Diamox for seahorse

[SrDudley]

Hey all,

Can any one in here help me source diamox for my male hippocampus errectus?

He’s got a bad case of gbs it’s around his eyes and it was so bad it affected his buoyancy and vision. I started diamox bath then read about lancing the bubbles otherwise it may not improve his case was so severe drastic measures I felt had to be taken. I needed an antibiotic all I could find was erythromycin so he’s been on that since I lanced the bubbles around his eyes yesterday and his eyes look so much better and his buoyancy issue has improved drastically as well. However I would like to keep him in a diamox bath for a longer period of time. I got 5 pills from a local seahorse keeper which is what I’ve been using but need more and have tried vets and doctors and no one wants to play ball. So I’m looking for the back channels shall we call them to get some diamox to save my poor seahorse as he has drastically improved overnight I feel I am headed in the right direction but would like to keep him in the diamox bath to help heal the gbs further. He is in his own 10 gallon hospital tank no other seahorses are affected I have 5 others I think this was from a fishy tank mate that turned out to be not so nice so he has been rehomed.

I am located in Uxbridge, Massachusetts in the USA if anyone can help that would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
Stephen

 

[Reefing Madness]

 

[RSNJReef]

If you can’t get a hold of diamox, you can try to get a hold of ciprofloxacin and doxycycline. I’ve done this twice on two seahorses with GBD and had it work successfully. Remember the diamox is only eliminating the symptoms you’re seeing, but not getting rid of the underlying issue which is causing the problem (more than likely an overload of bad bacterial cells in the bloodstream of the seahorses.

If you want to go this route, what I’ve done is:

Put the seahorses in a 5 gallon tank with a perch for them to cling to an air bubbler to produce large bubbles which keep the water movement and some form of filtration (no heater, you want the water between 68-72 to slow down the bacterial reproduction)
For a 10 day course, administer 50mg of doxycycline and 125mg of cipro every day for a 10 day period, and do a 50% water change before administering the next dose. Also use this time to remove any waste and uneaten food from the tank. Feed normally over these 10 days.

You won’t see a change in the first few days, but by day 4-5 you should see a slow improvement begin to happen. Make sure to continue for the 10 days, then, after that, check mutinied to do the 50% water changes to minimize any bacterial levels in the water. Keep the seahorses in this tank with the water changes until the seahorse is fully recovered. I’ve seen it take anywhere from one week or two weeks after treatment to see a full recovery.

You can buy these meds at thefishaid, their products are strictly meant for fish use only.

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

I have Diamox and just started treatment on one of my ponies for what looks like GBD. I just have a question as to why we need to do daily water changes (some say 100%, some say 50%) and then add more meds? Does the Diamox lose it's effectiveness after 24 hours? I can't imagine there is much "bad stuff" in the water that needs changing daily since There is nothing in there except water and the seahorse.... I'm not even feeding her right now since she has no appetite. Why change and add more every day? Just curious as to the science behind it.
Sue

 

[RSNJReef]

No one really knows what causes GBD, but the general consensus is that the GBD is caused by a bacterial infection of sorts. Diamox is removing the internal gas from the seahorse, but it’s not solving the source of the problem, only removing the symptom. The 50-100% water change is to try and remove the bacterial load in the water to give the seahorses a constant source of clean water. The theory is that you are removing the bad bacteria in the water that is leaving the seahorses body that caused the issue in the first place. The second is that most quarantine systems do not have a biological filter, and seahorses are messy eaters (even the food they eat, around 30% of the food gets ejected out of their aspiration ducts as they suck the food into their snout), so the ammonia buildup will happen faster in a seahorse quarantine than in a regular fish quarantine.

To give you an example, I had a seahorse that had GBD, and had no diamox on hand. I treated the seahorse for a 10 days using amoxicillin and doxycycline, doing 50% water changes twice a day, by the end of the 10 days the gas had deflated a bit, but was not gone 100%. I then continued the 50% twice a day for 20 more days, and at the end of that the GBD was gone and the seahorse looked healthy. After that I focused on setting up the system to do heavy water changes and heavy mechanical filtration. The GBD never came back 3 years later.

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

No one really knows what causes GBD, but the general consensus is that the GBD is caused by a bacterial infection of sorts. Diamox is removing the internal gas from the seahorse, but it’s not solving the source of the problem, only removing the symptom. The 50-100% water change is to try and remove the bacterial load in the water to give the seahorses a constant source of clean water. The theory is that you are removing the bad bacteria in the water that is leaving the seahorses body that caused the issue in the first place. The second is that most quarantine systems do not have a biological filter, and seahorses are messy eaters (even the food they eat, around 30% of the food gets ejected out of their aspiration ducts as they suck the food into their snout), so the ammonia buildup will happen faster in a seahorse quarantine than in a regular fish quarantine.

To give you an example, I had a seahorse that had GBD, and had no diamox on hand. I treated the seahorse for a 10 days using amoxicillin and doxycycline, doing 50% water changes twice a day, by the end of the 10 days the gas had deflated a bit, but was not gone 100%. I then continued the 50% twice a day for 20 more days, and at the end of that the GBD was gone and the seahorse looked healthy. After that I focused on setting up the system to do heavy water changes and heavy mechanical filtration. The GBD never came back 3 years later.

