hhle?

[goldenboy]

Just wanted to verify that this is hhle. It's more spotty then most, I think. It's diet wasn't that bad, I feed it plenty of greens, but since I've added zoe as a soak for it's mysis. How do you know if you have stray voltage??

 

[beth]

Yes, that is HLLE. What are your nitrate levels in your tank? Do you use carbon? Has the fish been exposed to copper treatment? What greens are you feeding the fish? Diet?
Can I have your pic for possible use on this forum?

 

[goldenboy]

Can I have your pic for possible use on this forum?
Go ahead Everyone should learn from my mistake.
Water quality is not the problem, that much I'm sure of. I was originally feeding them spirulina and frozen brine. About 2 months ago it started looking this way and I tried mysis and soaked it in reef success by kent which did nothing. Now my fish get a clip of green seaweed select and wrap it around broccoli, formula 2 flake, and a mix of blood worms, mysis, formula 1 frozen, cyclopeeze and its soaked in zoe at least 1 day. They eat at least twice a day. I've been doing this for 3 weeks. It hasn't gotten better yet, but hhle takes a while to go away. Right??? It'll get better right?
Yes I use carbon, is that a problem? Never a copper treatment. I have a majestic angel with beautiful coloring and all my other fish look great, it's just the tang...

 

[beth]

You should have seen some improvement. It hasn't gotten worse, has it? Try using zoecon. What are your nitrates? Are you using RO water? What type of tank do you have setup? Does it have LR in it?

 

[goldenboy]

I use ro/di water. I have almost no nitrates. I have almost 200 lbs. of lr. Half is base rock. It hasn't gotten worse, but it hasn't gotten better either. Will zoecon cure it?

 

[beth]

Are you using carbon 24/7? If so, why? Carbon has been thought to be a culprit in some cases of HLLE. This disease is complicated with no single causation. And just because other tangs and angels in your tank are fine, doesn't mean that something is not agreeing with this particular tang. Are you using a wet/dry? What is your nitrate level? Do you have a sump?

 

[goldenboy]

I'm using carbon 24/7 in a penguin 330. I use two of them and seaclone 150. I have powerheads moving the water at the bottom around pretty good, but no sump or wet/dry. I've kinda done things cheap, because I'm starting over with a 240 soon. When I upgrade, I'm going to go all out. I'm looking for a "quick fix" for this fish. I know there's now such thing in this hobby, but just something to suffice for a while. It'll take a few months to get everything straighten out in the new tank before I can move the fish.

 

[moraym]

I inherited a sick blue tang from a friend of mine, and they were using carbon 24/7 and also couldn't get him to eat any greens. I put him in a tank without carbon and with a grounding probe, but never could get him to eat enough greens. I finally invested a ton of money on a huge jug of Boyd VitaChem and it actually helped more than I thought it would. Good luck and listen to Beth, and if it makes you feel better, here's the way mine looked when I first got him:

 

[goldenboy]

Mine eats real well. I'm interested in the grounding probe. What causes the need for this. And how do you set one up?

 

[moraym]

HLLE can be caused by stray electric currents and fields in the tank, this can easily be generated by powerheads and you'd never know.
They are available for cheap prices in most LFS and can also be made DIY-style. The set-up is pretty much plug and go.

 

[goldenboy]

I'll try the probe first. I'm going to get one this weekend. I'll give it a month or so, if it doesn't get better or stops eating I'll remove the carbon. Thanks for the advice everyone, I'll post a pic if/when it returns to good health!!!

 

[beth]

MorayM, now that is a great pic! Can I keep it for possible future reference here??

 

[moraym]

I wouldn't call it a great pic, since it's embarassing that it's in my tank, or was for the longest time.:nope:
But I did inherit him, and nurse him back to being a little better for three years before he went.
Anyways, enough melodramatic memory, sure, you can use it.

 

[moraym]

Too bad i couldnt have taken a clear pic for ya.

 

[beth]

That fish had classic ich symptoms with also cloudy eyes. Where the eyes also poped? He was in bad shape for sure, but will make a good example once I start working on my sick fish pictures again.

 

[moraym]

His eyes were a little cloudy it appeared, but never got better or worse for three years, no matter what I tried. Standard garlic, frequent water changes, vitachem, whatever. I also never treated the tang for ich, yet if it was ich it never passed along to the other inhabitants.
I think it just shows so many signs of other diseases because it was so far gone into the HLLE. When i got him, his gills were blood-red, the blue color and even the white underskin color were completely erased. His gills were more jagged than normal as well. It was almost as if there was absolutely no skin left on his gills. Not sure why his eyes were a little cloudy, but never popped out more or less, and never had the classic spot in the center. I think he was just so stressed from his condition that his eyes were constantly a little clouded. Poor thing. At least when he met his natural death he had gained some blue back around his dorsals and sides, and his pectoral fins were back to normal and bright.

 

[fishman830]

that picture made me sad!
i have a red sea sailfin that had HLLE, Daisy, on this board nursed her back to health, good feedings, anything stressful to a complete minimum, vitamin rich diet.

 

[goldenboy]

I ordered a titanium grounding probe. It'll be here Saturday. From what I've read it seems everyone that has had a tang w/hlle didn't have a grounder. So I'm betting on that.

 

[beth]

Keep us posted on progress.