Rescue tang with HLLE. Help.

[dstoneburg]

So I purchased a used setup for dirt cheap to compliment my current tank. Had many corals LR and some fish. Most of the fish is going to be traded into the LFS, but there is a large(5") atlantic blue tang suffering from what seems to be HLLE. Theres numerous reasons why he may have it, from water quality(Hair algae out of control, thats an understatement at best) the gentleman hadnt done a water change in quite some time. Anyways, poor water quality, im unsure of his diet but that could be contributing. Also he was in a 40g tall tank. So this presents my question. HLLE has been reported to be caused by numerous factors such as what apply in this case - poor water quality, possibly malnurished, and stressed out by a small tank. My options are, I could place him into my DT and try to nurse him back to health. I could place him into my QT(10g). The problem with the QT is he already seems stressed by the small envoirment which may be the cause. So in this instance what would you do? I feel like I should put him into the QT and watch him for three weeks to be sure he is ick free. In that time I plan on feeding NLS thera a+ aswell as krill soaked in garlic and nori sheets soaked in garlic. Im hoping that with a good diet and good water quality I can get him back in shape. What do you think? Tell me what to do!

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by dstoneburg
So I purchased a used setup for dirt cheap to compliment my current tank. Had many corals LR and some fish. Most of the fish is going to be traded into the LFS, but there is a large(5") atlantic blue tang suffering from what seems to be HLLE. Theres numerous reasons why he may have it, from water quality(Hair algae out of control, thats an understatement at best) the gentleman hadnt done a water change in quite some time. Anyways, poor water quality, im unsure of his diet but that could be contributing. Also he was in a 40g tall tank. So this presents my question. HLLE has been reported to be caused by numerous factors such as what apply in this case - poor water quality, possibly malnurished, and stressed out by a small tank. My options are, I could place him into my DT and try to nurse him back to health. I could place him into my QT(10g). The problem with the QT is he already seems stressed by the small envoirment which may be the cause. So in this instance what would you do? I feel like I should put him into the QT and watch him for three weeks to be sure he is ick free. In that time I plan on feeding NLS thera a+ aswell as krill soaked in garlic and nori sheets soaked in garlic. Im hoping that with a good diet and good water quality I can get him back in shape. What do you think? Tell me what to do!
HLLE is not contageous. I would, however, place him into qt for three weeks and see how he is. If the water was questionable then you do not know if there was any disease in the system. I would QT anything that came from that tank, including the rock. You have read about HLLE. You know that water quality and nutrition are the number one factors. Be sure that he is free from disease before placing him in the display. Do what you can for nutrition and water quality while he is in QT. The stress will be relieved when he enters the DT.

 

[dstoneburg]

Thank you very much for the quick response. Always gotta double check to make sure your doing the right thing.

 

[beth]

I would not place a 5" fish in a 10 gal QT.
Assuming you are certain the fish does not have ich, moving him to a larger tank that is in good condition is the best option. If you are concerned about ich, leave him in the current tank for 3 week, improve the water quality and food, etc. Once you are assured that he doesn't have any other problems, then make the move.
There is info on HLLE in the FAQ Thread at the top of this forum.

 

[dstoneburg]

Leaving him in the current tank is not an option. I do have a 40g breeder setup as a QT for my current fish which includes a koran(3.5")Porc Puffer(2")And lunar wrasse(1.5""). Is currently going through hypo, should I acclimate him to that?
So I can either add him to the 40g breeder with the other fish which is at 1.009, aclimmate him slowly, Or I can isolate him into the 10g. I dont want to risk him in the DT as he could have ick just not be showing signs.

 

[beth]

No, you can not acclimate the fish to hypo that quickly. If you feel like this fish does not have ich, I'd go ahead and make the transfer to the larger permanent home. A 10 gal tank is out of the question.
However, was this display tank exposed to ich? Which may be a contaminate to the tang if added? Try hypo-ing the tank the tang is in (wo live rock), then you can move him to the breeder. You should have at least 2 days to acclimate to hypo.

 

[sepulatian]

I'm sorry, I missed that the qt was only 10 gallons. My feeling is that if the ex owners did not maintain water quality then they may have been lax in other areas such as proper quarantine. I would hate for you to introduce another parasite into your system from this. If the 10 gallon is cycled then you can put the fish in there and bring that down to hypo level over 48hrs then drip acclimate him into the 40.

 

[dstoneburg]

Im going to try and restate the problem as I feel I was lacking complete information in the first post.
I purchased a entire tank setup off craigslist. Had alot of what I needed at a good price. I got there and there was a 45g with a HOB filter. Hair aglae up the waazoo, looked like he needed a riding lawnmower to just get visibility. In the 45g tank was later to be found 2 shrimp, 2 clown goby, perc clown, mandarin, lawnmower blenny, 100 nas snails, tons tons tons tons and I mean TONS of bristle worms, and this 4-5inch hippo tang.. I trade all the fish but the hippo into the LFS and feel I can nurse this guy back to health(LFS would not take). My DT was exposed to ich so my QT process is not just to rid the fish of ick, but also my DT.
As of now Its very tempting to setup the 45 even though its going to take a ton of work, if you feel this is the best course of action let me know and consider it done.
So this leaves me with a 10g qt and a 30g qt(thought was 40).
In the 30g...
2" porc puffer
1.5" Lunare Wrasse
3-4" koran
Since posting this I have put the Hippo into the 10g QT and noticed some signs of ick. So SG is being dropped to 1.009 currently. Once this is complete I am unsure of the next step. I could leave him in there, or move him to the 30g. My fear is that the 30g will become heavily overstocked and I will run into major water problems. Currently I can't get the levels to 0, I show smalls sings of nitrates and ammonia. So Im worried this will only fuel the fire. The hippo has been in the QT for about 3 days now and I have not had sucess with him eating as of yet. I feed nori soaked in garlic, krill, NLS thera A+.
So Heres the deal. I feel you beth and sep are very well informed in both the act of fish care and saltwater in general, I leave the faith of this hippo up to you. You decide what you think is best given my circumstances and I will fallow the directions step for step. Setting up another tank or rubbermaid is out of the question. So given what I have to work with, what do you suggest?

 

[beth]

I don't see that size of tang faring well in a 10 gal tank, and as you said, the 30 gal is already stressed and with a good load of fish.
Finish getting the 10 gal into hypo, and, in the meantime, set up the 40. At that point, you could do a few things. Move all fish to the 40, or, move the bunch of fish to the 40, then move the HLLE tang to the 30, or just move the HLLE tang to the 40.

 

[dstoneburg]

Having a hard time getting him to eat. Ive tried mysys,krill, seaweed clip, glass shrimp,flake,soaked everything in garlic. Tried it with the lights off. Its been about 4-6 days since I got him. Any suggestions? He currently is VERY VERY FAT.