My poor little buddy

Paulie069

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Help what heck is happening. This is first problem I’ve had in 2yrs. His name is Stumpy because when I found him I stepped on his tail n damaged it a little piece fell off after a week then all was good for last year n half. Then last night I noticed his tail didn’t look rite and this morning it was very noticeable. I’m wondering if he scraped tail on live rock or if maybe sea urchin did something to him. I’m putting up a pic when I very first got him and what is going on today. Please help figure this out he is my favorite horse and I’ll be crushed if something happens to him

394E4B36-99EE-46EB-8FE0-BF5FA16B0CA6.jpeg 9352FA8A-F5B7-4EAA-B622-6002B3C8F76B.jpeg F67CAC85-1200-45AE-B872-701918E5279F.jpeg
 

SeahorseKeeper

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Personally, I have never experienced that. What are your water parameters including tank temp? It looks like it is infected. Can you quarantine in a separate tank?
 
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Paulie069

Paulie069

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Personally, I have never experienced that. What are your water parameters including tank temp? It looks like it is infected. Can you quarantine in a separate tank?
Don’t have spare tank at moment not till next week. Tank temp is room temp for last 2 years and is clean m clear. Someone told me use neosporin
 

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Hi,

sorry about the little guy. I would think along the same lines as you all. Possible injury somehow and possible infection.
Neosporin is an interesting idea. Never heard of its use in this application. My first 2 concerns would be how water soluble it is, would it just wash off. And, it is antibacterial so would it mess with your filter bed? Just some thoughts

hope he’s ok.
 

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Georgians are a coral known to have antimicrobial and antibacterial properties. Might be a one to consider. The seahorse could use it as a place to mount, and not be injured, but maybe healed a little from attaching to it.
 

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Try dipping tail in melafix. Will help it heal.
Other options would be neomycin + triple sulfa for at least 14 days. Like neomycin sulfate, kanamycin sulfate is an aminoglycoside antibiotic and the two can be combined together and safely used with triple sulfa, so that is something you might consider.
Last option is Debride Medicated Ointment to the skinned area of the tail will help the seahorse to feel much better. The medicated ointment contains a topical anesthetic that will numb and soothe the affected areas, whereas the corticosteroids will reduce any swelling or inflammation on the seahorse. If you can't find Debride Medicated Ointment locally, then you could disinfect the skinned areas of the seahorse’s tail using a good topical antiseptic such as povidone iodine (brand name Betadine), which you can obtain over-the-counter at any drugstore or pharmacy.

You will have to though, remove the affected seahorse from the water briefly. To prepare for this procedure, you will need to lay out a stack of paper towels in your work area, along with the iodine or Betadine and a small cup of aquarium water from the seahorse tank. When you are ready to proceed, cup the stallion in the palm of your non-dominate hand and allow him to wrap his tail around your fingers so that he feels secure. When the stallion has a good grip on one of more of your fingers in such a way that the reddish spot is readily exposed and easily accessible, lift him out of the aquarium and hold him over the stack of paper towels in the upright position, with his head higher than his tail.

Then dribble the Betadine antiseptic liberally over the open wounds and injured areas of the seahorse’s tail using your dominant hand (or have a helper standing by to carefully apply the antiseptic while you hold the pony), being very careful not to let any of it get into the cup of aquarium water or to come in contact with the fish’s gills, eyes, or mouth. The idea is to dribble the antiseptic over the injured areas from a short distance above the suspicious spot without actually touching the skin or contacting the seahorse with any sort of a swab or applicator.

The povidone iodine (brand name Betadine) kills germs on contact, so it will disinfect the affected area within moments. Just wait 5-10 seconds for the excess Betadine to drip onto the stack of paper towels, and then immerse the tail of the seahorse in the cup of aquarium water two or three times – keeping the seahorses head out of the cup of water while you do so – in order to rinse off the excess Betadine, and immediately release the seahorse back into the main tank.

It’s a simple procedure, which should take no more than 30-60 seconds, and is completely noninvasive so there should be a minimum of stress on the seahorse. If the seahorse tolerates the handling and disinfecting process well, you can repeat these topical treatments daily if necessary.
 
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Paulie069

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Hi,

sorry about the little guy. I would think along the same lines as you all. Possible injury somehow and possible infection.
Neosporin is an interesting idea. Never heard of its use in this application. My first 2 concerns would be how water soluble it is, would it just wash off. And, it is antibacterial so would it mess with your filter bed? Just some thoughts

hope he’s ok.
Just put him in 10 gal by himself make easier to keep eye on him
 
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Paulie069

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Try dipping tail in melafix. Will help it heal.
Other options would be neomycin + triple sulfa for at least 14 days. Like neomycin sulfate, kanamycin sulfate is an aminoglycoside antibiotic and the two can be combined together and safely used with triple sulfa, so that is something you might consider.
Last option is Debride Medicated Ointment to the skinned area of the tail will help the seahorse to feel much better. The medicated ointment contains a topical anesthetic that will numb and soothe the affected areas, whereas the corticosteroids will reduce any swelling or inflammation on the seahorse. If you can't find Debride Medicated Ointment locally, then you could disinfect the skinned areas of the seahorse’s tail using a good topical antiseptic such as povidone iodine (brand name Betadine), which you can obtain over-the-counter at any drugstore or pharmacy.

