Please help sea horse
- Thread starter Viri221
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Seahorses do best with like species ie. pipe fish. Seahorses come from cooler waters and when exposed to warmer waters of a typical reef they can suffer from bacterial infections. They do best at around 72 degrees. Clowns are not good tank mates. They can and will be aggressive but mostly the are aggressive eaters and don’t give the seahorses the opportunity to eat. They mostly just wait for food to come to them. As far as what to feed, live foods work best. If you have frozen you can try but if you can get you hands on some live brine that might get it eating.
Except all the seahorses that come from the Caribbean.
You’re right, not all but most that are readily available. It’s not the best pic in the bag but to me it looks like it might be a hippocampus erectus, I think it’d be a pretty safe bet to say it comes from cooler waters.
Here’s the deal.
You basically need to get the bucket set up as a hospital. That means you’ll be fighting ammonia.
The live rock and the macro algaes will definitely do that. But once the bucket is full of tank water you may want to change with some fresh water.
The temp thing isn’t so much about them being a temperate species. At reef temps bacteria will grow and ponies are highly susceptible to bacterial infections, so keeping temps in the 74-77 range does that and most run a UV in thier tanks.
The bigger challenge is to get the stress down and hospital clean.
If the ponie makes through that then you can adress both the feeding and the injury.
With luck the pony folks and @Humblefish may chime in more precise medication instructions.
The usual pony boards aren’t very active right now.
You basically need to get the bucket set up as a hospital. That means you’ll be fighting ammonia.
The live rock and the macro algaes will definitely do that. But once the bucket is full of tank water you may want to change with some fresh water.
The temp thing isn’t so much about them being a temperate species. At reef temps bacteria will grow and ponies are highly susceptible to bacterial infections, so keeping temps in the 74-77 range does that and most run a UV in thier tanks.
The bigger challenge is to get the stress down and hospital clean.
If the ponie makes through that then you can adress both the feeding and the injury.
With luck the pony folks and @Humblefish may chime in more precise medication instructions.
The usual pony boards aren’t very active right now.
I think there are bigger fish to fry currently.
vlangel
Seahorse whisperer
A seahorse with any skin abrasions or cuts should be put in a 10 gallon QT/HT and treated with Furan 2 or Triple Sulfa. Seahorses succumb to bacterial infection easier than any othet fish. You can also gut load live brine shrimp or small ghost shrimp with the antibiotics for 12 hours and then feed the seahorse. She will respond to them faster if she gets the antibiotics orally.
Don't worry about cycling the tank, you are going to be changing out 5 gallons of newly made saltwater every day with the daily use of antibiotics which will keep the ammonia down.
I have to be honest that her chances of survival are dim with your original description in the 1st post.
Don't worry about cycling the tank, you are going to be changing out 5 gallons of newly made saltwater every day with the daily use of antibiotics which will keep the ammonia down.
I have to be honest that her chances of survival are dim with your original description in the 1st post.
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With the seahorse in a weakened state I think that would make it more susceptible to infection so I would think temps would be important but to each thier own. Plenty of places for it to hitch and live foods would be my suggestions. They can be delicate but they can surprise you as well. Good luck.
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He doesn't get it and glad he accepted the time I spent/ we spent to give him some insight. It is clear: THEY WILL STARVE WITH OTHER OCCUPANTS IN THE TANK if he paid ANY attention to the responses. Tank pic would be great as it is nearly clear he is set up for fish and not the required environment for seahorses
MSB123
Someone out there put something smart here.
Yes! A picture would help!
vlangel
Seahorse whisperer
Any seahorse weak or strong with openings in their skin are vulnerable to infection which is why they need to be in a HT and under antibiotic treatment. They should have some hitches and an open airline tube aerating the tank. The seahorse is best in water temperature of 68° F so no heater is needed. Sometime a basement is cool enough for a tabk to stay around 68 -70°.
Thanks for chiming in.
vlangel
Seahorse whisperer
Seahorses do come from warm waters but our tanks are much less clean than the ocean. Seahorses are deficient immunity wise in their gut, their gills and their skin compared to fish. They need much cleaner water (bacterial wise) than reef tanks. Keeping the water temps in the low 70s helps inhibit the bad bacterias ability to reproduce as much. As soon as the temps get above 74 ° the bad bacterias reproduce exponentially and most seahorses do not thrive in an enviroment like that.
I know.
vlangel
Seahorse whisperer
Oops sorry I see that you actually said the same thing. Only reading part of your post mislead me...my apologies,
No worries at at. And thank you again.
The previous tank temp discussion was unneeded imo as well as what tank is was going in , as the fish is literally in a bucket.
Room temp should be fine for an emergency Esp as he pony had not yet been ID.
Need the get the patient stable first.
SHE DIDNT MAKE IT it like I said it wasn’t a big deal she was free the store wasn’t doing anything I watched her at the store for a day before I asked to take her I gave her small dose of stress meds and an air pump with algae there was never a plan to put her in my main tank with the clowns and inverts I said I would work out the details later as for the hostility I was looking for med recommendations and how to get her more active to eat if she was already to far gone there was no point in trying to prep her for my tank so I got a bucket an asked the guy to give me more water that she was already in I guess I need to type every little detail before asking just everybody relax the real killer was the dummy that put her in with the super aggressive tangs
You stepped up. That was good.
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