Tangs with HLLE

[aquajeep]

i got a yellow tang for discount because he had pretty bad hlle. i added him to my system that was getting overgrown with all sorts of culerpa and hair algea.he picked away at it till it was under control after 4 months he showed good signs that he was getting much better and fatened up well. and then my anemone ate him lol.. oops

[edikpok]

To help my regal that was developing the HLLE disease, I removed the activated carbon (as the powderish debree seem to be correlated with HLLE), started to feed with Romaine lettuce and nori sheets, and soak foods in selcon. The pigment does not regress anymore and slowly heals

[RD]

A study that was performed in 2001 by Dr. Ruth Francis-Floyd, Chris Tilghman, and RuthEllen Klinger from the University of Florida, shows just how important nutrient levels can be to certain species of fish kept in captivity. This particular study involved captive nutritional management of herbivorous reef fish using Surgeonfish as test subjects and were divided into 3 groups. The first Group was fed washed seaweed (ulva spp.). The second group was fed a commercially prepared all purpose type pellet food, and the third group was fed a commercial flake food that was supposedly designed specifically for herbivores.

At the end of the study, the ulva and flake fed groups suffered high mortality rates, (61%, and 39%), with the surviving fish showing clinical signs of malnourishment. Some had become emaciated to paper-thin condition. The second group (fed commercial pellets) performed the best, all fish gained steady weight, no deaths, and no apparent signs of any disease. The information from this study was made available during a lecture in 2001 at the Marine Ornamentals International Conference, held in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, and has also been published in "Marine Ornamental Species - Collection, Culture, and Conservation by James C. Cato, and Christopher L. Brown.

You can read the full results of their study in the link below.

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&...page&q&f=false


The seaweed diet - 39% of the test group exhibited extreme wasting, with 61% dieing before the end of the study.

The flake diet - Most fish gained weight, yet 27% came down with Hole in the Head/Head & Lateral Line Erosion Syndrome, 16% exhibited exopthalmia, corneal opacity, and apparent blindness, and 39% died before the end of the study.

The pellet diet - On average all of the pellet eating fish steadily gained weight, with no noticeable signs of disease, and no deaths.


If you check the Acknowledgments portion of the paper linked to above you should be able to figure out who supplied the pellet food for this study.


HTH

[naesco]

You are working to slowly improve the water conditions.
You will need to feed the sailfin top quality spirulina disks (look to make sure the first ingredient is spirulina) or wafers soaked in selcon.
You will need to feed the regal top quality meaty food soaked in selcon. (Remember regals are meat eaters.)
IME unless a reefer has left it too late, HLLE can be reversed.
Good Luck

[BlueAbyss]

That study is a little swayed, obviously a tang fed nothing but sea lettuce (the seaweed equivalent of iceberg lettuce) is going to develop some pretty bad deficiencies. Commercial prepared (enriched) pellets and disks are far superior to something like that though should probably still be supplemented with a variety of foods. I've seen video of a yellow tang eating a chunk of banana.

[RD]

Certainly, no big surprise there, but I think there are some important points that one can take away from that study.

1. adding seaweed to the fishes diet is most likely not going to help resolve HLLE.

2. compare the actual nutrient levels found in ones pellet/flake/disc food to those used in the study, and see how they stack up.

IMO HLLE can be reversed, without using products such as selcon, or using a shotgun approach to feeding.

[BlueAbyss]

Hmm, I'm sure many of us have seen that documentary 'Supersize Me' where the guy eats nothing but McD's for a month. Same sort of deal, not enough nutrients because the basis of the diet has no variety. Beef, potatoes, and salt do not make a good balanced diet and neither does flake food or any single food item, though the situation is greatly improved with the addition of other food items to vary the nutrients consumed. Selcon should not be relied on as a cure for these diseases, since the problem of a poor diet still remains.

HLLE and hole in the head are probably as reversible as metabolic bone disease in lizards and amphibians, but needs to be caught early before the effects become lethal. By the time you see physical signs, it may already be too late.

[RD]

Ok, let me reword that, compare the actual nutrient levels found in your varied diet, to those found in the pellets used in that study, and see how they stack up.

One can vary a fishes diet from now until the end of time, and still be providing a substandard level of nutrients. One can also feed a single food item (that contains a wide variety of balanced nutrients) and keep fish thriving in captivity for many years.

HLLE and hole in the head are probably as reversible as metabolic bone disease in lizards and amphibians, but needs to be caught early before the effects become lethal. By the time you see physical signs, it may already be too late.

I agree.