Regal Tang
 

Ok I'm going to do something annoying. Posting without a photo :razz:

My regal tang seems to have a couple of spots around its face that are discolored. They kind of look like erosion to me, not the solid blue but grey but they are either perfect circles or perfect ovals. Do these fish have nares?? (I'm suffering heavily from baby brain and frankly they could have been there all along but he got really close up to the glass yesterday and was giving me the stinkeye over not feeding him fast enough and I noticed it and it kind of freaked me out, all the other fish look normal though).

I was under the impression that HLLE was more ragged edges and not uniform in shape. I use the kent pellet carbon but have gotten lazy when changing it and not running it first into a bucket when I start it up (theres such a small "poof" of black coming out I didn't think it was a huge deal and I usually run it into the filter sock anyways).

Anyhoo, I'll try to get a pic tonight. Sorry this is kind of vague and I know the pic tells 1000 words yada yada. I just thought I should ask before I forget or before it gets worse (if indeed it is the carbon thing or totally normal or something else).

So everyone with a regal tang, race off to your tank and have a good look at your regals face and let me know if you see what I am talking about. Or on the other hand you can also tell me I'm off my rocker :wink:

I'd be amazed if the average sock could catch the black poof (carbo fines!). That stuff is insanely fine so much so that it stains the heck out of anything it touches because it fits in the smallest of scratches. My guess is a sock will allow it to churn and dissipate (appear clear) before heading right into the water column.

That's zero help sorry... and good luck with the regal.

I didn't rise my carbon well enough and noticed my purple tang and king angel started to get What I thought was HLLE. Also could of been in part due to not feeding nori as often and highish nitrates. The HLLE spots on my fish where around the face and perfectly round small spots.

The king angels spots are mostly gone now (changed out the carbon, started running a second skimmer and fed nori more often) but there is still a spot on my purple tang.

Ok I just googled tangs with HLLE and the pic's looked way worse then my fish ever did, but maybe I just had a really mild case? I found this info about HLLE which seems good:

Head and Lateral Line Erosion Disease (HLLD or HLLE) - Hole-in-the-Head Disease
Symptoms: Begins as small pits on the head and face, usually just above the eye. If untreated, these turn into large cavities and then the disease progresses along the lateral line.

Head and Lateral Line Disease is also known as Hole-in-the-Head Disease, Lateral Line Erosion (LLE), and Lateral Line Disease (LLD). It is attributed to a nutritional deficiency of one or more of: Vitamin C, Vitamin D, calcium, and phosphorus. Though its cause is not definitively determined, it is thought to be caused by a poor diet or lack of variety, lack of partial water changes, or over filtration with chemical media such as activated carbon.

HLLE has been reversed by one or more of the following treatments:

◦Increase frequent water changes.
◦Add vitamins to frozen foods.
◦Add the addition of flake foods, as they are enriched with vitamins.
◦Add greens, either frozen or in leaf form, to the diet.
◦Decrease the amount of beef heart as it lacks many critical nutrients.
◦Remove activated carbon filtration.

Yeah the HLLE pics I googled were pretty bad, definitely not as subtle as mine seems to be. I do feed nori every day and the regal is a big pig about it and gets a fair bit. I'll have to be more careful with the carbon and try some vitamins/flake.

Whats everyone using for vitamins these days? Selcon still?

Thanks for the replies guys! :biggrin:

*cough*rox*cough*

Yup, good old Selcon.

LOL, I bought a 5 gallon bucket of Kent before rox was more available than BRS (frankly I refuse to pay that much for shipping) and by gum, I'm gonna use it all! :razz: Then I'll switch to rox

+1

Pssst did anyone else have to google and find out what nares were?:lol:

ROFL!!

Part of your problem may be the food you are feding your regal tang. All tangs require algae as the mainstay of their diet but the Regal Tang is the exception. They are meat eaters.

So soak some best quality shrimp dryed meaty foods etc in selcon and with the other advice given, the tang's condition should improve.

I am fully aware that he is a meat eater. However he eats whatever I put in the tank so I can't stop him from eating it if I offer it to the other tangs :razz: I also feed mysis and formula 1&2 pellets.

Not entirely true, they are omnivores (most tangs are actually) they feed on plankton (especially when young) which can be zooplankton or algae but will graze as well

No debate here. Post was meant to simply advise that unlike other tangs the regal tang was different. They need meaty foods to sustain themselves whereas the other tangs require algae.

OK I got another look, its definitely HLLE :neutral: Looks pretty bad once you get a good look, and the other side is worse IMO. Hopefully it can be stopped/fixed. How does one deal with the carbon issue besides fixing the immediate problem (ie removal of whats in the water already?).

Some pics:

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...2/IMG_0322.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...2/IMG_0297.jpg



other side:

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...2/IMG_0316.jpg

So I was looking through some pics of last year. I couldn't see it in Decembers photos but I didn't have any closeups, just full tank shots. The last time I took any photos before that was August :redface: And there it is :redface::sad: I figured he had just scraped himself up or something (he does that incredibly often).

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...2/IMG_0075.jpg

Christy, not to worry this does not appear to be a severe infection. The fish should recover when you follow the advice given by others in this thread.

And besides what naesco and the others have stated, I'm sure you know better than me that some small water changes frequently this next week or so will do more good than harm ( 'cause of the Carbon contamination issue )
I'd still keep the carbon you're already using in it's current state
Lastly, if that last pic is from last year? That's a pretty healthy/tough dude you have there
He'll get through it

Thanks guys, I feel better now :biggrin:

I do weekly 15-20% waterchanges as well.

Christy, have you changed his diet at all? Not ruling out the carbon dust issue, but it may be something as simple as a change in his diet. Soak his food in Selcon for awhile and I bet the erosion stops. I know Regals and some of the Angels are notorious for HLLE.

No theres been no diet change, I only feed frozen mysis, formula 1/2 pellet mix and nori. Hopefully the selcon is here tomorrow or Thursday