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Seahorse with whitespot??


seahorsecrazy

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:(

I'm not sure, but do seahorses get whitespot like goldfish, or is it something more sinister.

My young girl has been hanging around the top of the tank over the last few days and has grown a few white marks over her tail and doral fin.

She seems to be having trouble getting to the bottom of the tank again. I though it may be gas bubble disease, and hope for the best, but these marks have appeared.

She is still eating on occasion, but not as veraciously and she settles at night.

Is there something more I can do?

I have changed nothing, but the filter wool in the filter canister maybe a week ago, but I have done nothing out of the ordinary as I have changed it many times before.

Pulling out my hair over seahorses!!

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do you have a pic?

is it tropical or local horse

is it small spots (whitespot) or a larger mark (possibly fungus)

any anenomes in tank? can sting and damage the skin

seahorses only have 1mm of flesh on them

have you done a recent waterchange, if not do one at least 30%

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Tropical Kuda, it looks almost like a fungus, it has the look of peeling sunburn, but without the actual 'peel'.

Have done a water change.

Have uv sterilizer unit and had that on for last couple of days. I am turning off the tank lights during the day just incase she gets too hot on the surface under the lights.

Any clues??

Unable to download a photo, dont know how.

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any ideas how to fix it ?

Good question.

I find most of the time treating fish is a waste of time as the success rate is not that high.

From my disease book.

The seahorses main disease might be Costia a parastic skim infection followed by secondary bactrial infection.

Fish exhibit the following symptoms,

dark colouration,increased mucus buildup,turbidity of the skin, loss of scales,reduced appetite and fin rot,

treatment is with formalddehyde/malachite green or formaldehyde/copper.

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Changing the water by 30- 40% about every 4 weeks.

It is a 150 litre tank and seems to keep very clean. Have never had any test readings out of the ordinary, just changing as a routine.

Removing seahorse poo and shrimp and snail poo as often as weekly with a small siphon and just topping up the water that I remove with new water.

Have a steady supply of mixed water ready for any 'unexpected emergancies' - I am ready fro a tank crash if I ever have to face it... :lol:

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have had the same thing twice before on H. abdominalis, once from anenome stnging tail and other from snail climbing on horse and i surmise feeding on skin

lost first one but second used malkon on horse in seperate tank and fixed it

i don't recommend the treatment though, it was used as a last resort

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Oh SHCrazy, I'm so sorry you lost your dear little SH! :(

Wish I had seen this thread earlier, though still it may have been too late...

I do have to respectfully disagree with some views here. I do not think it is a waste of time to try and save/treat illness. Even if you can't save them all, any success is worth it! Especially since we become so attached to our special little charges; they each have an individual 'personality' and aren't easily replacable as seahorses are so difficult (& expensive!) to get here in NZ.

For any sick SH, it is highly advisable to isolate them in a "hospital tank" and carry out any medications there. NOT in the main display tank, as you could upset/ kill your bio-filter.

I would still keep a close watch on your other SH, and monitor the tank closely. (as I'm sure you are ;) ) and get help ASAP if anything looks awry; bouyancy/ appetite/ behaviour/ spots...

Things you CAN do: slowly drop temperature. This can help keep some nasty bacteria which favour tropical temps at bay (even with UV; it's great you have a UV steriliser BTW :) ) Depending on what else you have in your tank... I keep my kuda constantly between at 20-21C. And have dropped lower during power outages and purposely when one fell ill. (successfully saved BTW)

It looks like you are doing a good job checking water quality, and that the parameters are fine so obviously you have a decent routine and enough quantity in WCs; But, if not too inconvenient for you, smaller changes more often can still be beneficial. If not weekly, then every other week would be an improvement over once monthly :)Oops! I just re-read page 1 and see you are doing a superb job! LOL,Can you believe there are even some who vacuum small volumes from their tanks daily?! The point of this is, even though nitrates etc. are "fine" , it is good to clean regularly so there is not a booming population of undesirables which can lead to problems like "weak snick" ...

BTW I'm not good at wording & am in No Way trying to pick on you , just trying to help!

Once again ,sorry about your SH. Hope you figure out how to post a pic soon. I love seeing others SHs! and another good skill to play with/ learn. Comes in handy for so many things, sick fish Q's included. PM if ya need help

OK, Now I really will stop babbling on :D

DJ

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Thanks for the encouragement dj.

I am looking to replace her, but not with another SH as they are too hard to get at the moment.

Do you think something like a yellow tang or something similar will be ok in the tank with the 'surviver'?

The is always that small amount of green hair algae growing, although the snails seem to keep it under good control, and I would love to see seom colour and 'brightness' in the tank again.

If not a yellow tang, then any other suggestions?

Tank is 150 litre, and sitting currently at 26 degrees.

I will certainly try to decrease the temp to help with any 'nasties'.

Thanks guys, you support is really reassuring, I am glad to see that I am not doing anything terribly wrong.

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Thanks for the encouragement dj.

I am looking to replace her, but not with another SH as they are too hard to get at the moment.

You sure got that right! :(

Do you think something like a yellow tang or something similar will be ok in the tank with the 'surviver'?

The is always that small amount of green hair algae growing, although the snails seem to keep it under good control, and I would love to see seom colour and 'brightness' in the tank again.

If not a yellow tang, then any other suggestions?

Yah, I like having some colour too! BUT, I think tangs & most of the "swimmier" type fish are considered not good tankmates unfortunately. Mainly because they could get "nippy" and tend to outcompete SH's for any food.

Good things to go for are blennys & gobies; there are a few nice colourful ones about and they have the most comical faces. Dragonets (mandarins) are beautiful too. I'm not too good on ID's... go here for some pics and guidance with an easy rating system --> http://www.seahorse.org/library/articles/tankmates/tankmates.shtml

Zeros being totally harmeless to SH's and #4's are going to have your SH for lunch! I have some "2's" in my tank and have been OK.

The other things you could look for are a colourful shrimp (My bright racing striped cleaner shrimp is a "2", because some SH's get stressed/annoyed and don't want to be cleaned!) When the shrimp has gotten too big/agressive, I've traded him/her in for a smaller one.

After my seahorse, the thing I get the most enjoyment from in my tank is my beautiful sunny tubeastrea (suncoral). It is a great SH tankmate; it does have sticky tentacles, but does not sting. It also helps the water quality by filter feeding, though it does enjoy and thrives better with an occasional feed of the SH's leftovers. And, it doesn't need any special lighting.

Tank is 150 litre, and sitting currently at 26 degrees.

I will certainly try to decrease the temp to help with any 'nasties'.

Thanks guys, you support is really reassuring, I am glad to see that I am not doing anything terribly wrong.

My troppo tank is only 75 litres!

26 does seem a tad warm to me, but I also don't know what other tropical things you have in there... I would hate for you to lose anything else! My mushrooms don't seem to like my coolish temp of 21, but candycane, suncoral and button polyps are thriving. Perhaps a figure in the middle if there is anything of concern in your tank, temperature wise?...

Keep up the good work!

splash ya later

DJ

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