HLLE Recovery Question

[27mtaylor]

I had been seeing HLLE on several post and finally did some investigating as to what it was. Turns out my hippo tang has it. I never knew what was wrong with her till now. She has the white lateral line, no color on her face , a sunken in nasal cavity area, her ribs show and the skin between her first two bones on the dorsal fin is missing. She has been like this for several months.
I've seen where this can be attributed from high nitrates (which I have since corrected) and several other factors. Once I noticed her ribs showing, I started feeding her more, thinking that she wasn't getting enough food or nutrition. And I also started giving her seaweed select macroalgae sheets just last week. Since I've been feeding her more, I have noticed her ribs don't show like they used to.
I am curious to know what the recovery time is for this and if there are other foods that I should feed. Or is there anything else I need to do to help her. (I'm currently feeding: flake food, mysis, brine and seaweed selects) She still acts healthy and eats like a horse. Thanks for the help!

 

[rainfishy]

I would recommend a vitamin supplement like selcon, or zeocon. I would also recommend feeding garlic. And check for stray voltage in your tank. Healing time depends on how bad it is and if all factors get fixed. what size tank? Any stress in the tank, fighting, other water quality issues (besided nitrates). Really glad you started with seaweed, this is vital for tangs!! Good Luck

 

[beth]

It could be several weeks to months. Do you have grounding probes? I would add as much quality "algae" source of food as you can. WO neglecting meaty foods as well. Place the algae sheet in the tank for grazing. With the meaty food, soak it in zoecon for a couple mins, then target feed the fish to ensure that she gets full benefit of the supplement.
Did you check out the pictures of fish with HLLE in the Diseased Fish Thread?
Have you installed a ground probe?

 

[27mtaylor]

Y'all are going to hate me when I say this. I have her in a 46 gallon bow tank. I got her 2 or 3 years ago before I knew better.... My brother has a 120 and I would give her to him, but he already has a hippo, a yellow and a sailfin. So I'm going to do what I can to get her up to par till (if) I can find a happy home for her.
As far as the Zoecon and Garlic go, do I just let the food soak in it for a while before feeding her? I also have some Kent Zoeplex, is that the same type of stuff as Zoecon? What about garlic? Can you get it in a sqeeze bottle or do I need to mince an actual garlic clove to obtain the juice? Sorry for all the questions, a lot of this is all new to me.
Other than tank size, there shouldn't be any stress for her. Her "friends" are peaceful tankmates (not to mention that if any fish starts picking on another fish, she tries to be the peace keeper and break them up, Kinda funny) My water parameters are fine now. As soon as I can get a voltage tester, I will check for stray voltage. I plan on keeping the seaweed going. She really seems to love it. Thanks for your reply/help!
Just saw your response Beth, Thanks also... I did see the pics and that was a dead give away of the symptoms that she has. No grounding prope yet, but will be in the future.

 

[unleashed]

for the garlic I use a product called garlic extreme it comes in a small bottle with an eye dropper it takes 2 drops per feeding in food mixure so the bottle last a long time

 

[beth]

Use zoecon, only zoecon. Let it soak in the food in the refrigerator for 5 mins, and then target feed with a syringe of turkey baster. You may want to consider a fresh food mix, such as the one I have posted in the FAQ Thread.

 

[27mtaylor]

Thank y'all for the advice! I'm going to give it a shot to try to get her healthy again.

 

[anthonynyc]

Originally Posted by 27mtaylor
Thank y'all for the advice! I'm going to give it a shot to try to get her healthy again.
Please let me know how this turns out. My yellow tang has also developed the same thing.
Thanks,
Anthony

 

[27mtaylor]

I finally got my hands on a multimeter. I have 1 stray volt in my tank. Is that enough to cause stress to my fish? As far as my tang goes, she is getting fatter from all the food that I have been feeding her. I feed her about 3 - 4 times a day and her diet is consisting of flake food, brine, mysis, seaweed selects and very small chopped pieces of table shrimp. I still haven't been able to pick up any Zoecon, but I hope to this weekend. I don't know if it helps or not, but I've been soaking the mysis and table shrimp in ZoePlex for 5 minutes before I feed. Like I said she has fattened up, but still has the bad markings from the HLLE. I guess I shouldn't expect too much in the first two weeks of recovery...

