help with seahorse?

[Chaotic Reefer4u-old]

i have a friend who has a seahorse, and she said that the seahorse just started floating to the top of the tank, and that it cant hold itself upright or propell itself down? its just laying horizontally on the surface of the water? she says she is hand feading it and its eating, but very awkwardly? any info on this as soon as possible would be very highly appreciated! thanks all! chaotic reefer 4 u

[ReefNutPA]

Sounds like there is trapped air somewhere. Either the horse ingested tiny air bubbles while eating or it could be a male horse that got some air trapped in it's pouch while it was displaying for a female. Just guesses. If it's air in the pouch, that can be removed by taking a CLEAN toothpick and very gently inserting it into the pouch opening and gently massaging the air out. I've had to do this a few times myself. I'm sure the moderator of this board will give more information and probably a better way to dislodge the airbubbles, but I wanted to give you a quick response in case nobody answered for a day or so. Hope that helps a bit!

Tom

[SeaNemesis]

Reefnut basically covered it. This is actually quite common especially for males. If it is not a male let me know. If she needs more help, she can call me at my home. Send me a PM or email me if she wants to call me. The proceedure is actually not difficult. Just make sure when you use the toothpick or cap ended bobby pin or something similiar that is does not puncture the pouch and while it is in, squeeze the buubles from the pouch. the seahorse will fight, but he will be OK. If you have successfully extracted all of the bubbles he will be able to swim away normally.