Question for Long Time Emperor Angelfish Owners

[BigMax]

I've been in the hobby for over 40 years—yup, I'm old ;). My tanks over the last 35 years have been 300g-plus FOWLR tanks. So, enough of the old man's meaningless rambling, but background nonetheless.

I've kept pretty much all of the Pomacanthus angelfish with great success (blueface and navarchus until death from old age). I've been looking for a large emperor from hobbyists who want to move on, or the fish has outgrown their tank. I received two offers, but both had HLLE. My previous emperor looked great for about 5 years, then HLLE set in. I used carbon several times, and it was not ROX. Might have been the onset the problem?

My curiosity is, are there any of you out there who have had your emperor for 5 years plus and have no signs of HLLE? My current belief is that captivity will catch up with the fish, and HLLE is long-term unavoidable.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Yes - we have a pair of emperors since 2014 with no signs of HLLE. We also do not use carbon at all.

Oddly, I’ve never seen HLLE in annularis angels, even back when we were using carbon.

Here is the popular press article on my HLLE research paper:
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/head-and-lateral-line-erosion-hlle.784/
Jay

 

[Dbichler]

Mine is right around 5-6 years old no signs of hlle. I don’t run carbon and feed extremely heavily a very varied diet.

 

[BigMax]

Yes - we have a pair of emperors since 2014 with no signs of HLLE. We also do not use carbon at all.

Oddly, I’ve never seen HLLE in annularis angels, even back when we were using carbon.

Here is the popular press article on my HLLE research paper:
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/head-and-lateral-line-erosion-hlle.784/
Jay

Jay, thanks so much for responding! I re-read your article this morning. I will try to stay completely away from carbon, but if I do use it, it will be BRS ROX in a small qty and low flow.

Coincidentally, I raised a annularis. I had it for 10 years and no HLLE, It got so large it out grew my 350G tank. I ended up donating 'him' to the MN Zoo, so he could have some swimming room. (It was almost the size of a dinner plate and about 2 inches thick). I like the markings of emperors more, but may re-consider the annualris as a disfigured specimen long term is a no go.

 

[lion king]

I had one for several years and no sign of hlle, I ran chemipure which I believe does include carbon. I believe it mostly comes down to nutrition, I fed human grade seafood bought fresh and frozen in small quantities and live macro algaes including various caulerpa, gracilaria, and ulva. I've witness hlle reversed after incorporating a fresh and live diet.

 

[Louis Z]

Old thread my.02 c . Have 7 year old . Diet : algae based pellets . nori , food grade shrimp, squid , cod . No HLLE , carbon infrequently . H2O2 dripped in at 1ml / gal twice a week . Kalkwasser drip . Skimmer . Water changes every 2 months . Marineland micron filter, Refugium powered by hair algae , no filter socks nor roller . Vacuum only one of the Refugium chambers which collects detritus

 

[Zionas]

@Jay Hemdal Jay, how big is the pair you look after currently after 11 years? How much have they grown in the time you got them?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

@Jay Hemdal Jay, how big is the pair you look after currently after 11 years? How much have they grown in the time you got them?

They were acquired as adults, so have only grown an inch or two. I don’t work in the aquarium since I partially retired, but I think one of them recently got taken out by a reef shark (likely it had some underlying issue as these sharks hardly ever catch tankmates).

 

[JumboShrimp]

5 years: no HLLE, but no carbon-use either. Coincidence? You decide. (Lol :) )

 

[Spartan76]

Have had an emperor at least 7-8 years , never seen hlle. Very rare carbon use, maybe a couple times over that span. Feed mostly a mix of pellets, mysis, nori.

 

[Zionas]

@Spartan76 How big was your Emperor when you got it, and how big now?