newfisher Posted June 29, 2010 Share Posted June 29, 2010 One of our male Seahorses has been subject to multiple episodes of Gas Bubble Disease sine his first birth cycle. I was out of town the first time he was "burped"( thanks Nnewhouse and wife Heather) and has had the problem a couple times since then. Has anyone else had horses with this ongoing issue? I have eliminated all micro bubbles in the tank with fine and coarse media pads. The sump has a bubble trap and I have inspected the return pump for vacuum leaks. Visually, the water is clear and absolutely no bubbles. I think the little guy is getting tired of us qt'ing him and burping his pouch, although he acts like a 10 year old at Disneyland when we are done. Its amazing how these animals can be lathargic one minute and near death, then by pulling them out of the tank, performing a procedure on them and putting them back that they get this spike of life and swim around as if they have discovered a new environment and were just dosed RedBull...weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted June 29, 2010 Share Posted June 29, 2010 Jon, shoot a message to pledosophy, he's the resident expert on horses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLaForce Posted June 29, 2010 Share Posted June 29, 2010 Clay says stop feeding them beans! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfisher Posted June 30, 2010 Author Share Posted June 30, 2010 Clay says stop feeding them beans! Ohhh...dang! I just weined them off pork n beans and now have them on powdered refried. Its easier to make a taco bell run when I'm out of seahorse food. J/K Anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClayTheSavageFraser Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 Beans beans the wonderful fruit, the more you eat the more you toot, the more you toot the better you feel, so eat your beans for every meal!! LOL!! Clay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 How are you "burping" the seahorse. Is the seahorse actually floating when you burp him? One of the causes of GBD is thought to be CO2, does the tank the room is in get ventalation? Are you running a protein skimmer, if so HOB or in sump? What is the temp of the tank? Any past disease history? That will get me started on a permanent cure, I might have a few more questions later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfisher Posted June 30, 2010 Author Share Posted June 30, 2010 Its a 2 to 3 person job burping. We remove 1g of tank water in a large bowl and put him in the bowl. Wait a few seconds and I place my hand in the bowl waiting for him to hitch to a finger and get comfortable(he is still in a floating state). With his head held under water and on his back, I gently massage his pouch for 2 minutes. We then lift and sometimes insert a small booby pin or ear ring end under his flap and continue masssaging until all air has escaped. He immediately is better and acts like a kid in atoy store. Yes, ventalation. In sump skimmer ( cpr all in one sump with integral skimmer) and keep the tank at 74.5 to 75 degrees with no previous history of disease. 2 black and pink banded pipefish,sand sifting star, 2 cleaner shrimp, an urchin and a Garrett package of snail only clean up crew. Thanks for the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7Max-GTE Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 Booby pin, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfisher Posted June 30, 2010 Author Share Posted June 30, 2010 Booby pin' date=' eh?[/quote'] You know where my mind is always at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLaForce Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 Booby pin' date=' eh?[/quote'] I have 22 gage sterile needles that would be better to use. They wouldn't make such a big hole and wouldn't introduce contaminates into the seahorse. Just let me know if you want them, I have a couple hundred so giving up a few wouldn't hurt. By the way just to clarify why I have them, I used to be a body piercer and used them to do non permanent piercing for shows we used to do. (whistle) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfisher Posted June 30, 2010 Author Share Posted June 30, 2010 I sterilize mine first and use the bobby pin or ear ring stud to just lift/depress the flap at the pouch.....no poking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrgreenthumb Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 I had a male H. erectus that I had to burp on a regular basis. It can be done with one person I promise! In fact it is best that way as you have more control. I always used bobby pin since they have the rounded ends so I would not have to worry about puncturing the horse. You just have to FIRMLY grasp the horse in the palm of your hand using four fingers, reserving your thumb to gently squeeze the air from his pouch. Use your other hand and the bobby pin to tickle the opening to his pouch so you can expel some of that air. It just takes practice and confidence. Mine absoloutely hated it, and would try to thrash and click at me, but he was so much happier when I was done and he could swim freely without hitching to everything. You can find lots more useful info at seahorse.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLaForce Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 Huh, when I talked to a LFS about this one time they told me that people should "pop" the air bubbles. I have never had this problem when I had sea horses so never had to do it. Thank goodness I didn't I would have hurt the little guys and most likely killed them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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