HLLE

[SHK_ATK]

I recently inherited a purple tang that has HLLE (head and later line errosion) I currrently have him in a 40B he seems happy for the time being gets along fine with tankmates and have been treating his HLLE, My "?" is is this (HLLE) transferrable to other tangs/ other fish?? I want to add him to my 240G. But I wont if it means im putting my other healthier tangs at risk. I have read that it can spread, but then ive also read that giving them a varied diet will help reverse it and other tangs (if healthy) wont get it. Ill post a pic of the purple tang so everyone can see the extent of her damage, Ive notice that the tang has gotten her purple color back and that her HLLE isnt AS bad. How long does it take for it to go away? and does it leave permante scarring (sp?) Also Ive seen that there is a specific food just for reversing HLLE. I cant remember where I saw it has anyone ever heard or tried it and knows if its worth buying?

:help: :confused: :help: :confused: :help:

[jagr200]

I've never heard of HLLE but good luck with it.

[archer772]

I have read the same thing about a varied or proper diet. I think the fish will always have some scarring from it but not sure. I have never heard about a special food for HLLE but I would use Selcon on the food as I have heard it does wonders and make sure it has all the algea it can eat.

[archer772]

I've never heard of HLLE but good luck with it.

Hopefully you never have to deal with it.

[KingOfTheDeep]

good water and good food is the best thing you can do for it..

as for it being contagious.. if you add him in and continue to keep the water in perfect condition and offer quility foods..the other fish will be fine.

[jagr200]

How is it caused?

[Reefscape]

good water and good food is the best thing you can do for it..

as for it being contagious.. if you add him in and continue to keep the water in perfect condition and offer quility foods..the other fish will be fine.

HLLE is not contagious as its percieved as a nutrition deficiency...Far less a common disease in commercial produced fish.


How is it caused?

There is no actuall fixed answer to this question, as i am aware, only what aquarists surmise to what causes it. Some say a poor immune system, some say heavy metal content in the water column, some say stray electric in the tank...many suggestions, but not have been proved to be the exact cause.

The lateral line is the line that runs down the top edge of the fish and has sensors (pits) in it on the sides of the fish..It is commonly surmised that HLLE is caused by the immune system not working correctly..

Hope that helps

Niko

[SHK_ATK]

Here are some pics of the tang you can really see the scarring in the 2nd pic. So I guess Ill be adding this tang to my bigger tank seeing as its not contagious plus water params. stay identical and stable Also seeing as I feed all my fish the same thing. Im pretty sure it will do fine, I hate having a tang in such a small tank.


http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x307/WeShallC/far.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x307/WeShallC/close.jpg


of course my betta wanted to show off and get into the shots.

[clown-lover]

ooooohhhh poor fishie.. Hope you can nurse him back to health bud..

[BadRoma1]

i've seen it worse. everyone is right, you have to keep water in good condition and add vitamins to any food you feed him. different foods also would be great. and Silcon is a good product, but make sure you refrigirate it after opening. good luck.

[Grins]

Unfortunately I doubt he'll lose the scaring although it may become a bit less noticable. I do hope that nutrition is the tact to avoid this as it is what I've been trying with my own tang.

[SHK_ATK]

thank you all for the comments, sadly this tang has been like this for more than a year. I convinced the owner to let me have her as they where using reg tap water (non-chlorinated), never fed it algea, all they feed their fish is brine shrimp and was in a small tank (for this kind of tang anyways). There was two purple tangs but one did not make it as I transfered both of them from a 90G to a 40B and this one prob killed the other one due to aggression.

Current feedings are

Formula one (frozen)
Formula two (frozen)
Mysis shrimp
Krill
live brine shrimp
Crab meat
silversides
Algea sheets
Nori
peas
and everything get Garlic Extreme

water params are
water ro/di
AMO 0
ITES 0
ATES 0
PH 8.0 (wee bit on the low side I think)
SG .25
temp 80 +/- .5

The only thing that does raise some concern is that she might bully my other tangs. Fingers are crossed.

[Miss my puffer]

I bought a purple tang with hlle for $20 once and put him in a tank that I was using to grow macroalgae. The tang did well and the hlle didn't look as bad after a couple of months, but it never did completely go away. Only had him for 4 months so I can't tell you much about the long term.

[Grins]

never fed it algea, all they feed their fish is brine shrimp .

Not that it was the only factor you mentioned but this seems to support the nutritional defeciency theory a bit.

[BMorgan]

Wow, what a strange symptom. I've read about it as well and one thing I remember seeing as that some believed it to be caused possibly due to high nitrates, although, as Niko mentioned, none of these theories have really been proven.

I wish you luck with the tang as altogether it is a nice looking fish.

[Reefscape]

HLLE is just one of them problems which i do sometimes wonder why, with the vast ammount of experience and science in the marine world, we have still not been able to pin down an exact cause of it....

Who know's, "hopefully" in the not to distant future, somebody will come up with diffinitive proof of what specifically causes this....so many people have so many "theories" on the cause...for me, i would always put it down to nutrition...As the cases i have come across, and looked at the diet of the fish, there has always been something that could be changed in the diet that the fishkeeper provides..

Niko

[Grins]

That is probably why I find it the most believable as well Niko. I've yet to hear of a case of it where poor nutrition hasn't been a factor. Doesn't mean there aren't cases of it, just none I've run across in my limited time learning about the hobby.

[Dustin83]

That looks pretty bad. AT least for me, that's the worst I've seen.

But I do agree with everyone that good water quality should help. I'm no expert, but I was always under the impression that it is more of a condition as result of stress rather than a contagious disease. Unlike ick, your other tangs will be okay as long as the water condition is good. Let us know how it goes.

One thing that you might want to think about on a sidenote, is that purple tangs are very aggressive toward other tangs, especially to those with similar body shape. There is a good chance that it will attack yellow tang or sailfin tang (not sure if you have any) once it regains its full strength. However, if the purple tang is smaller in size, you might be okay.

[clown-lover]

Not that it was the only factor you mentioned but this seems to support the nutritional defeciency theory a bit.

Yeah it does but if they were just feeding their fish brine shrimp it also makes me suspect that they probably weren't really good on maintenance either. Normally (or at least IME) if they don't take the time to investigate what foods their inhabitants need in order to sustain a healthy lifestyle they aren't going to perform decent tank maintenance either.

I also suggest Selcon it did wonders for my Yellow Tang when she was having coloration issues. I have gone to buying several bottles and putting it into my frozen food recipe now during the combining process. I don't remember who originally suggested this product to me, but I can't say enough good about what it has done for my own tank inhabitants.