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NYC Joe

Seahorses yea!
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last nite I woke up to find 2 seahorses dead.

My largest preggers one (big black)
and my smallest one (mini)
both are stiff as a board, still hitched but rock hard, getting picked at by the tiny glass shrimp I have for food. They are not breathing, moving, nothing. I triple checked. no spike in ammonia or anything.

there was nothing to show that they were sick, in fact they all ate happily yesterday. today, dead.
All parameters are fine. nit-10

needless to say I am very sad.

The other 2.
seem to be sluggish today now.
I have noticed the female twitching.

I had a breeder tank set up for some babies, which just became a QT hospital tank. not so funny how a turn of events it became the opposite.

I grabbed both horses out of the DT and put them in the QT.
I did a formalin dip, for 30 mins before putting them in a methelyne blue solution in the QT. they both perked right up.
They just ate some frozen, and i siphoned up the leftovers.
I dropped the temp to 68. have some fake plastic plants so they can hide and hitch. I have 2 airlines going with a sponge filter, that i keep in my sump (bio). They seem to be doing fine, no more twitching. but they do appear sluggish. maybe due to the drop in temp.

I do have other fish in the tank. 60 cube with 20 gal sump. a pair of firefish, 1-pink spot, 1-bangaii. a pistol, and a few small glass shrimp as feeders, they get taken down once in a while. All is fine here and not one of them is acting out of the ordinary.

So what went wrong?
Tank is a little over 8 months old, was cycled and prepped for 2 of those months. I keep my tank at 74. this is what it always is in the house and the tank. I do not have a chiller or a skimmer. I run a fan if it goes above 74, on a controller, its almost never on. Ive been blessed. ( i think, but, not so much now) all params are fine, and always been fine, I test every 2 weeks. I do water changes every 2-3 weeks.

im guessing vibrio, since ive read on seahorse.org that, fine one day, dead the next, may be a symptom. Maybe bacteria, or a parasite? both?

Please help, am I doing something wrong?


Constructive criticism welcome.

Thank You for reading.:sad2:

Thanx
-Joe
 
Last edited:

basiab

Advanced Reefer
Location
secret
Rating - 100%
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Is it possible that they starved. One problem with horses is that they are slow. Those firefish, and just about any fish, will take care of food before the horses have a chance for a single bite. That is why it is suggested that they be kept in their own tank.

Different types need different tempuratures. Just make sure yours have the setting they need.
 

brick-brothers

Advanced Reefer
Location
Pennsylvania
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338   0   0
Hey sorry to hear that. 1 of my seahorses died last month. I think it was the temperature in my house that killed her. It was a redi seahorse. My erectus seahorses is doing fine.
 

NYreefNoob

Skimmer Freak
Location
poughquag, ny
Rating - 99.4%
168   1   0
check amonia again, temps that low 68 wont be good for the other fish. did you always have 4 or did you add more recently, and really not good to mix species of sh's, any wild caught ? sh tanks are much easier to keep then a reef tank, especially if set up proper. i do no maintanence on my sh tank, done 2 water changes in about 8 months and feed pretty heavy. hopefully mine will be dropping babies in another week or so, will let ya know if i am able to raise any of them
 

NYC Joe

Seahorses yea!
Rating - 100%
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nah no starving, if i dont see them eat, i spot feed em, I got a big ass turkey baster.

as far as temp, I think its ok, everyone seems to be kicking. the 2 left, im not sure whats wrong, afraid the same thing is gonna happen.
 

NYC Joe

Seahorses yea!
Rating - 100%
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My apartment is always 73 degrees. been that way ever since i got it.
I got this place mastered. Its just the natural temp. I run my tank at 74 normally, and all i have to do to make it lower is open up my window, its weird but it works.
I believe erectus need 72- to 75, max. unless im wrong.

nyreefnoob. always had 4, got them from Dom. had them since mid Dec. they have been doing awsome since yesterday. no signs of anything. and i watch them everyday. for a while too! I know every bump and spot and groove.

How do you accomplish this Ny reef noob. I would like to talk with you.Regarding your setup, etc, no water changes would be nice, but im just used to it now anyway.
ill pm ya.
 

DEL

reef guy in jc
Location
edison
Rating - 100%
98   0   0
Sorry to hear that homie. if you ever find out let me know. i still havent started my sh tank. probably gonna wait til next year. dont wanna haveto get a small chiller just for them. plus i gtta do more research. good luck with the other remaining 2.
 

Domboski

No Coral Here
Location
Montclair, NJ
Rating - 100%
237   0   0
JOE!!!!!!! You have my number. Just give me a call :)

I do not agree that fish will prevent seahorses from eating IF you add plenty of food (you've seen my system :biggrin:). I have plenty of tropical fish that live in 68 degree water too without a problem.

Something else must not be right. Temperature spikes will certainly put down seahorses quickly. Especially if you keep them in the low 70s. A jump to the high seventies will kill them and make them sluggish for sure. Another person to talk to is bigyankfan. He ran into a little trouble with his at one point and has since resolved the problem so maybe he has some insights for you.

In any case give me a call so we can chat a little more about your setup. I'll also help you replace them cheaply when the system is stabilized.

Dom
 

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