Sick seahorse

[iLLwiLL]

One of my seahorses has popeye

Around a week ago my return pump line slipped off the pump and was shooting a ton of micro bubbles into my little pony tank for about a day before I noticed and could fix it. one of my 3 seahorses has some air bubbles on his lower body and both eyes are pretty puffy and swolen.

I was told by my lfs to use melafix in the display but have been reading mixed reviews about it online. What's my best course of action? I can try to get some diamox from the vet, but that's a 50/50 chance of happening.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Do not use melafix. Can you post some pictures?

 

[melypr1985]

Do not use melafix. Can you post some pictures?

^^the best person to help in this situation. Good luck!

 

[Lionfish Lair]

These were some of the questions we would ask when presented with a sick seahorse. The pictures are VERY important. Your horses are not sick because of the air shooting from the pumps, but if you can answer some of the questions, maybe we can help you figure out what is wrong.


1) Describe your aquarium. Include:

• Size of aquarium
• Date of setup
• Filtration methods
• Does the setup include a protein skimmer? If so, does the skimmer empty directly into the display tank or into a sump?
• Does the tank contain a heater? If so, is the heater covered with a guard or located in a sump?
• List the tankmates (other seahorses, fish, invertebrates, and corals).
• Any other relevant information helpful to describing your tank environment.

2) What are your exact water parameters? Please include ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, temperature and salinity. Other water parameter measures are also helpful. Typing “my parameters are perfect”, does not give an accurate description. Some problems can be caused/complicated by the “normal range” of some water parameters. What test kits did you use?

3) How long have you had the seahorse? When did you add the seahorse to this aquarium?

4) What is the seahorse’s species? Is it captive bred or wild caught? Where did you get it?

5) What are you feeding it? When was the last time its eaten? Is it still eating? Any change in feeding behavior?

6) If you have added anything new to the tank in the last 4 months (including equipment, fish, coral, macroalgae, invertebrates, and rock/sand/etc.), please list it and the approximate date it was added.

7) Name anything that you can think of that you did to/with/near the aquarium and/or its inhabitants in the week before the problem started. Also, what have you done since the problem started? Things like water changes, cleanings, aquascaping, changing filtration, changing salt brands, changing foods, or painting your house, are all relevant.

8) If you have a digital camera, or can borrow one, and the problem is visible, please photograph it and post the picture. The clearer the better, but we will try what we can even if the picture is blurry. The macro setting on your camera can be very helpful. It is often labeled as a picture of a tulip. In this forum, a picture is worth a thousand words, literally.

9 )Have you sought advice anywhere else? If so, what was their recommendation and have you followed it? Have you started any other treatment?

 

[ahiggins]

These were some of the questions we would ask when presented with a sick seahorse. The pictures are VERY important. Your horses are not sick because of the air shooting from the pumps, but if you can answer some of the questions, maybe we can help you figure out what is wrong.

I had no idea you were so versed.

I wish I could help, I adore seahorses but I could never keep up with their demands

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Seahorses were my first fish and I kept them for 15 years. There was a seahorse forum I used to hang, but it's really inactive now. It's a shame, because the site was the pioneer for a lot of seahorse issues.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

How is it going over there? A seahorse that presents with those symptoms is very very sick and perhaps septic. It's really important to start treatments quickly on these guys.