Ocean Rider Seahorse Farm and Tours | Kona Hawaii › Forums › Seahorse Life and Care › Gas Bubbles › Re:Gas Bubbles
Dear Kathryn:
Excellent! It’s great that you already have the Diamox lined up — that’s the main hurdle seahorse keepers must overcome when treating their charges for Gas Bubble Disease. The fact that you already have some on hand shows great planning and foresight on your part. Diamox is one of those must-have medications that all seahorse keepers should keep in their fish-room medicine cabinets.
In practical terms, there’s nothing wrong with obtaining the Diamox online, and that is perhaps how most seahorse keepers obtain it. It does complicate matters somewhat, however, in certain respects. The first of these complications is that the medications will take a week or two to arrive when you order them online, which is very troublesome when your seahorse is ailing and needs help ASAP. Secondly, there’s the fact that the US government frowns on the practice of ordering prescription medications from outside the US without a prescription. Customs officials may intercept and confiscate such shipments, in which case you forfeit the money you paid for the drugs. Finally, you can’t always be certain of the quality of the medications you receive without a prescription from such online sources outside this country; in some cases, you even need to be concerned about counterfeit drugs, although Diamox certainly shouldn’t fall into that category. (That is the primary reason the US government is concerned about this practice — it’s not always the same stuff at all, but I should think Diamox should be safe in that regard.) Canadian sources are generally more trustworthy in that regard than sources from some other parts of the world.
I’m certain the Diamox you obtained is the real thing, and it should work great for you now that you have already have some on hand.
Best of luck resolving your male’s tail bubbles, Kathryn! You’re most welcome to the information — that’s what we’re here for!
Respectfully,
Pete Giwojna