You will have to though, remove the affected seahorse from the water briefly. To prepare for this procedure, you will need to lay out a stack of paper towels in your work area, along with the iodine or Betadine and a small cup of aquarium water from the seahorse tank. When you are ready to proceed, cup the stallion in the palm of your non-dominate hand and allow him to wrap his tail around your fingers so that he feels secure. When the stallion has a good grip on one of more of your fingers in such a way that the reddish spot is readily exposed and easily accessible, lift him out of the aquarium and hold him over the stack of paper towels in the upright position, with his head higher than his tail.

Then dribble the Betadine antiseptic liberally over the open wounds and injured areas of the seahorse’s tail using your dominant hand (or have a helper standing by to carefully apply the antiseptic while you hold the pony), being very careful not to let any of it get into the cup of aquarium water or to come in contact with the fish’s gills, eyes, or mouth. The idea is to dribble the antiseptic over the injured areas from a short distance above the suspicious spot without actually touching the skin or contacting the seahorse with any sort of a swab or applicator.

The povidone iodine (brand name Betadine) kills germs on contact, so it will disinfect the affected area within moments. Just wait 5-10 seconds for the excess Betadine to drip onto the stack of paper towels, and then immerse the tail of the seahorse in the cup of aquarium water two or three times – keeping the seahorses head out of the cup of water while you do so – in order to rinse off the excess Betadine, and immediately release the seahorse back into the main tank.

It’s a simple procedure, which should take no more than 30-60 seconds, and is completely noninvasive so there should be a minimum of stress on the seahorse. If the seahorse tolerates the handling and disinfecting process well, you can repeat these topical treatments daily if necessary.
Brother that’s the best advice I’ve read yet. I can’t thank u enough for this information. I’ll be at drugstore the second it opens. Again thank u

to be honest I almost cried when I saw his tail this am. He’s my favorite seahorse had him over year n half. I now have him in ten gallon tank by himself

86E14C9B-D59D-4DBC-919B-B1E5090F7CE8.jpeg
 

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It has developed what looks to be tail rot. Probably from the initial damage when you stepped on it's tail but nasty bacteria from the tank has gotten to it.
This can be from a combination of things, like water quality (which we cannot measure for this particular detail) seahorse individual immunity, seahorse stress level which affects immune system, water temperature and probably more things I can't think of right at the moment.
For me it would mean instant hospital tank with heavy aeration with open ended air line(s) and slowly dropping the water temperature to 68°F. Treat with Furan II coupled with a tri-sulpha for the recommended duration and it can be repeated if no sign of improvement apparent at the end of that treatment. Dropping the temp is really important because it drastically slows up the spread of the nasty bacterial while the drugs do their work.
In conversation with Dan Underwood of seahorse source this week on Wine Wednesday with the Seahorse Whisperer, he recommended using Allimax direct on the applicable area. It is a stabilized form of allicin from garlic and he told me it works really fast in helping wounds to heal.
If you don't have instructions for Furan II scroll down to it on this form: http://forum.seahorse.org/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=31949
 
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Paulie069

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It has developed what looks to be tail rot. Probably from the initial damage when you stepped on it's tail but nasty bacteria from the tank has gotten to it.
This can be from a combination of things, like water quality (which we cannot measure for this particular detail) seahorse individual immunity, seahorse stress level which affects immune system, water temperature and probably more things I can't think of right at the moment.
For me it would mean instant hospital tank with heavy aeration with open ended air line(s) and slowly dropping the water temperature to 68°F. Treat with Furan II coupled with a tri-sulpha for the recommended duration and it can be repeated if no sign of improvement apparent at the end of that treatment. Dropping the temp is really important because it drastically slows up the spread of the nasty bacterial while the drugs do their work.
In conversation with Dan Underwood of seahorse source this week on Wine Wednesday with the Seahorse Whisperer, he recommended using Allimax direct on the applicable area. It is a stabilized form of allicin from garlic and he told me it works really fast in helping wounds to heal.
If you don't have instructions for Furan II scroll down to it on this form: http://forum.seahorse.org/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=31949
Ok thank u so much for advice I already keep my tank between 65 69 room temp never higher than 70 in summer I have all Erectus which like cooler water also all wild caught and All my water comes from 5 miles offshore. Nothing but beautiful ocean water no fake water. I know ur reputation and respect ur answer to my problem. I already moved him into 10 gal tank by himself and will be at pharmacy the minute it opens tomorrow morning. Again thank you and I will carefully read the link u sent me
 

