. Mojo Rising · Apr 7, 2026

It’s gas bubble disease. Almost all seahorse ailments are from water quality issue’s, seahorses don’t get gas bubble disease in the wild. It’s not about what your tests can measure, it’s about bad bacteria and dissolved organics, both of which we can’t test for.

I've gone through my own learning curve with my seahorses and I’ve cured several issues with aggressive water changes. 50% water changes daily for 5 days will cure almost anything. It’s nothing to do with the micro bubbles from your skimmer, that’s a myth. But that’s a really good skimmer you got so it will help a lot going forward.

I’ll just add as a polite FYI that the best way to feed is train them to go to a dish for feeding , and then siphon up the uneaten food, leave no waste behind, its all about water quality. Good luck

Mr. Mojo Rising · Apr 7, 2026

#fishmedics for help

vetteguy53081 · Apr 7, 2026

1Meshy said:
Hey guys,

So I added a new skimmer to my tank a few days ago (aquaready hob 1.5 protein skimmer in a 30 gal tank), and it's been producing a lot of microbubbles in the DT. I had read that usually isn't a problem, so I didn't do anything about it other than observe possible issues.

Fast forward to this morning, and my male seahorse now has a bubble underneath his eye! He literally got it overnight!

He is eating normally and active. The other two horses have no bubbles. I do ~20% water changes weekly, and keep the temp stable around 73-74 degrees fahrenheit. I have no other drastic variables that could have caused this other than the skimmer (no temp swings, no bacterial infections, he was fine before the skimmer, etc).

What can I do for him? Is he a goner? Should I just leave him alone and it'll go away on its own? I have no idea where to get diamox on such short notice.. I did turn off the skimmer though in case it did contribute to the GBD.

I really need advice please.. thanks!

I dont believe this is gas bubble disease which has different characteristics but rather can be from eye injury or exophthalmia which is not a disease, but rather a symptom of stress but can also stem from a bacterial infection Keep an eye on it for healing. If getting worse, apply seachem neoplex

1Meshy · Apr 7, 2026

Mr. Mojo Rising said:
It’s gas bubble disease. Almost all seahorse ailments are from water quality issue’s, seahorses don’t get gas bubble disease in the wild. It’s not about what your tests can measure, it’s about bad bacteria and dissolved organics, both of which we can’t test for.

I've gone through my own learning curve with my seahorses and I’ve cured several issues with aggressive water changes. 50% water changes daily for 5 days will cure almost anything. It’s nothing to do with the micro bubbles from your skimmer, that’s a myth. But that’s a really good skimmer you got so it will help a lot going forward.

I’ll just add as a polite FYI that the best way to feed is train them to go to a dish for feeding , and then siphon up the uneaten food, leave no waste behind, its all about water quality. Good luck

Thanks for the reply.

All horses currently eat from a feeding station, I siphon up excess food every 1-2 days, clean/rinse filter floss and media every 6-7 days, replace floss every 2 weeks, do ~20% water changes every weekend, and have a heavy cuc. It could very well be water quality, but I have a strict setup as to avoid issues like these.

I have read many conflicting articles on whether GBD *can* be caused by protein skimmer microbubbles or not, which is why I chose to turn it off for now to see how the horse does.

In this case, what do you suggest I do then? Just do more water changes and he'll be okay? It's just one bubble, and the other horses don't have any.

1Meshy · Apr 7, 2026

vetteguy53081 said:
I dont believe this is gas bubble disease which has different characteristics but rather can be from eye injury or exophthalmia which is not a disease, but rather a symptom of stress but can also stem from a bacterial infection Keep an eye on it for healing. If getting worse, apply seachem neoplex

Interesting. What's the difference between GBD and an eye injury/exophthalmia? Regardless of issue or cause, what do you suggest I do for him?

vetteguy53081 · Apr 7, 2026

1Meshy said:
Interesting. What's the difference between GBD and an eye injury/exophthalmia? Regardless of issue or cause, what do you suggest I do for him?

treat with Seachem neoplex as mentioned

1Meshy · Apr 7, 2026

vetteguy53081 said:
treat with Seachem neoplex as mentioned

Okay, I'm definitely keep that in mind!

