Re:another death

Dear ponydesigns:

I’m very sorry to your about the ongoing problems you’ve been having. At this point, it’s obvious that there is an infectious disease that is passing from seahorse to seahorse. Treatment in isolation with broad-spectrum antibiotics is the appropriate response. Gas bubble disease does not kill quickly and normally does not affect female seahorses. You are dealing with an aggressive bacterial infection, and acute or peracute infections can kill seahorses and other fish rapidly.

I would transfer the remaining female to a hospital tank with freshly mixed saltwater as a precaution, and I would begin treating her with the Furan2 immediately, even though she is showing no symptoms at this time. It is very likely that she has already been exposed to the same disease organism that claimed the other seahorses. Treating her now, while she is still a symptomatic and eating, gives you your best chance for good outcome. Since the Furan2 is the only medication that you have on hand right now, by all means use it, but disregard the instructions on the package and use the following directions instead:

FURAN-2 (immersion) Dosage and Preparation Instructions for a 10g/38L Hospital Tank
Active Ingredient: Nitrofurazone and Furazolidone
Indication: bacterial infection
Disregard package info concerning water changes and duration of treatment. Dose medication daily for
10 days.
Replace the medication in ratio to the amount of water changed daily as needed to control ammonia.
This product is best administered by feeding it to adult live brine shrimp, then in turn, feeding those
animals to the Seahorse. If this is not an option, it may be administered as follows.
DAY 1 of Treatment
• Thoroughly mix one packet of Furan-2 with about 1 cup of marine water.
• Pour the mixture into a high-flow area of the hospital tank.
DAYS 2 – 10 of Treatment
• Perform a 50% water change.
• Thoroughly mix one packet of Furan-2 with about 1 cup of marine water.
• Pour the mixture into a high-flow area of the hospital tank.

FURAN-BASED MEDS (immersion) Dosage and Preparation Instructions for a 10g/38L Hospital Tank
Active Ingredients: Nitrofurazone and Furazolidone
Indication: bacterial infection
Brand Names: Furan-2, Furanase, Binox, BiFuran+, Fura-MS, Furazolidone Powder
Dose daily for 10 days. Disregard package info concerning dosing frequency and water changes.
Replace the medication in ratio to the amount of water changed daily as needed to control ammonia.
This product is best administered by feeding it to adult live brine shrimp, then in turn. feeding those animals to the Seahorse. If this is not an option, it may be administered as follows.
DAY 1 of Treatment
• Thoroughly mix the medication with about 1 cup of marine water.
• Pour the mixture into a high-flow area of the hospital tank.
DAYS 2 – 10 of Treatment
• Perform a 50% water change.
• Thoroughly mix the medication with about 1 cup of marine water.
• Pour the mixture into a high-flow area of the hospital tank.

FURAN-BASED MEDS (oral) Dosage and Preparation Instructions for a 10g/38L Hospital Tank
Active Ingredients: Nitrofurazone and/or Furazolidone
Indication: bacterial infection
Brand Names: Furan-2, Furanase, Binox, BiFuran+, FuraMS, Furazolidone Powder
Feed adult brine shrimp gut-loaded with medication to the Seahorse 2x per day for 10 days.
• Add a small amount of the medication to one gallon of water and mix thoroughly.
• Place the amount of adult brine shrimp needed for one feeding into the mixture. Leave them in the mixture for at least 2hrs.
• Remove the adult brine shrimp from the mixture and add them to the hospital tank.
• Observe the Seahorse to be certain it is eating the adult brine shrimp.

If the seahorse is still eating, administering the Furan2 orally by gut loading adult brine shrimp with the medication is often the most effective procedure.

Be sure to stay on top of the water quality in the hospital tank by making partial water changes as often as necessary. (Use your ammonia test kit to determine how often and how much water you will need to change, but daily water changes of 50%-70% are often necessary to prevent harmful ammonia spikes.)

In the meantime, it will be helpful if you can tell me a little more about your main tank. How big is your seahorse tank? What kind of substrate does the tank include (live rock, live sand, crushed coral, dolomite, etc.)? What type of filtration do you have on the seahorse tank? What are the current water quality parameters (i.e., water temperature, pH, specific gravity, and the levels of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate).

Best of luck saving your remaining seahorse, pony designs. Let me know when the kanamycin and neomycin arrive so that we can consider other treatment options down the road, if necessary.

Respectfully,
Pete Giwojna