Female H. Kuda Seahorse lost appetite

[mac_aquarius]

Need urgent help for my female H. Kuda Seahorse which I bought from lfs 3 months ago, she has lost appetite since 3 weeks ago, it start with a snout rot. I can see she was recovering after I isolate her at the QT & treated with Seachem Cupramine & Tremazol. But she still didn’t show any interest on live seawater Ghost shrimp (size 10-12 mm). It used to be her favorite food.

Could anybody help to advice, what should I do next or try on?

[Hernandezj11]

have you tried any other live food like Rotifers, mysis and brine shrimp to help persuade her to eat?

[mac_aquarius]

Originally Posted by Hernandezj11

have you tried any other live food like Rotifers, mysis and brine shrimp to help persuade her to eat?

I think rotifer is too small for her to notice (her size is about 4 in). I have tried frozen mysis & BS before, but she not even look at it. At my place very hard to get a live mysis.

I also try some amphipod, also no luck.

[rayjay]

If you had snout rot you should have been using antibiotics as you were probably dealing with a vibriosis type bacteria.
Copper is not a recommended treatment for seahorses anyway.
If she hasen't eaten in 3 weeks, it's doubtful she will start eating again but you can try feeding adult live brine shrimp or live mysid shrimp.
Is the snout rot situation remedied? If not, the seahorse needs to have the temperature dropped to 68° to 70°F and treated for that.
Your only option MAY be to tube feed a gruel of nutritious food using an 18mm cannula with syringe. You have to get the cannula past the gills before you inject small amounts of food into the seahorse.
While in the Q tank, you can count the food going in and count later to see if any have been eaten.

[mac_aquarius]

Hi rayjay,

Thanks!

1) Will the antibiotics Neomycin+ Triple Sulfa will helps? Although hard to find those in our lfs. Have to order it online maybe take another week to arrive. Meanwhile have you try Ampicillin? Not sure applicable for seahorse. It is rather easy to find it in pharmaceutical.

2) About tube feed a gruel - Do you have the recipe for the gruel?


Any advice is much appreciated.

[mac_aquarius]

Originally Posted by mac_aquarius

Hi rayjay,

Thanks!

1) Will the antibiotics Neomycin+ Triple Sulfa will helps? Although hard to find those in our lfs. Have to order it online maybe take another week to arrive. Meanwhile have you try Ampicillin? Not sure applicable for seahorse. It is rather easy to find it in pharmaceutical.

2) About tube feed a gruel - Do you have the recipe for the gruel?


Any advice is much appreciated.

Anybody could advice as well?

[amazo]

My Kudas will eat some cyclopese(not sure i spelled that right -red plankton) I put some in all my tanks and noticed they will pick at it as it floats by in the water.They prefer mysis but will eat it.Good luck hope you get her eating again.

[rayjay]

Originally Posted by mac_aquarius

1) Will the antibiotics Neomycin+ Triple Sulfa will helps? Although hard to find those in our lfs. Have to order it online maybe take another week to arrive. Meanwhile have you try Ampicillin? Not sure applicable for seahorse. It is rather easy to find it in pharmaceutical.

None of the cillins are listed as vibrio treatment in the "Guide to Seahorse Diseases" where they list the treatment of choice to be an aminoglycocide (neomycin, kanamycin and gentamycin) along with a sulpha drug in a hospital tank at cool temperatures. (70°) So yes, neo and tri sulpha will work.
Where are you that you can't get these standard antibiotics used for aquatics?
You should be able to get them overnighted at the worst.

2) About tube feed a gruel - Do you have the recipe for the gruel?
Any advice is much appreciated.

Basically just use any high nutrition food like spirulina flake/powder, mysis shrimp, along with some Selco emulsion if you have access to it.
You have to mush it up REALLY small for it to go through the cannula.
I tried a blender but I had to use too much to get it to work so I mushed it with a pistol and mortar effect using a spoon and bowl, and then pressed that mush through a very fine mesh and used only what went through the mesh, adding just enough liquid to allow forced passage through the cannula.
In my case I use either Dan Feed (seahorsesource.com) or spirulina powder and Algamac 3050 powder along with mysis.

[mac_aquarius]

Hi,
I’m not sure I’m doing the right way of tube feed; my gruel was mixed of Spirulina powder + Mysis shrimp. I tube feed with cannula (2ml mix), add some Clove oil to sedate the seahorse.

I’m very sure it going in the stomach, but after I transfer her back to the QT, she was vomiting all the gruel out. I have 2nd attempt 2 days after, with only Mysis gruel, same result. Does 2ml too much for her size (4 inch)?

Also not sure my Clove oil was not pure, after the tube feed, she start to have flesh erosion. I bought the Clove oil from Chinese herb shop. Could the clove oil cause flesh erosion?

BR,
Mac

[rayjay]

The flesh erosion is an extension of the original problem of the snout rot, probably caused by vibriosis. I mentioned the preferred treatment drugs earlier.
Have you not already started treatment with the 'mycin and triple sulpha?
Yes, 2ml is a way too much food.
Also, if the cannula is not inserted PAST the gills, the food will come out.
I've never used clove oil but in any case, it is not the cause of the flesh erosion.

[ann83]

I would only tube feed 0.5mL to 1mL at a time, leaning toward 0.5mL for a small seahorse.

An aminoglycoside (neomycin, kanamycin) is not the only way to go for bacterial infection, and wouldn't even be my preferred go-to. Furan-2 is readily available online and at many LFS (at least near me) and would be my preferred option. You can follow package instructions (but dose for a full 10 days), or you can gutload it into live adult brine shrimp.

Additionally, reducing the temperature to 68*F (20*C) is a very reliable way of slowing bacterial infection.

Have you by any chance tried feeding live mysis yet? Live mysis can work where all other foods are turned down, and is far less stressful for both you and the seahorse than tube feeding is. You can order them online from both liveaquaria and seahorsesource.

Also, for what it's worth, you don't necessarily need to use clove oil to sedate for tube feeding. If you are worried about getting a reliable product, again, it can be ordered online, although you ought to be able to get something reliable locally.

[mac_aquarius]

Originally Posted by rayjay

The flesh erosion is an extension of the original problem of the snout rot, probably caused by vibriosis. I mentioned the preferred treatment drugs earlier.
Have you not already started treatment with the 'mycin and triple sulpha?
Yes, 2ml is a way too much food.
Also, if the cannula is not inserted PAST the gills, the food will come out.
I've never used clove oil but in any case, it is not the cause of the flesh erosion.

I have tried to buy the treatment drugs earlier from SeahorseSource, but unfortunately this is their reply:

“Unfortunately we cannot ship medications out of the United States.”

I’m from Malaysia, if anybody knows any online shop could supply international shipment that would be great to share.

Meanwhile, I still never give up; will try ann83 suggestion as well, keep at 20C + Live Mysis (Have to catch from lfs tank)

[rayjay]

Ann is extremely knowledgeable in seahorse diseases so anything see says is bound to help if anything can.
If you can't find the Furan 2 that she mentioned, try for Maracyn 2 as I used this many years ago and it worked. (vibriosis is gram negative bacteria and Maracyn 2 works on negative)
I was just looking back over the thread and realized I screwed up when you asked if neomycin and triple sulpha would work.
YES neomycin + tri-sulpha will work.
If the seahorse does take live mysids, try enrichment of them with spirulina powder blended in water and added to the mysid water for about four hours before adding the mysids for the seahorse to eat.

[btreyes]

You might want to try dosing the water with a vitamin B 12 supplement. That can really help stimulate a lethargic seahorse to eat. I would try that for a little bit before you try force feeding.