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Unfortunately, no matter WHERE you gather your water from the ocean it doesn't guarantee you won't have problematic pathogens of some kind in your collection. That is why reputable commercial seahorse breeders like Dan Underwood of Seahorse Source take the time to treat the water as well as use progressively finer filters to filter out anything in the water, I believe down to .5 microns in Dan's case.
I reread your original post and discovered I missed a time element as you said the original tail wound was a year and a half ago. That means my original statement that this problem was due to the original damage would NOT be the case.
Often we NEVER find a true reason for something negatively happening to our seahorses but it still would pay to assess every aspect of your setup and procedures to try to find the reason as finding it may also save other seahorses from getting it.
Whichever treatment you use, if successful the seahorse will probably lose a bit more of it's tail.
I'll be waiting patiently for your updates and hope for the best for you.
 
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Paulie069

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Try dipping tail in melafix. Will help it heal.
Other options would be neomycin + triple sulfa for at least 14 days. Like neomycin sulfate, kanamycin sulfate is an aminoglycoside antibiotic and the two can be combined together and safely used with triple sulfa, so that is something you might consider.
Last option is Debride Medicated Ointment to the skinned area of the tail will help the seahorse to feel much better. The medicated ointment contains a topical anesthetic that will numb and soothe the affected areas, whereas the corticosteroids will reduce any swelling or inflammation on the seahorse. If you can't find Debride Medicated Ointment locally, then you could disinfect the skinned areas of the seahorse’s tail using a good topical antiseptic such as povidone iodine (brand name Betadine), which you can obtain over-the-counter at any drugstore or pharmacy.

You will have to though, remove the affected seahorse from the water briefly. To prepare for this procedure, you will need to lay out a stack of paper towels in your work area, along with the iodine or Betadine and a small cup of aquarium water from the seahorse tank. When you are ready to proceed, cup the stallion in the palm of your non-dominate hand and allow him to wrap his tail around your fingers so that he feels secure. When the stallion has a good grip on one of more of your fingers in such a way that the reddish spot is readily exposed and easily accessible, lift him out of the aquarium and hold him over the stack of paper towels in the upright position, with his head higher than his tail.

Then dribble the Betadine antiseptic liberally over the open wounds and injured areas of the seahorse’s tail using your dominant hand (or have a helper standing by to carefully apply the antiseptic while you hold the pony), being very careful not to let any of it get into the cup of aquarium water or to come in contact with the fish’s gills, eyes, or mouth. The idea is to dribble the antiseptic over the injured areas from a short distance above the suspicious spot without actually touching the skin or contacting the seahorse with any sort of a swab or applicator.

The povidone iodine (brand name Betadine) kills germs on contact, so it will disinfect the affected area within moments. Just wait 5-10 seconds for the excess Betadine to drip onto the stack of paper towels, and then immerse the tail of the seahorse in the cup of aquarium water two or three times – keeping the seahorses head out of the cup of water while you do so – in order to rinse off the excess Betadine, and immediately release the seahorse back into the main tank.

It’s a simple procedure, which should take no more than 30-60 seconds, and is completely noninvasive so there should be a minimum of stress on the seahorse. If the seahorse tolerates the handling and disinfecting process well, you can repeat these topical treatments daily if necessary.
I just picked up med u suggested wish me luck

5CCD3D95-5500-469F-9305-1DF06AD985FE.jpeg
 
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Paulie069

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Unfortunately, no matter WHERE you gather your water from the ocean it doesn't guarantee you won't have problematic pathogens of some kind in your collection. That is why reputable commercial seahorse breeders like Dan Underwood of Seahorse Source take the time to treat the water as well as use progressively finer filters to filter out anything in the water, I believe down to .5 microns in Dan's case.
I reread your original post and discovered I missed a time element as you said the original tail wound was a year and a half ago. That means my original statement that this problem was due to the original damage would NOT be the case.
Often we NEVER find a true reason for something negatively happening to our seahorses but it still would pay to assess every aspect of your setup and procedures to try to find the reason as finding it may also save other seahorses from getting it.
Whichever treatment you use, if successful the seahorse will probably lose a bit more of it's tail.
I'll be waiting patiently for your updates and hope for the best for you.
Me too I’m gonna do treatment I’m few minutes wish me and mostly him luck

B536AA6C-F21B-48DE-8543-7B811F25D350.jpeg
 

vetteguy53081

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Me too I’m gonna do treatment I’m few minutes wish me and mostly him luck

B536AA6C-F21B-48DE-8543-7B811F25D350.jpeg
Fairly easy treatment. It does work. Best with two people. just assure you get it off with rinse Prior to returning to tank
 
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Paulie069

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Fairly easy treatment. It does work. Best with two people. just assure you get it off with rinse Prior to returning to tank
I will must admit I’m procrastinating this project because I’m nervous and scared of my gorilla hands
 
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