TREATING WEAK SNICK IN SEAHORSES

Weak snick is said to be caused by nutritional deficiencies, an injury or parasites in the gills and throat. To figure out what is causing weak snick, look for other symptoms. If only one seahorse is having issues, and they are not flashing or scratching on objects, it might be they weren't given proper nutrition or have injured themselves. In this case, try feeding soft bodied, live adult brine shrimp. If they will eat the live brine, be sure to enrich it with Vibrance, Selco, Dan's feed, Astaxanthene, or any enrichment high in amino acids, HUFA, and vitamins, to help them regain strength. If they won't eat the brine, try hand feeding (as seen in the video) or here is a link describing force feeding further. But do not try to enrich frozen foods. The enrichment doesn't really penetrate the food and washes off in the water, leading to more organic load in the tank. In fact, I will take this moment to remind people to always rinse frozen foods.
www.seahorse.org/library/articles/tubefeed.pdf
Edited: Tube feeding should be 0.1 - 0.2ml
If the weak snick is accompanied by flashing, a formalin dip will relieve the seahorse of it's gill/throat parasites. Basic instructions are as follows:
Use fresh saltwater matching the temperature, salinity, and ph of the tank (buffer if necessary). Get the water ready prior to adding the seahorses, adding a hitching post if possible and airline (formalin depletes oxygen, so aerating the water is VERY important). Once the water is ready and aerated, add the seahorse(s) and then formalin. Follow the instructions on the packaging, or use this as a basic guide based on percent of formalin:
UK -Formalin @ 30% solution dosed at 1 ml per 5 liters for 45-60min.
US - Formalin @ 37% solution is dosed at 1 ml per 10 gallons every other day for 3 treatments (6 days) in a quarantine tank for a long term bath, or 1 ml per gallon for a short term bath (45-60 min).
The seahorses may thrash during the short term bath as the parasites leave their bodies, and the seahorse may even fall to the bottom of the bath. Gently nudge the seahorse and continue treatment unless you see them stop breathing or show true distress. The short term baths may need to be repeated to ensure all the parasites are killed, but be sure to give the seahorses a few days to recuperate between baths. DO NOT USE FORMALIN THAT HAS A WHITE RESIDUE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BOTTLE OR IS MILKY IN APPEARANCE. Formalin has a shelf life of 1 year or less and must be stored in an airtight container, out of light. It can turn into Paraformaldehyde and becomes very toxic when it expires or is kept improperly (noted by the white residue or milky appearance).

As Brylee learned, putting the seahorses back into the same tank that had the parasites can lead to them being attacked again, if there are other fish in the tank that haven contracted the pathogens. So, if the formalin baths or QT works, and the seahorses eat regularly again, but the seahorses start having trouble as soon as they are back in their tank, you either need to treat every hard bodied animal in the tank, or you may need to set up a new tank that is parasite free. Also, when rescuing seahorses, it would be a good idea to set up a different tank to quarantine them in, so as not to infect your current tank inhabitants.

Final edit: if you've treated with formalin multiple times, and gone so far as to set up a new tank or QT, but the weak snick keeps coming back, you may want to treat with an antibiotic. A secondary bacterial infection may have taken hold, and while high organics, injury, or parasites may have started the weak snick, the bacterial infection may be hindering recovery. One treatment option is: 10 litres of water and 1 ml of baytral, enrofloxacin, and leave the seahorse swimming in it for 24 hours, take out and see how it is and repeat 24 hours later if not better. A second option would be a broad spectrum antibiotic like Furan2.

Further information about formalin:
http://www.piclist.com/techref/other/...

Thank you to Brylee and the group Seahorses - Help and Advice on facebook for help making this video.
And thank you to Dan @ seahorsesource.com for editing and additional information.