Seahorse Dilemma

rykna

Active Member
I have diagonaosed the parasite broblem
Flexibacter columnaris, Cytophaga columnaris, Bacillus columnaris)
In many cases, we receive calls from customers stating that they have white wavy worm-like parasites attached to the glass in the aquarium that tend to sway back and forth with the water circulation in the aquarium. Often, the fish do not seem to be affected at this stage. Given time for this disease to spread, the infestations usually begin on the fins, which usually become frayed and ragged. The disease will spread to the skin, eventually causing ulcerations and irregular areas of epidermal loss. Aeromonas hydrophila is commonly present in advanced lesions and contributes to the pathology.
Flexibacter Columnaris can persist in water for up to 32 days when the hardness is 50ppm or more, but a hardness of 10ppm reduces viability considerably. The addition of carbon to the system increases the survival of this disease in hard water, but this is not the case in soft water.
Columnaris is prevalent in systems with high organic loads, crowded conditions, handling and low dissolved oxygen content. Lesions generally develop in 24 to 48 hours following handling, followed by death at 48 to 72 hours if not treated.
Treatment and Control:
For a purely external infestation, when there are not any secondary bacterial infections present, Potassium Permanganate or Forma-Green will work well.
In cases of multiple infections, it is suggested to give the fish a bath in Potassium Permanganate or Forma-Green and thereafter, treating with antibiotics such as: Oxytetracycline, Oxolinic Acid, or a sulfa drug combination such as TMP Sulfa. The antibiotics will need to be used on the fish for 10-14 days depending on the severity of the infection. The antibiotics may either be used in the water (as a long term bath), or mixed into the feed (suggested). By mixing the antibiotics into the feed, you may continue to treat the fish externally with the Potassium Permanganate or Forma-Green. This treatment strategy will work well if started in the early stages of this disease.
...............
 

rykna

Active Member
I am thinking that I want to treat the 90 gallon as well as the QT. I just don't want to chance infecting Valiant again.
Just wondering if this makes sense.
I was also wondering if I should just put the fish back intot he 90 whle I'm treating everything... :notsure:
 

darthtang aw

Active Member
Problem is, if you treat your display tank you run the risk of killing off your inverts (live rock, snails, crabs, and such)....I would treat him in the QT. and leave him in the QT for 2 months. Your display tank will have gone 60 days without a host for the parasite and should die off.
 

rykna

Active Member
Ok,

The other question is have you heard of this new formula?
Chem-Marin Stop Parasites
* All-natural parasite treatment for fish and reef aquariums
* Copper-free formula will not harm internal organs of fish
* Safe for all aquarium inhabitants, including reef invertebrates
Stop Parasites' natural ingredients remove all types of parasites, including saltwater Ich. Completely safe for all fish, invertebrates, and corals and does not harm the fish's liver as does copper. This organic solution is 99% effective in fresh and saltwater aquariums. Stop Parasites works by first enhancing the slime coat on fish, which will remove all parasites. Then it uses another additive, which the parasites attach themselves to as a false host, and the parasites are then naturally removed through your protein skimmer or mechanical filtration. Another agent in the product works to speed up appetite and build the immune system. 8 oz treats 30 to 55 gallons and 16 oz treats 75 to 100 gallons for a 5-day treatment period. :notsure:
 

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by Darthtang AW
Problem is, if you treat your display tank you run the risk of killing off your inverts (live rock, snails, crabs, and such)....I would treat him in the QT. and leave him in the QT for 2 months. Your display tank will have gone 60 days without a host for the parasite and should die off.
I'll have to move the QT downstairs then.....It's starting to heat up during the day....75 plus :mad: oh well......
Thanks again for all your help Darth

:happyfish
 

darthtang aw

Active Member
Yes stick with it, if you want to switch meds to the potasium permanganate recommended in your article I would do a significant water change before heading that direction.
As for the chem-pure, it is junk voodoo juice that has not been proven to work.May as well dump snake oil in your tank...it is about as effective.
 

rykna

Active Member
Thanks!! I think I'll stick with the formulin. Don't want to keep switching meds. :happyfish
Man....2 months in the hole.....Well the tank will shipshape by then.
 

fulcrum

Member
Had to register a comment about Stop Parasite.
Its junk, and I think its counter productive. Not only did it not stop any parasites, but it caused a horrible color change in my water that I stillhave not quite figured out, but took MONTHS to rectify.
This is the product that inspired me to finally grow up and use a quarantine tank.
Good luck with Vailant.
Out of curiosity, what temp do you keep the tank at, and had you introduced something new recently?
(I keep horses too, and I live in fear of having to treat them)
 