1Meshy · Apr 7, 2026

Id love to hear more people chime in here, especially @Jay Hemdal :))))

Jay Hemdal · Apr 8, 2026

1Meshy said:
Id love to hear more people chime in here, especially @Jay Hemdal :))))

GBD in seahorse isn't fully understood. It seems to have an environmental cause, but unrelated to gas supersaturation as seen in other fish species. I see it most often in male brood pouches, or in the skin of the tail, but sometimes around the eye. I've cured it using Diamox/Acetazolamide, but it often comes back if I don't also change the environment. Your microbubbles from the skimmer actually reduce partial pressure of the dissolved gases, so do not contribute to this.

One general observation - you should be siphoning up uneaten food within hours of it being added to the tank. and try to minimize that as much as possible. Seahorses need to be fed multiple times a day, and all food from the previous feeding MUST be removed else the seahorses may consume some of it with the new food.

1Meshy · Apr 8, 2026

Jay Hemdal said:
GBD in seahorse isn't fully understood. It seems to have an environmental cause, but unrelated to gas supersaturation as seen in other fish species. I see it most often in male brood pouches, or in the skin of the tail, but sometimes around the eye. I've cured it using Diamox/Acetazolamide, but it often comes back if I don't also change the environment. Your microbubbles from the skimmer actually reduce partial pressure of the dissolved gases, so do not contribute to this.

One general observation - you should be siphoning up uneaten food within hours of it being added to the tank. and try to minimize that as much as possible. Seahorses need to be fed multiple times a day, and all food from the previous feeding MUST be removed else the seahorses may consume some of it with the new food.

I see. I'll turn my skimmer back on again, but I'll put a little sponge over the outflow just to minimize the amount of bubbles in the dt anyway (it can look pretty unsightly).

As for husbandry, I do siphon the food out of the food dish after 30 minutes, and every 3 days I siphon the sand for detritus the cuc hadn't taken care of. I could be more vigilant with making sure I take out as much food as possible and see if that helps the issue.

I do not have diamox and would not get it in time for the horse, so what do you suggest I do? Just maintain high water quality and observe?

Jay Hemdal · Apr 8, 2026

1Meshy said:
I see. I'll turn my skimmer back on again, but I'll put a little sponge over the outflow just to minimize the amount of bubbles in the dt anyway (it can look pretty unsightly).

As for husbandry, I do siphon the food out of the food dish after 30 minutes, and every 3 days I siphon the sand for detritus the cuc hadn't taken care of. I could be more vigilant with making sure I take out as much food as possible and see if that helps the issue.

I do not have diamox and would not get it in time for the horse, so what do you suggest I do? Just maintain high water quality and observe?

Here is a seahorse manual that came out in 2005. I contributed to a chapter on snipefish. It has a little about GBD (search to document for the word "gas").

https://projectseahorse.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Syngnathid_Husbandry_Manual2005.pdf

1Meshy · Apr 8, 2026

Jay Hemdal said:
Here is a seahorse manual that came out in 2005. I contributed to a chapter on snipefish. It has a little about GBD (search to document for the word "gas").

https://projectseahorse.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Syngnathid_Husbandry_Manual2005.pdf

Awesome, I'll read up on this! Until then, what do now? Just clean tank and observe?

1Meshy · Apr 22, 2026

Hey guys, just an update on the male seahorse's eye GBD.

I'm happy to announce that it's getting better! It did initially get very big, but over time it started to slowly shrink down.

I was actually getting ready to lance it with a sterile 31G needle in case it got any bigger and caused buoyancy issues, but I decided to give it more time, up the water changes and give him vitamin enriched food. :))