My Hippo Tang has Head and Lateral Line Erosion (HLLE)

[stormy31]

HI
My Hippo tang has HLLE. I have had him for about three weeks and I noticed he looked a little different in the beginning, but I thought it was nothing. Now he has it in a line from his head to about his tail. Also his tail is a little "cut up" looking, could that be from HLLE or just another fish(that could be possible I have a damsel that is not so nice). He is in a 75 gallon tank with 2 false percula clowns, royal gramma, 2 pajama cardinalfish,a damsel, a scooter blenny, and a fire shrimp. Corals: flowerpot, mushroom, and zoos. The tank has been set up for about a year. How should I treat him? Should I put him in my hospital tank? Thank you in advance!!

 

[m0nk]

If you have a decent sized QT (depending on how big the tang is) you should put it in there. The damsel could potentially have caused the HLLE, which can be brought on my stress. My clowns even brought on a case of HLLE with mine, which I'm still waiting to get a bigger QT cycle finished to isolate her to treat, but in the meantime, if you don't have a big enough QT, you could at least start by adding vitamin drops and garlic to the food. Let it soak for about 5-10 minutes before feeding. Basically, you can crush fresh garlic and let the food soak in the juice, plus the vitamin drops. You should also read the sticky thread at the top of this forum about HLLE. Hope that helps.

 

[stormy31]

Originally Posted by m0nk
If you have a decent sized QT (depending on how big the tang is) you should put it in there. The damsel could potentially have caused the HLLE, which can be brought on my stress. My clowns even brought on a case of HLLE with mine, which I'm still waiting to get a bigger QT cycle finished to isolate her to treat, but in the meantime, if you don't have a big enough QT, you could at least start by adding vitamin drops and garlic to the food. Let it soak for about 5-10 minutes before feeding. Basically, you can crush fresh garlic and let the food soak in the juice, plus the vitamin drops. You should also read the sticky thread at the top of this forum about HLLE. Hope that helps.
ok thank you! keep me posted on how yours turns out!

 

[vanos]

Can you take some pics? I have a hippo tang too but a line may just be normal.

 

[beth]

What are your water readings? What are you feeding your fish? Is it a tank with live rock?

 

[stormy31]

Unfortunately I can not take pictures right now because my camera is charging, and I know it is HLLE because of the disease threads. My temp is 76F, my salt is 1.21. I can not give ph, nitrate, nitrite, etc. becuase I do not have the tests right now. I used the last up this morning and everything came out fine. This tank does have live rock in it. I am sorry I cannot give the exact parameters now, i will get more tests tomorrow.Thank you!! I feed my fish frozen shrimp, nori, squid cubes

 

[beth]

We'll need to actually have water readings, particularly nitrites, and, of course. any issues with ammonia or nitrite. Do you know what your nitrates were the last time you took readings?
You should try to get algae sheets that are made for the hobby rather than the nori. And by frozen shrimp, what are you referring to?
Add zoecon to one meaty meal a day, and feed at least twice a day. Be sure your system has water circulation going well through the system, with . good water movement on the surface of the tank.
There is info on treating HLLE in the FAQ Thread located at the top of the Disease Forum.