I'd most definitely be interested in determining a range at which seahorse bacterial infections were more likely to occur and if I was younger with all my tanks and species (I've had 7 over the last 20 yrs) I'd give it a go even with the expense.
IF we could determine a point, and IF we could have a hobbyist test kit, then we can spread the information around the community and hopefully many seahorse lives could be spared. However, I'm down to one last species now, having to phase out due to health, and once gone that will be the end for me as a keeper.
As long as my cognitive impairment doesn't get too bad I'll continue the online helping with the hobby.
IF the problem ISN'T due to elevated DO, my thoughts are that we know right now that keeping water quality with low DO provides MUCH greater chances of success in long term keeping so if it ISN'T DO, whatever it actually is, is ALSO being controlled by keeping DO from expanding.
That would mean if we had the means to hobbyist test the DO, and find a range to work with, we can have success even though we may not know the actual cause of the infections.
At the moment, the controls we use for DO are varied depending on how the hobbyist sets up their system.
It usually boils down to excellent filtration including filter socks, that should be cleaned out twice a week, greatly oversized skimmer, GAC if no skimmer is used, or, just extra insurance if a skimmer is used. Large volume water changes on a frequent basis. Some use products like Mic-F to try to out compete the nasties and some treat with peroxide. (makes skimmers go nuts)
Husbandry is done to extremes as in not leaving any food in the tank to decay, having a minimum of 10X water flow, 20X is better, set up to try to keep the uneaten food and detritus in the water column long enough to be captured by the filtration, and usually any that DOES settle, the majority ends up in one spot, easily siphoned out.
I usually recommend experimenting with the feeding protocol so that you feed only what they will consume in 12-15 minutes, first because any more basically get pushed through their rudimentary digestive tract without extracting the little nutrition capable of being extracted, thus expelling more nutrient laden feces, again leading to water quality deterioration. Seahorses fed smaller amounts more times a day IME, develop better immunity to these nasty bacteria like the vibrio types that usually cause the most problems.
There is probably more but to get everything out of my memory at one sitting is problematic these days.
In the end, probably the majority of seahorse hobbyists out there that would really love to be able to know for instance if the frequency and size of the water changes they do are sufficient, lacking, or overdone.
IF we could determine a point, and IF we could have a hobbyist test kit, then we can spread the information around the community and hopefully many seahorse lives could be spared. However, I'm down to one last species now, having to phase out due to health, and once gone that will be the end for me as a keeper.
As long as my cognitive impairment doesn't get too bad I'll continue the online helping with the hobby.
IF the problem ISN'T due to elevated DO, my thoughts are that we know right now that keeping water quality with low DO provides MUCH greater chances of success in long term keeping so if it ISN'T DO, whatever it actually is, is ALSO being controlled by keeping DO from expanding.
That would mean if we had the means to hobbyist test the DO, and find a range to work with, we can have success even though we may not know the actual cause of the infections.
At the moment, the controls we use for DO are varied depending on how the hobbyist sets up their system.
It usually boils down to excellent filtration including filter socks, that should be cleaned out twice a week, greatly oversized skimmer, GAC if no skimmer is used, or, just extra insurance if a skimmer is used. Large volume water changes on a frequent basis. Some use products like Mic-F to try to out compete the nasties and some treat with peroxide. (makes skimmers go nuts)
Husbandry is done to extremes as in not leaving any food in the tank to decay, having a minimum of 10X water flow, 20X is better, set up to try to keep the uneaten food and detritus in the water column long enough to be captured by the filtration, and usually any that DOES settle, the majority ends up in one spot, easily siphoned out.
I usually recommend experimenting with the feeding protocol so that you feed only what they will consume in 12-15 minutes, first because any more basically get pushed through their rudimentary digestive tract without extracting the little nutrition capable of being extracted, thus expelling more nutrient laden feces, again leading to water quality deterioration. Seahorses fed smaller amounts more times a day IME, develop better immunity to these nasty bacteria like the vibrio types that usually cause the most problems.
There is probably more but to get everything out of my memory at one sitting is problematic these days.
In the end, probably the majority of seahorse hobbyists out there that would really love to be able to know for instance if the frequency and size of the water changes they do are sufficient, lacking, or overdone.