Okay, the FormaGreen is a little different than standard formalin. The FormaGreen is a combination of formalin and malachite green so the directions I've provided for you earlier no longer apply. I am not familiar with this particular product, but you should use it according to the directions on the label:
Forma-Green
USE: external fungicide, external protozoacide, and ectoparasites, monogenia (i.e., trematodes), Hirudinea and crustacea (e.g., argulus). Helps to protect wounds from secondary infections. Can be used as a dip or for longer baths according to parts per million.
DOSAGE: for aquariums, use 2 drops per gallon. Treat one time and leave in the water for 5-7 days. Not for use with scaleless fish.
In this case, it may be beneficial to use the FormaGreen rather than the ordinary formalin, since the combination of formalin plus malachite green is even more effective in treating fungal problems. So if the thick heavy white band on the dorsal fin of your seahorse does indeed indicate fungal involvement, perhaps as a secondary infection, the FormaGreen should help resolve the problem.
As the instructions say, you dose the treatment tank only once and then leave the medication in the water for 5-7 days without making any water changes. In your hospital tank, if the water quality indicates that a water change is advisable, do a 100% water change (replace all the water in the hospital tank with fresh saltwater) and then re-dose the FormaGreen (two drops per gallon) and leave it in the water until the seahorse has been treated for a total of 5-7 days.
Just keep the Furan2 in a cool, dry place in case it is needed at another time.
Best of luck resolving this problem, Claire!
Respectfully, Pete Giwojna
Post edited by: Pete Giwojna, at: 2009/06/20 23:16
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KeyEquine
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Re:Suspected Fin Rot - 2009/06/21 20:37So, I have moved the affected seahorse (Tigger) to the hospital tank, and dosed it with the Forma Green. I am pleased to hear that this mixture may be more effective than plain Formalin. Finally I caught a break in the medication department!! I will have to research exactly which meds are available in Canada so that I know what I have access to... It's quite frustrating!
Tigger seems to be doing okay in the hospital tank. He had a small meal before I moved him yesterday and I am just getting ready to give him some breakfast. Hopefully he's settled enough to eat.
I will keep you updated on his progress. Thank you for all your advice!
Claire
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Here's hoping that the FormaGreen is effective in resolving the problem with your stallion's dorsal fin.
If your hospital tank is located close enough to the seahorse tank so that he could see his tank mates, that will provide Tigger with some moral support while he is undergoing his treatment. If not, then you might consider using the old mirror trick to boost his spirits while he is in isolation instead.
The mirror trick simply have always taping a mirror up against the aquarium glass where your pony can get a good look at himself. Seahorses will often interact with their own reflections in the aquarium glass, so having a mirror-image seahorse that moves in response to his own actions can be very reassuring for a single seahorse and perk up the isolated individual dramatically. It's an effective technique for a situation like yours and can fool the lonely seahorse into thinking he or she is still in the presence of other seahorses.
Best of luck with the treatments, Claire!
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KeyEquine
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Re:Suspected Fin Rot - 2009/06/24 03:23Time for an update... and some questions...
Tigger is doing fine in the hospital tank, I set up a mirror last night and he danced in front of it for a few minutes This is day three in the FormaGreen treatment. I think his fin is improving a bit, I will try to get a photo later today. What sort of results are to be expected by day seven? There is still some white along the edge of the fin.
I have been testing the ammonia levels in the tank and it has risen to 0.3 today. Is that high enough to warrant the 100% water change we discussed before? The nitrite and nitrate are both still zero.
Also, this is the same seahorse that was underweight a while back and you thought it was probably internal parasites. I haven't been able to treat him for those yet, so I thought now that I have the hospital tank set up I should do that as well. Is it best to wait until he is fully recovered from this fin situation before beginning that treatment? Could the parasites be hampering his health enough to have caused this problem and/or be slowing his healing??
The medication I found for parasites is made by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals and it is called General Cure... It contains 250mg Mertonidazole and 75mg Praziquantel per package, to be added directly to the aquarium water.
Thanks Pete! Claire
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Okay, so far so good. It sounds like you are doing a fine job with the treatments.
Yes, if possible, I would like to see another photograph of Tigger that shows his dorsal fin clearly so that I can get a better idea of how he is progressing. If the FormaGreen is effective, I would hope to see the white band cleared up by the seventh day of the treatment regimen.
If the ammonia level is at 0.3 ppm right now, it is only going to continue to rise and you need to continue the treatment for several more days, so this would probably be a good time to perform a complete water change. Prepare the water before hand so that it is adjusted to the same specific gravity and pH as the treatment tank, or use more water from the main tank for the water change, and transfer Tigger to a separate container for safekeeping while you perform the water change.
If you are using a 20-gallon aquarium for your hospital tank, Claire, it's perfectly acceptable to refill it with only 10-gallons of clean saltwater providing the lower water level does not disable any filtration you may be using on the treatment tank for water movement. If you only refill it with 10 gallons, when you redose the tank with FormaGreen, just be sure to add the appropriate amount of the medication for 10 gallons rather than a 20-gallon aquarium.
If the newly mixed saltwater (or clean water from your main tank) is not the same temperature as your treatment tank, float Tigger in a plastic bag for 10 or 15 minutes so that he can adjust to the change in temperature gradually before you release him back in the treatment tank.
If Tigger is carrying a heavy load of intestinal flagellates or other internal parasites, that could be a factor in why he has developed an infection of his dorsal fin. Anything that debilitates the seahorse can leave it vulnerable to opportunistic infections. A combination of metronidazole and praziquantel should be effective in eliminating such internal parasites, but I would not treat Tigger until he has completed the entire regimen of FormaGreen and you have removed all of the medication.
These antiparasitic medications can be used directly in the main tank, so you may want to wait until Tigger's dorsal fin problem has cleared up and he has been transferred back to your display tank with the other seahorses before you use the metronidazole/praziquantel, Claire. That would assure that the rest of your seahorses are also treated for intestinal parasites, which is a good precaution since the other seahorses may also have been exposed to the internal parasites via fecal contamination of frozen Mysis they ingested from the bottom of the tank.
Best of luck resolving Tigger's health problems and getting him back to normal again, Claire.
Respectfully, Pete Giwojna
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KeyEquine
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Re:Suspected Fin Rot - 2009/06/24 06:39Here are a couple of photos, I guess when compared to the ones from a few days ago it does look a lot better. I have been using the dark line through his fin as a marker and it hasn't gotten into that yet, so I don't think it's getting any worse, for sure.
I will perform a water change tonight!
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This is day three in the FormaGreen treatment. I think his fin is improving a bit, I will try to get a photo later today. What sort of results are to be expected by day seven? There is still some white along the edge of the fin.