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by PonieGirl
Is the seahorse still displaying symptoms, then? What about the firefish?
The fire goby seems fine...no signs that he got infected. The only problem he's having is lack of LR to hide in. He's made due by hiding under the heater(which is turned off).
Sometimes it is really hard to tell what part of the horse and what isn't. I thought I saw 2 white specks on his tail last night, but today they're gone. Valiant's color has returned and he is consuming about half a cube of mysis a day. His breathing is fine and he spends most of his day swimming about and begging for more food. So, I think the worst is over.
Both horse and goby will be in the QT for 2 months, so the parasites will die off.
Thanks,
Rykna
 

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by fulcrum
Stop Parasite=Junk

Good luck with Vailant.
Out of curiosity, what temp do you keep the tank at, and had you introduced something new recently?
(I keep horses too, and I live in fear of having to treat them)
Nope no new intros, just water quality. :mad: For one the salinity got too high, 1.026, and the PH was off. High salinity=happy parasites, low PH=stressed horse.....a recipe for disater.
I keep my display tank at 74 and the QT is at 73 right now. Let the fear go...preparation and experience is the key. I learned that from my first horse I lost. Horses do just fine when healthy. Valiant is the boss of the 90 and keeps the fire goby, Flash, in his place. But when horses get sick, they get sick really quick. I have never seen any fish go belly up that fast. No warnings, nothing.....I think is has a lot to do with learning how to recognize the suddle signs of illness in horses. They are the only fish that swim vertically....their natural swimming patterns are complete different from horizontally. Which all of us can spot a sick fish a mile away.
:happyfish
Rykna
 

rykna

Active Member
WOW!!! Darthtang is right on the money. I stopped treating my horse with meth blue, and started with the formalin. It's been 2 days now and all signs of skins lesions and parasites have been annihilated. :cheer:
:happyfish
 

poniegirl

Active Member
Hurray!
I thought of you this morning...it is "Three Tank Cleaning Day" (just happened to fall on Mother's Day). Bi-weekly is a 50/50 that it's gonna fall on an inconvenient day.
How's the 90 coming along?
 

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by PonieGirl
Hurray!
I thought of you this morning...it is "Three Tank Cleaning Day" (just happened to fall on Mother's Day). Bi-weekly is a 50/50 that it's gonna fall on an inconvenient day.
How's the 90 coming along?
It's needs a lot of TLC. To give Valiant the maximum attention he needs I've taken down my 45 gallon perc tank. Valiant and Flash will remain in the 15 gallon QT until June to make sure all of the parasites have died off. This is a mixed blessing because it will give me plenty of time to redesign the 90 into a safe and happy horse environment.
I'm taking the 2 inch sand bed from the 45 and putting it into the 90 for a total of a 4 inch sand bed. I just purchased 3 lbs of live mud full of tasty pods that will go into the refugium part of the intake shield. This whole project includes moving al l the LR and coral into the empty 45 while I install the shield and fill and level the sand. The the rock drilling starts. I am also going to be drilling holes into the LR and using PVC piping to create stable rock formations. My plan is to let the tank recycle during the rock drilling and let the coral stay in the 45, and the crabs and the tiger star will continue to clean the sand bed. Once the rock forms are in place and the water quality is back to normal, and all that is left is to acclimate Valiant and Flash.
:happyfish
 

poniegirl

Active Member
That live mud sounds interesting..the pods live in the mud? Are we talking about sand crab type pods?
I'm looking at overhauling the 55 this winter and going back to horse keeping. And maybe one or two small fish. These wrasse are starting to remind me of my "Tank-O-Tangs" and that's just not my thing.
Can you post progress pics as you go?
And clarify, please, the shields are to seahorse-proof the overflows?
 

rykna

Active Member
Originally Posted by PonieGirl
That live mud sounds interesting..the pods live in the mud? Are we talking about sand crab type pods?
I'm looking at overhauling the 55 this winter and going back to horse keeping. And maybe one or two small fish. These wrasse are starting to remind me of my "Tank-O-Tangs" and that's just not my thing.
Can you post progress pics as you go?
And clarify, please, the shields are to seahorse-proof the overflows?
Sure

The mud was 3.99 a lb and was crawling with pods....I saw a ghost shrimp...and other pods, but was kinda hard to identify them in the mud.
The shield that I making covers the intake flows, which almost cast Valiant his life the first wekk I had him. Bronco also suggested adding a refugium to the design, and I also decided to include the heater. :happyfish
 

rykna

Active Member
After the accident I bought some plexi glass and made some temporary shields while I finished the main design.

 

rykna

Active Member
The middle section Bronco said would make a great refugium. So I added that in too.
This is a drawing I made up for Lisa's tank. She was wondering about using the aquaclears. :happyfish
 
Top