[becky]

Hi, I have a SH tank with one other fish in, coral, shrimp, snails etc. Both SH have been in the tank for about 2 yrs, both veryhappy, healthy and have bred. But 3 days ago they both stopped eating, she is chasing her food and trying to go for it b ut not able to he is very listless and sitting next to his rock. Nothing has changes in the tank and water is spot on. Is the snick? Should I freshwater dip? I read on a SH website to dip and wondered if anyone had tried this?
many thanks
becky

[gturnbull]

Hi Becky,

I don't know anything about seahorses, but have a look at the link below,

http://www.ultimater...ad.php?t=258799

There is a thread on another forum that may help you.

[Dave.I]

Hi Becky,

I think i saw you in taunton aquarium center yesturday? It was me you spoke to,did you come back and get some of the live mysis i took up? When you say the female is going for the food but unable to could you explain why? The male being listless could be due to be pregnant,in which case he could go off his food for a few day's as is sometimes the case.What diet have they been on and how do they look from a face on view,in other words do the body segments buldge between segments or are they looking pinched inwards? Also were are you located as i will be getting more mysis soon and if you need some i may be able to sort it. Cheers

Dave

[becky]

Hi thanks for the thread-its exactly how my two have gone! My SH tank is infested with bristleworm and aptasia and have not the SH have flinched a great deal when touched either of them-could they have maybe hurt themselves on these?

I freshwater dipped both of them, the male was heavy breathing before he went in, and do change afterwards. I did observe something very nasty though, the female went in first and she had hundreds of tiny white things, like tiny fly eggs scurry into groups, they died and dropped off, then the male went in and he had them come out of his gills. They must have some sort of parasite. I can only assume if the have hurt themselves at any point then if distressed they have attracted these parasites in the same way as fish do and ich? I have no idea where they came from a no new editions for over 6months into their tank. they only bred 3weeks ago so can't be in bad shape. I am gutted.
She chases her food, reaches out to snatch it and then withdraws. Afraid it wasn't me in the shop, I am from northants area. They eat enriched mysis, tank is full of copepods-the glass is live with them. And 3 times a week i give them live brineshrimp to keep them entertained.
many thanks

[Dave.I]

Personaly i would not bother giving live brine.It could introduce bacterial infections or other pests.The bristle worms are nothing to worry about.Infact i wouldnt be without them as they are about the best clean up crew you could ever have! They wont harm your seahorses but the aiptasia could so if you can sort these out asap it would help from a stress point of view.If they take the dips well then i would dip them once every day until the pests are gone.What other tank mates do you have with them?

Dave

[becky]

Thanks for the replies! I forgot to add earlier, their tummys re round not concaved or swollen. They have not eaten now for 3days so I am guessing they won't survive! Gutted as they were great. They have a regal damsel who was badly bullied by the other damsels in my main tank and had his tail and what seemed half of its body eaten by them. It has been in there for 6 months, not a bother and just hides all day in its hole in lr. Just the cleanup crew in the tank. Feels so helpless!!!

[Dave.I]

Dont think for one second they will just die! They still have every chance of survival even if they go a couple more days with no food.Keep trying,seahorses are mostly very resiliant and alot tougher than people think! Try and get some live shrimp of some kind and if you can feed the shrimp a high quality flake food before feeding to the seahorses that would also help.Keep trying!!!

Dave

[becky]

I rang a very helpful man from the Seahorse trust this morning. He said NOT to freshwatr dip them, I had been given very bad advice from the SH org website. He said he has known well fed healthy SH's to go for up to 6weeks without eating. He thinks the nasty things on their skin came in on the live food just as Dave said! he thinks they have TB as all SH's have it present apparently! he has said to put some malifix in the tank and try and get some anti biotics in them, and suggested yorkshire brineshrimp may sell some enriched with it! So fingers crossed!

[Dave.I]

Good for you Becky,keep trying.If it was Neil you spoke to he is indeed a very friendly and helpful chap! Im sure you can still pull them through!

Dave