Thank you, that makes total sense.
Sue

 

[AP Fishkeeper]

Obtaining, possessing, or using a drug only available by prescription is a violation of state and federal law. While acetazolamide isn't listed as a controlled substance by the DEA, there are still federal regulations that restrict its use in people and in animals. At the state level, Acetazolamide is a controlled substance. In Massachusetts, all drugs requiring a prescription are Class E drugs with criminal penalties for illicit distribution and possession. Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 94c, § 31.

Seahorse hobbyists need to develop relationships with aquatic veterinarians and stop being so nonchalant about illegally obtaining, distributing, and using acetazolamide. In many instances, its use is not even the correct course of action for the underlying problem, but simply treats a symptom. The illegal distribution and use by seahorse hobbyists is eventually going to cause an issue that is going to bring bad publicity to the hobby and make it more difficult for hobbyists to get treatments through legitimate sources, particulary when it is being discussed so openly on a public forum.

 

[RSNJReef]

Obtaining, possessing, or using a drug only available by prescription is a violation of state and federal law. While acetazolamide isn't listed as a controlled substance by the DEA, there are still federal regulations that restrict its use in people and in animals. At the state level, Acetazolamide is a controlled substance. In Massachusetts, all drugs requiring a prescription are Class E drugs with criminal penalties for illicit distribution and possession. Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 94c, § 31.

Seahorse hobbyists need to develop relationships with aquatic veterinarians and stop being so nonchalant about illegally obtaining, distributing, and using acetazolamide. In many instances, its use is not even the correct course of action for the underlying problem, but simply treats a symptom. The illegal distribution and use by seahorse hobbyists is eventually going to cause an issue that is going to bring bad publicity to the hobby and make it more difficult for hobbyists to get treatments through legitimate sources, particulary when it is being discussed so openly on a public forum.

Well noted AP, however, please keep in mind that we do not know how Sue obtained the diamox. For all we know she got it prescribed from a vet, which is legal.

When I first started keeping seahorses I inevitably got GBD on one of them, and took the seahorse in a 3 gallon bucket to a local vet. The vet kept and observed the seahorse for the day, then wrote me a script for a prescription of a 10 day course of diamox, which I obtained from my pharmacy. This was all through legal methods.

Also, other medications can be obtained through online fish stores as they are sold legally under the conditions that they are for fish use only. Even chemiclean, which we use for removing Cyanobacteria, is in fact re-labeled erythromycin, and all of the API fish treatments are some form of medication.

I definitely agree that obtaining it illegally is definitely going to set a bad precedent, but, there are many legal ways to get the core t medications for our fish as long as we are willing to put in the effort.

 

[AP Fishkeeper]

Well noted AP, however, please keep in mind that we do not know how Sue obtained the diamox. For all we know she got it prescribed from a vet, which is legal.

When I first started keeping seahorses I inevitably got GBD on one of them, and took the seahorse in a 3 gallon bucket to a local vet. The vet kept and observed the seahorse for the day, then wrote me a script for a prescription of a 10 day course of diamox, which I obtained from my pharmacy. This was all through legal methods.

Also, other medications can be obtained through online fish stores as they are sold legally under the conditions that they are for fish use only. Even chemiclean, which we use for removing Cyanobacteria, is in fact re-labeled erythromycin, and all of the API fish treatments are some form of medication.

I definitely agree that obtaining it illegally is definitely going to set a bad precedent, but, there are many legal ways to get the core t medications for our fish as long as we are willing to put in the effort.

I was not referring to Sue. I am speaking in general terms. Keep in mind, the original poster asked for help obtaining Diamox through "backchannels" as he or she is not having success getting it from a veterinarian. Also, he or she admitted to receiving 5 pills from another local seahorse keeper. This is not a one off either. There are several seahorse forums and facebook groups in which you will find people openly illegally selling or looking to obtain acetazolamide without a prescription. While some drugs are allowed to be sold over the counter and for other uses, acetazolamide is not one of them and is federally regulated.

 

[RSNJReef]

I was not referring to Sue. I am speaking in general terms. Keep in mind, the original poster asked for help obtaining Diamox through "backchannels" as he or she is not having success getting it from a veterinarian. Also, he or she admitted to receiving 5 pills from another local seahorse keeper. This is not a one off either. There are several seahorse forums and facebook groups in which you will find people openly illegally selling or looking to obtain acetazolamide without a prescription. While some drugs are allowed to be sold over the counter and for other uses, acetazolamide is not one of them and is federally regulated.

Great, thank you for clarifying on who you were targeting.

Enjoy your time on the forum.

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

Well noted AP, however, please keep in mind that we do not know how Sue obtained the diamox. For all we know she got it prescribed from a vet, which is legal.

When I first started keeping seahorses I inevitably got GBD on one of them, and took the seahorse in a 3 gallon bucket to a local vet. The vet kept and observed the seahorse for the day, then wrote me a script for a prescription of a 10 day course of diamox, which I obtained from my pharmacy. This was all through legal methods.

Also, other medications can be obtained through online fish stores as they are sold legally under the conditions that they are for fish use only. Even chemiclean, which we use for removing Cyanobacteria, is in fact re-labeled erythromycin, and all of the API fish treatments are some form of medication.

I definitely agree that obtaining it illegally is definitely going to set a bad precedent, but, there are many legal ways to get the core t medications for our fish as long as we are willing to put in the effort.

Totally agree with both of you.... we do need to keep this hobby a reputable, well-respected venture and not break laws in our efforts, and, well said, RSNJ, perfectly put.
Sue