Damage to blue tang skin?

[will?]

Hello everyone, any thoughts on what this is or what could have caused it? Is it a marking or injury on the blue tang’s face? Was hoping to get a better photo sorry, but you can see a mark to the right and lower of his eye.

 

[W31Olds]

Take another Pic or two however this looks like HLLE. Do you run Carbon?

 

[will?]

Really hard to get a good photo of this side of him, generally swimming to the right, into the current. Had a look at some possible issues, such as HILLE, but I think it could have also been from an agro rabbitfish I got a while back (gone now), since it looks old, and looks to be healed/rounded over the exposed edges. I don’t use carbon too.

 

[W31Olds]

Is this on both sides of his body? Please take a pic from farther away that is in focus.
@Jay Hemdal

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Really hard to get a good photo of this side of him, generally swimming to the right, into the current. Had a look at some possible issues, such as HILLE, but I think it could have also been from an agro rabbitfish I got a while back (gone now), since it looks old, and looks to be healed/rounded over the exposed edges. I don’t use carbon too.

That is HLLE or the related epithelial thinning syndrome. Previous carbon use is one common cause. Here is my article on the topic:

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/head-and-lateral-line-erosion-hlle.784/

 

[vetteguy53081]

While it looks like HLLE, please post a couple of pics using bright white light intensity, No blue to to confirm nothing else on its body

 

[will?]

While it looks like HLLE, please post a couple of pics using bright white light intensity, No blue to to confirm nothing else on its body

Okay, I’ll have a go tomorrow afternoon when I get home. Thank you guys for the help too. I did stop feeding nori for about a week or so, and I have been feeding a bit less to keep nitrates down. Seems like from a couple of searches, it’s generally water quality or diet related?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Okay, I’ll have a go tomorrow afternoon when I get home. Thank you guys for the help too. I did stop feeding nori for about a week or so, and I have been feeding a bit less to keep nitrates down. Seems like from a couple of searches, it’s generally water quality or diet related?

Generally both. HLLE cause pits and flesh missing mainly in tangs, angels and some rabbitfish. It is often caused by poor water quality, high use of carbon, poor water quality (elevated nitrate and ammonia) and inadequate/poor diet. It is not life threating in any way but offers secondary infection in some cases.
Maintaining GOOD water quality and diet are often the fixes and with severe cases, some healing.
Some foods to feed tang are :
LRS herbivore diet
Formula 2 flake and frozen
TDO Pellets
small plankton
Hikari Marine cuisine
Ocean nutrition veggie diet
spirulina brine shrimp
mysis shrimp
Prime reef
Nori seaweed basted with garlic extract

Add selcon vitamins to foods occasionally

 

[exnisstech]

Okay, I’ll have a go tomorrow afternoon when I get home. Thank you guys for the help too. I did stop feeding nori for about a week or so, and I have been feeding a bit less to keep nitrates down. Seems like from a couple of searches, it’s generally water quality or diet related?

Please don't starve your fish based on some test result, there are other ways to reduce N & P. My tank with tangs runs NO3 30 - 50 and PO4 0.4 - 0.9. They've been in N and P at those levels for years and i have zero HLLE on any fish, included a 9 yo purple tang and my hippo also had zero after 5 years. I feed frozen PE mysis and rods along with 5 different types of pellets and 2 types of flake with selcon and vitachem mixed in. They get fed a minimum of 3 times a day.

My hippo at 5 years

Purple at about 8 years. I also have 5 yellows with no HLLE but they've only been in for a few years.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Okay, I’ll have a go tomorrow afternoon when I get home. Thank you guys for the help too. I did stop feeding nori for about a week or so, and I have been feeding a bit less to keep nitrates down. Seems like from a couple of searches, it’s generally water quality or diet related?

While diet and water quality issues are often cited as possible causes, the only cause that has been proven through research is previous exposure to carbon (or old carbon dust). One study seemed to indicate a lack of vitamin C in the diet as a cause, but they never published because one of their students added carbon to the tank where the HLLE developed....

Reversing HLLE is tricky. In many cases, the best you can hope for is that the lesions don't grow larger. The most often seen "cure" for HLLE is seen in fish that are moved into a tank that has never had an issue with HLLE.

 

[will?]

Okay, I’ll have a go tomorrow afternoon when I get home. Thank you guys for the help too. I did stop feeding nori for about a week or so, and I have been feeding a bit less to keep nitrates down. Seems like from a couple of searches, it’s generally water quality or diet related?

While diet and water quality issues are often cited as possible causes, the only cause that has been proven through research is previous exposure to carbon (or old carbon dust). One study seemed to indicate a lack of vitamin C in the diet as a cause, but they never published because one of their students added carbon to the tank where the HLLE developed....

Reversing HLLE is tricky. In many cases, the best you can hope for is that the lesions don't grow larger. The most often seen "cure" for HLLE is seen in fish that are moved into a tank that has never had an issue with HLLE.

Oh okay. I might have some leftover carbon in the filter from when I ran carbon X zeolite about a year ago. Maybe breaking down some bits that might have gotten out of the bag. I don’t like cleaning the filter because of beneficial bacteria, but I’ll have a look

 

[will?]

Okay, I’ll have a go tomorrow afternoon when I get home. Thank you guys for the help too. I did stop feeding nori for about a week or so, and I have been feeding a bit less to keep nitrates down. Seems like from a couple of searches, it’s generally water quality or diet related?

Sorry, my message probably came across wrong. I stopped feeding nori as frequently for about a week, usually I feed a quarter to a sixth of a sheet 2-3 times a week, only feed once during that week though. Didn’t stop feeding, just cut back a bit to see if there was any change in nitrates, but back to normal now. Feeding flakes twice a day, and getting some more frozen omnivore food too. I sent that message in a bit of a rush, but I am looking to get a different kind of food, and trying to get the fish onto a pellet diet, or at least better flakes. Currently using nutrafin max spirulina flakes as my flakes, on top of frozen and nori. Works for the clown and chromis and the tang seems perfectly healthy, aside from the HLLE. I have done some extra water changes recently to try and bring nitrate down, using clean seawater, could that have anything to do? Tests are fine aside from high nitrates. Also, is there a good pellet or flake food you recommend? Maybe different flakes for clowns, tang, chromis that I could mix when feeding?
Cheers

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Oh okay. I might have some leftover carbon in the filter from when I ran carbon X zeolite about a year ago. Maybe breaking down some bits that might have gotten out of the bag. I don’t like cleaning the filter because of beneficial bacteria, but I’ll have a look

Old carbon can definitely cause this. We once had a quarantine system that hadn’t had carbon on it for years, had many water changes, but still caused HLLE in fish until we tore the whole tank down and washed everything - we find some carbon dust in the sump.

The best carbon to use is well washed pelleted material. The worst is soft lignite carbon.