 

[unleashed]

well this is good and bad (feed her about 3 - 4 times a day) thats the good part
But her diet is consisting of flake food, brine, mysis, seaweed selects and very small chopped pieces of table shrimp this is the bad part yes your giver her variety buts its not the best variety for your tang your feeding your tang like you would a clown fish(omnivore) yes they love meaty foods but her diet needs to consist of more vegitation.number 1 ditch the brine its only a filler for sw fish it has little to no nutritional value for them a flake food meant more for herbavores is your best as flaked goes formula 2 veggie flakes and kelp flakes .i buy the veggie flakes personaly my fish love them. but i hope you see where im going with this.also adding a frozen variety of algae based foods at least once a day .dried seaweed is also ok but not meant as a staple diet food as a midday snack its great.dont always rely on your LFs to tell you whats the best foods for your fish they dont always know.you need to be able to tell them what you need to ensure your getting it.as far as stray voltage goes for a cause of stress yes this can also be a factor not only to your fish but to your safety as well.

 

[calylove]

I had a similar problem with my yellow and I picked up a product called ridvolt. It is basically a grounding probe that goes in the tank and eliminates any stray voltage. I also put a small piece of orange in the tank and she nibbled at it a bit. Inoticed a difference in color over night and the lines were almost completely gone within seven days. She lloks 100% better and has ever since. The ridvolt was only like $15 so well worth it.

 

[buffalobil]

I would definitly invest 15 to save a fish. Let me know where you got this product and did you test for the stray voltage.

 

[calylove]

I picked mine up at the LFS but you can order them online too, the name of the product is RidVolt, and yes it eliminated all stray voltage.

 

[anthonynyc]

I installed my ground probe last week and my yellow tang is 75% back to normal. You have to really look closely to see if anything is wrong.
I also feed with Zoecon and feed twice a day. I only let the Zoekon soak into the flakes. I actually drop a generous amount right in the flake container and it will soak the top flakes. I then use a small plastic knife to feed those flakes to the fishes. A few days later, when the moist top flakes are gone, I add more Zoecon. It really soaks in well into the flakes and the fish usually eat all the flakes since I feed it to them first when they are really hungry.
After the flakes in the same feeding session, I then go with Formula2, the green Algae looking on. Its frozen and the fishes love it. I then feed them Frozen Mysis shrimp, they love that as well. This is all in one feeding session and I do it twice a day with small amounts.
I also feed them on occassion freeze dried brine shrimp loaded with Zoecon since it absorbs so well.
Anyway, my tang is doing great now that I installed the ground probe!
Thanks,
Anthony

 

[27mtaylor]

Anthony, glad to see you tang is doing better. Hopefully mine will do the same soon.
As far as a grouning probe goes, can I just take a piece of electrical wire (like used in houses) and run it from the water into the ground hole on an outlet?

 

[92protruck]

no, don't put household wire in the tank it could leach harmful metals like copper into the tank. The other metals will rust and/or corrode. Use a titanium bike spoke or just by the $15 grounding probe.

 

[beth]

ditto for what 92PT said....bite the bullet and get the probe. It is one of the cheaper items you'll get in this hobby and well worth the money!

 

[27mtaylor]

Thanks guys. I was curious whether the copper wire would leach into the water or not. I'm just cheap and hate spending money when I can find a more inexpensive way. Beth you are right though, it will be one of my cheapest investments for my tank. I can deal with $15, lol.

 

[darkwing]

Thank you folks for this thread; i have been searching endlessly to determine what was happening to my Koran Angel and Blue Tang. They both have HLLE and I have begun the treatments with Zoecon and have just ordered the grounding probes. I was able to look at the pictures to identify what was wrong with them. Hopefully once the grounding probe is in place, the fish will get better.