sick seahorse

Question

sick seahorse   Hi Marcus...not real sure how this site works, but I will tell you what has happened so far. I posted a question on here a couple of days ago and got a response that Dan could not help me. They said it might be in the question pool. But don't know were that is....I have a sick seahorse, she developed a bloughted belly bout 4 days ago and she is not eating. I asked the question here then went on a forum for saltwater and had a great guy help me a little. I put her in QT and used Furand 2, today is day 3 so I did the 25% water change and re-medicated. I went and got a tube and suringe to tube feed her she didn't fight much till I started pushing the food thru the tube. The gentlemen that helped me on the forum thinks she has an internal infection. Attached is a couple of pics of her, the one she is in my hand was today, the other one was 3 days ago. I don't think she is gonna make it, but still need answers for the future. One question is when making up the mixture to tube feed her. I put mysis in a blender and a small amount of water, is that what I should of done, or is there something better I should of done. Also on a video on youtube, the person tube feeding put the seahorse in clove oil. I didn't do that because it wasn't specified on how much clove oil to use to what ever parts of water. If she makes it thru the night I will try again in the morning. Can u give me any info on any of this?   Thank you for your time I appreciate it.  Mary Jo Ps...could only upload one pic. Also forgot to tell you that I have had her for 3 years now and she is about 7 inches long. I am also positive she is a she...thanks again

Answer
well first off are you sure she is ill? because although i have never seen a pregnant seahorse look quite like that there is a large chance that this she, is a he, and this he, is pregnant. if this is not the case, then there could be several things wrong, she could have a swim bladder infection, which is caused if she were to come into contact with air and accidentally trap some insider of her. the best way i know to deal with this is to actually feed the fish peas soaked in garlic, the garlic only to entice the fish to eat the peas. however i am unsure if this would work on a seahorse as i have only used this several times and every time on multiple angels including a regal and an emperor. the only other thing i see is that the horse could have some other sort of infection that caused the bloating, the only way to help this is to continue treating like you have been and hope for the best, i can gaurentee if you have had this horse for 3 years she will most likely pull through, she is obviously rather healthy otherwise. what you are doing is fine, i would avoid the clove oil mess all together as this will most likely stress the horse more which can only worsen the effects.

i hope this helps you out a bit, i would love it if you would follow up and tell me how your horse is doing soon. best of luck to you and your seahorse.

Marcus.