Pregnant?

[clatong]

Yesterday I noticed that my male seahorse had a slightly large abdomen, and it's slightly larger again today. He is acting a little more shy than usual, but ate the normal amount both nights.

What seems odd is that he is hanging out higher in the tank than normal, and it looks to me like he's having trouble swimming, like he's more buoyant than usual. Also, he threw up a couple of pieces of shrimp, which I've never seen him do, though he ate more right after.

Since I didn't witness any courtship, how can I tell if he is pregnant, or if it's an early stage of gas bubble?

I've had the pair since February of last year, no pregnancies yet. Parameters are normal, 0/0/low nitrate, no issue with the other tank-mates or the female.

Sorry, the last picture didn't seem to rotate correctly.

 

[flower]

High,

Trouble swimming...he is bloated I think and not pregnant. Go to a site called seahorse.org, they will give you detailed instructions how to clear his belly bubble...don't wait, the longer he has trouble swimming, the worse it will get until he is too weak to recover and it sets up infection. He didn't throw up his shrimp, he just bit off more then he could chew, spit it out and ate it again. The fact that he is still eating means he has a chance if you release the bubble....keep us informed, I really do care.

 

[clatong]

Thanks Flower, you were correct.

I read a few articles and watched a couple videos, and decided to try using just my finger pressure since I don't have the other recommended "tools" for the job. Lots of bubbles came out, much more than I expected based on the size of his pouch! Afterwards, he immediately sunk to the bottom and rested there, which I've never seen him do before, but after about 10 minutes started swimming around, almost like normal. He's now browsing the rocks for snacks with the female.

I'll check on him again in the morning before work and post an update then.

 

[silverado61]

Good call flower. "The seahorse whisperer".

 

[clatong]

This morning he looked good, and came right up to greet me like usual. I'll let you know if anything changes, but he seems healthy now.

Thanks again!

 

[flower]

Yay!!! That is a very pretty seahorse by the way!

 

[clatong]

Thank you!

He can be quite the show-off. Often different colors, ranging from black, brown, dark green, bright green, yellow. He also occasionally flashes black and white at me when he feels that I should be feeding him instead of just hanging out in the room...

The female (not pictured here, but seen in my profile picture) on the other hand has been bright yellow since the day after she arrived (both were black in the shipping container), and hasn't varied a bit. Still a good looking horse though!

 

[flower]

Thank you!

He can be quite the show-off. Often different colors, ranging from black, brown, dark green, bright green, yellow. He also occasionally flashes black and white at me when he feels that I should be feeding him instead of just hanging out in the room...

The female (not pictured here, but seen in my profile picture) on the other hand has been bright yellow since the day after she arrived (both were black in the shipping container), and hasn't varied a bit. Still a good looking horse though!

My kuda always stayed dark brown, with flecks of white (matched the background) I even put yellow construction paper on both sides of the tank trying to get them to go for yellow... The potbelly horses stay alligator marked with a just a slight ting of yellow on the belly, and never change. I did have an erectus that was redish orange for a while, but she changed to dark with white straps. My computer crashed and I lost all my pictures...