Mhlle

[Elena]

I suspect my regal tang has Marine Head and Lateral Line Erosion as she kind of looks like this (second tang pic) This site did give me some info, but i'm still a little lost.

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She's fed two types of pellet food (one fish based and one veggie based), seaweed and shrimp. She eats all very well, and swims around normally. Any suggestions? I realize she may be permanently scarred but I just want her to feel better!​

 

[little_fish]

We dont really know exactly why fish get HLLE but i can i guess why yours is getting it
1. Those foods are not very nutritious, and poor nutrition is one factor for getting HLLE. she should be feed a variety of frozen foods and veggies.
2. That tank is too small for anything other than a yellow tang and she is showing symptoms (HLLE in your case) of being in a tank too small.

There are some thoughts it might also be from heavy metal toxicity so you might want to run carbon for a week or two.

Also switch to more higher quality foods ands start looking for a larger home for her. They should be tanks around 180ish gals, they get very big.

 

[Elena]

ok, where can i get more nutritious foods? or should i feed her fresh greens from my grocery store?
Also, i already run a small carbon filter in my fluval.
also, 90G is too small? i know they get quite large but i wasn't planning on adding anything new to to the tank. what i have is what i got...

 

[little_fish]

Ya, these guys really need 6+ feet of swimming room, and minimum of 180 gals.

And along with seaweed i would feed roman lettuce, carrots, beans, spinach, squash, etc. OhNoNemo is the guy to talk to about what you should be feeding greens wise. For the frozen i would rotate through shrimp, scallops, mysids, and some of the frozen blends. Petco/petsmart are great places to get a variety of frozen foods. But stay way from brine, it has almost no nutritional value.

 

[Elena]

what about new life spectrum marine? it claims to be complete nutrition... i know it's not enough but would it help?

 

[little_fish]

the problem is once you dry something out like that, it has very little nutritional value. Switch to frozen, its better for your fish, has less preservatives, and will give you better water quality believe it or not.

Also, no one makes those companies prove those statements, they just put that on the bottle so you buy it. It might be true, it probably isnt.

 

[OhNoNemo]

HLLE is a mystery for the most part.....
I have a koran angel with a small scar from it....When i got him he was starting to show signs of it(got him anyway)...i did a lot of research on it and pretty much found out nobody knows for sure...like little fish already said, proper nutrition is a big part of healing her up,and pristine water ...carbon has been brought up too(i removed mine a couple months after i got my angel)...grounding probes (eliminate stray voltage) have also been brought up...( i have one)
I feed Spinach,broccoli,zucchini,brussel sprouts,peas,carrots,and nori...done this for years ...also ,scallops,table shrimp,clams,squid, and krill ..
I buy all my stuff fresh and freeze it(some i grow)...

 

[BL1]

Here's a good article on the subject of carbon and HLLE HLLE and Activated Carbon: Looking for a Link | Coral Magazine

At the beginning it covers most of the things they suspect to contribute to HLLE but like Ohno said, there's no conclusive evidence as to the cause.

 

[Elena]

ok ohno, i want to feed greens like that, do you just chop it up all small like in a food processor or something?

 

[wontonflip]

Try to get it organic, too, elena...to minimize the likelihood that you introduce pesticides and stuff to your tank. Make sure to rinse it very very well!

 

[OhNoNemo]

Try to get it organic, too, elena...to minimize the likelihood that you introduce pesticides and stuff to your tank. Make sure to rinse it very very well!

Yes,good point wonton,,,even grow it yourself if you can....i'm not sure how big your tang is ,but i cut mine up with a pair of scissors into about 1/4 inch squared pieces ..mine eat it NP.. IMO ,you don't want it too small
good luck

 

[Elena]

will all my fish eat it? i have two clowns and a foxface in there too, as well as a brittle star and a fire shrimp. they all appear very healthy.

 

[Bifferwine]

The foxface and tang should be given algae sheets or veggies as the bulk of their diet. Dried seaweed (algae) sheets can be found in any pet store and come in a few different varieties and colors. Although it's not certain what causes HLLE, poor nutrition and poor water quality are the most often cited reasons why fish come down with it. The good news is that it's reversible if you fix whatever is wrong.

 

[Elena]

they get dried seaweed every day, and my water quality is great! less than 5 nitrates, i do water changes every week and top ups halfway through. i really hope that adding some veggies will help. so organic everything and chop it up small and freeze it, also get some different frozen foods and rotate. update y'all in a week or two! thanks so much!

 

[little_fish]

Sounds like a good plan! I hope she starts getting better!

 

[OhNoNemo]

Also ,you should go ahead and remove all carbon and get a grounding probe.....
good luck

 

[Elena]

carbon removed... i gave them some carrots, spinach and cauliflower for the last couple days, all the fish appeared to spit it back out! the tang didn't like any of it! at least it looked like she did, but her colour looks a little better today, which it weird cause i wasn't expecting a lot of change this fast...