Will a wound heal itself or do I need to isolate seahorse?

[sugartooth]

Hello,
I just noticed what looks like a canker sore type mark on the underside of a juvie erectus tail.

She is active, eating, etc.

My question is, would this heal on it's own with good water quality or do I need to deal with this asap even though the seahorse looks and acts healthy, despite the 'canker sore' like mark.

The mark is about the size of a pinhead. (not bobby pin, a tailor's pin)

If I need to treat, would antibiotics be okay? (Furan 2 or Triple Sulfa?)

It's a 130 gal. dedicated seahorse tank. No other tankmates except cleanup crew. Temp held at 74 currently.

Thanks in advance for advice.

[pledosophy]

Can you get a pic?

Hard to say without seeing it.

If it is disease related and the horse is not isolated it can easily spread to other members of the tank.

Triple Sulpha is good, i would also combine with Neomycin to help the wound heal. The triple sulpha attacks the bacteria that causes the disease. I believe the recommended dosage for seahorses is 250mg of each med per gallon of hospital tank. The treatment has to be done in a hospital tank as the antibiotics will destroy the biofiltration of any tank.

Also good to drop the temp to 69F or lower to prevent the bacteria causing the disease to stop reproducing.

Enriching all of the seahorses food with beta glucan now to stimulate there immune system would be a good move IMO.

Again hard to say what to do with this particular horse without a pic, although disease often follows after an inital stressor, such as injury.

HTH

[sugartooth]

Thanks for the response. Since the system is rather large, often it's difficult to locate the particular horse, and much more difficult to try to get a picture since it's on the underside of the tail.

The tank is currently at 74, I can try to drop it some more, but I wonder if the soft coral/zoanthids/gorgs will suffer or die?

I use Vibrance, Vibrance II, and spirulina alternating in PE Mysis. I think it should contain beta glucagon correct?


Since I'm not confident I can get a picture, what are the main signs it is disease related vs. injury?

If it is an injury, does it heal on it's own? If so, what's the timeframe. Is it safe to assume that if it hasn't healed by 'X' time then it is disease related?

I will also try and isolate the seahorse into a hospital tank since I plan to do a bristleworm erradicaction this weekend. They are really freaking me out that they will cause (inadvertantly) harm to my seahorses.

Thanks again.

[pledosophy]

Move the seahorse to the hospital tank, then take the picture.

Don't move all the seahorses, just the one.

Vibrance II is the only product you listed containing beta glucan.

Hard to explain visual things for me. Lots of different tells.

There is no set amount of time for an injury to heal. DEpends on size and severity.

Don't lower the display temp that low, just the hospital tank.

[sugartooth]

Thanks Pled, I will spend this Sunday breaking down the tank. (yanking out rock for bristleworm hunting) and taking that opportunity to capture the juvie and isolating her w/picture.

Ha, I guess it was just a more stressful scenario for me than the seahorse.