Seahorse with Abnormal Tail!

[chantzboogie]

I have been browsing the forums and couldn't find a direct response on how to cure this issue.. and also some of the posts I did find were extremely aged so maybe theres a newer/updated way of resolving or medicating the seahorse.

But basically I've had my seahorse for 8 months now, extremely healthy, hearty, eats a lot, and very active. Still is all those things but his tail looks extremely abnormal as of this past week. I'm not 100% sure if its EGB disease.

Before he would float around with his tail fully unraveled and now he curls up his tail as he is swimming from place to place.


Any suggestions on what I can do to help cure him?


So far,
- I have gotten this Dr. G Anti-Parasectic frozen food that one of the local fish stores recommended but Seahorse is not taking a liking to it.
- Started blasting the tank with Kent - Nano Reef (Part A + B) that has concentrated minerals (Calcium, Phosphate) to help alleviate any lacking minerals or nutrients the tank might have
- Water temp is a stable 76 degrees
- Currently in the process of setting up a q - tank for him but will take some time

Pictures:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ikiwXKXi2ZE/VgK0Zc3hWGI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/r0c187y2MH4/s332/2015-09-23.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SyjtwCPamt4/VgK0MhPUFII/AAAAAAAAAYw/vxAN7F7wPvs/s332/2015-09-23.jpg


Any help would be grately appreciated!!!

[rayjay]

Pictures are not suitable for me to be able to tell anything.
However, I have a lot of seahorses, and some swim with their tails straight out and others with them curled in various degrees so I don't know that that by itself is a problem.
Temperature of 76° is a bit warm though, especially if it has a bacterial infection. Recommended tank temperature usually would be 68° to 74°F but when wounds or bacteria are present I go to the low limit of 68°.
To see if it has parasites the usual treatment is a fresh water dip.
http://fusedjaw.com/diseasehealth/how-to-give-a-seahorse-a-freshwater-dip/
If a bacterial disease is confirmed at some point you should move the seahorse to a hospital tank and treat with something like Furan II. Don't use any antibacterial treatment though unless you are sure it's needed.
If this seahorse is in the 14g bio-cube, what other tank mates are there?

[rayjay]

Some more links for reading:
http://fusedjaw.com/diseasehealth/temperature-and-seahorses-a-commentary-by-dan-underwood-of-seahorse-source/
Anything written by Dan Underwood is worthy of a good read - best breeder out there for helping keepers.
http://fusedjaw.com/Category/diseasehealth/
Tami has done a good job of correlating information in one spot to aid in our problems.

[chantzboogie]

Thank you Ray for your input! Yeah these pictures are terrible but best I could do given the limited time I had and him floating around not letting me take a decent picture. As for the nature of his tail, I've had him for 8months and never seen his tail look like this aesthically or seen him act like this.

Other tank mates:
- Scooter Blenny
- Red Scooter Dragonet
- 2 small percula clownfish
- Watchman Goby with his buddy Pistol Shrimp hidden under a rock


I'm hesistant to do the freshwater dip because I've never done that -- but till research into this more! Thanks for the idea! Definitely will cool the water down also. In the process of making a hospital tank as I type! Thank you for all the additional information and links! GREATLY appreciate it!

[rayjay]

Well IMO, eight months is in a range I would expect this tank to start having problems with a seahorse that is in a tank too small, with inappropriate tankmates like clownfish.
A hospital tank for seahorses is most often a 10g tank with good aeration from open ended air line(s).
Here are My Thoughts on Seahorsekeeping (http://www.angelfire.com/ab/rayjay/seahorsekeeping.html)