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Need help with Seahorses gas bubble issues


zygote2k

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We have a seahorse tank and one of the males has a bloated pouch and it causes him to swim upside down.

I'd like to know how to prevent it and also how to treat it.

I've heard Diamox works to treat them via gut loaded shrimp, but am unable to find it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

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Rob, also try emailing Dave Lin and Doug Arthur, I think they're both doing a bunch of seahorses at the moment.  

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Rob, is it just inside the pouch or is it an embellism?  Inside the pouch could be from rotted eggs.

 

It has been a number of years since I have treated a seahorse for embellisms and if that's what it is, I would focus on the cause and see if you can get that to come back into an acceptable range (e.g. temperature could be a factor if it is too high).

 

What type of seahorses are these and are they captive bred?

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Diamox is probably what you need. (I would try a pouch evacuation first to make sure it isn't a case of rotting eggs or something, you can find directions for that on seahorse.org) I had to go looking for my old post on seahorse.org back in 2010 when one of my seahorses had external gas bubble disease. I actually took him to Feathers, Scales, and Tails Veterinary Hospital in Westminster and saw Dr. Heather Bowles. She wrote up a prescription for diamox in liquid form that was even shrimp flavored. I soaked and injected the diamox (into the large PE mysis) and my seahorse Stevie was back to normal in about a week.

 

A couple of other people in the thread I started back then made the suggestion of calling a vet, some of them said that their vet just called in a prescription for them over the phone. I had to actually take Stevie in, he was a hit in the waiting room; as I by far had the most exotic pet there. ;)

Edited by Matt LeBaron
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Diamox is probably what you need. (I would try a pouch evacuation first to make sure it isn't a case of rotting eggs or something, you can find directions for that on seahorse.org) I had to go looking for my old post on seahorse.org back in 2010 when one of my seahorses had external gas bubble disease. I actually took him to Feathers, Scales, and Tails Veterinary Hospital in Westminster and saw Dr. Heather Bowles. She wrote up a prescription for diamox in liquid form that was even shrimp flavored. I soaked and injected the diamox (into the large PE mysis) and my seahorse Stevie was back to normal in about a week.

 

A couple of other people in the thread I started back then made the suggestion of calling a vet, some of them said that their vet just called in a prescription for them over the phone. I had to actually take Stevie in, he was a hit in the waiting room; as I by far had the most exotic pet there. ;)

 

With some of these animals I wonder if a vet could be persuaded to do a Skype call and see it on video.  Imagine if you had a fish that was really hard to catch instead of a seahorse.  It might be dead before you got it.

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With some of these animals I wonder if a vet could be persuaded to do a Skype call and see it on video.  Imagine if you had a fish that was really hard to catch instead of a seahorse.  It might be dead before you got it.

Also Im sure the added stress to an already stressed and sick fish probably isnt good for the recovery. 

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With some of these animals I wonder if a vet could be persuaded to do a Skype call and see it on video.  Imagine if you had a fish that was really hard to catch instead of a seahorse.  It might be dead before you got it.

Oh yeah for sure, seahorses are so mellow they're easy to take care of in instances like this. From tank to a bag, off to the vet, and then into the hospital tank for treatment for a week. He went through it like a champ and ended up being by far my longest lived seahorse at very close to 7 years old when he finally passed.

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We have a seahorse tank and one of the males has a bloated pouch and it causes him to swim upside down.

I'd like to know how to prevent it and also how to treat it.

I've heard Diamox works to treat them via gut loaded shrimp, but am unable to find it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

GasX.

 

 

 

 

Sorry, Rob. I couldn't resist. Good luck with finding a treatment. 

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