My seahorse can't swim upright

[Reeefer]

My poor guy that I've had for 10 months now. The other day I noticed he was swimming and chasing food with his tail pointing towards the top of the water. I thought this was strange behavior and now I know something is wrong. Anyone know what's going on? Is he a goner? I'll post a pic when I can get a decent shot Right now he's got himself latched around the power cord for the heater as it exits the tank.

[Will]

i don't quite understand.. is he swimming completely upside down? a pic would help :D
fourhand2

[Reeefer]

Yes, he is completely upside down. He's still eating. He came right out last night as soon as I began to feed. I'll try to take a pic later on when I feed.

[Will]

reefer, sorry it's taken me so long.. i was out of town at a frag trade yesterday and busy today.. anyway, it's good that he's eating. is he wild or captive bred? how long has he been doing this? are there any bubbles beneath his skin or in his pouch? it sounds like just a bubble in the pouch, which often leads to buoyancy problems. it can usually be treated quite easily. has he ever been pregnant? if so, when was the last time? let me know if you find any bubbles, and check the pouch well also. hopefully you will as that will lend us a pretty easy treatment for him..
fourhand2

[Reeefer]

I was gone for the day myself. I'll take a pic tonight and post. He has never been pregnant, but could possibly be right now. Pregnancy could cause this. I'll look at him more carefully. Hopefully he's attached where I can see him.

[Reeefer]

I just threw in some guppies and ghost shrimp and got a couple of pics. I think its a bubble, so now what to do?

[Will]

wow, your equine friend has got quite a pouch bubble! it's not usually harmful (unless left untreated), and pouch evacs are common and easy. check here (http://www.seahorse.org/articles/pouchEvacuation.html) for a great set of instructions on evacuating the pouch.. here's a bit about the "disease" itself (it's actually more of a condition than a diease) from seahorse.org, written by christopher burns:

Pouch emphysema can be traced to decaying embryonic matter in the pouch, producing gasses and causing the pouch to bloat, and/or physical air bubbles in the water column entering the pouch during mating/courtship rituals and/or routine exercise and maintenance of the pouch environment.
This is not to say that this is either empirically determined or the sole cause, but I believe there is such an abundance of anecdotal evidence, coupled with the ease of inciting this condition in consistently reproducible fashion, that it makes a very strong correlation indeed.
Another possible cause is some sort of bacterial infection in the pouch. In chronic, recurring cases where the mating ritual has not taken place and there are not physical bubbles present in the water column, this is most likely cause.

hopefully that'll help a bit. let us know how the evac goes, and when you do it, be sure to use a rubber-tipped bobby pin.
fourhand2