HLLE on Flame for nearly 3 months

[mnowicki]

Hey guys,

I'm at a loss in what to do with my Flame exhibiting HLLE for nearly 3 months now.

I got him nearly 3 months ago and have had him in QT ever since. He developed ich right when i got him into the QT, and during that time HLLE (2-3 days after start of cupramine treatment). I got rid of the ich and have been trying to get rid of this HLLE ever since. His poo used to be stringy and white the majority of the time so i assumed with his HLLE this was hexamita. After treating with Metronizadole for 10 days and trying to feed it to him also, his poo improved to occasional white stringyness. I then fed him metronizadole for another 2-3 weeks and seldom see his poo be white. However, his poo remains to be long and stringy (not sure if this is typical for flames). Additionally, his HLLE seemed to be going away slowly over the last 3 weeks, but has started to show again more prominantly. I have put him on Metro+ this time around and will keep him on it for a week while trying to feed it also.

The only other thing worth mentioning is that he only eats mysis and vitamin enriched pellets. I have not been able to get him to eat any nori or formula 2. This makes getting the metro medicine into his system a bit difficult, but i feel he is at least getting some.

Is it possible that he is healthy and will continue to exhibit HLLE physically? His water quality is great, no stray voltages, and eats a ton. Has a 10 gallon with plenty of flow all to himself (he's a little guy 2").

Anyone out there, please help!

Matt

 

[MrTuskfish]

HLLE can take months to completely disappear. IMO, nobody knows the exact cause, but anecdotal accounts of everything under the sun have been blamed. IMO & IME, great water conditions, proper nutrition, and a good vitamin supplement; will cure it eventually. IMO & IME, nutrition for a Flame starts with plenty of mature LR. Is he grazing a lot? There are several 'cures' sold for HLLE; but, again IMO, there are all pretty worthless. I remember an article that suggested HLLE was a condition and not a disease. I agree, just because "conditions" tend to go away with nothing more than proper husbandry.....and time. BTW, I watched a bad case of HLLE on a juvi Emperor in a friends tank and it took several months to clear up. This isn't always the case, but I don't thing 3 months is unusual. Please let us know on the grazing question, its really vital for help with flames.

 

[mnowicki]

i had him grazing initially, but after he ate all the live rock algae that i purposely cultured before getting him to have algae on it (few days worth) I haven't had more to put in there. So the short answer to the question is no he is not grazing because its impossible to provide him with enough live rock constantly in the QT so i stopped trying. As a substitute i've been trying to get him to eat nori every few days but he doesn't even show interest in it ever since i got him. But when he did have live rock algae in his tank during the first week he would eat a tank full (~10lbs worth of rock covered in it) in a day or two.

Interesting points you make tuskfish, and i could see the algae/grazing possibly being the cause of this. What I may do is simply keep him on metro+ for the course of this treatment since its started. During that time i'm going to try to get as much algae growth as I can on a lot of QT rock that I have. If he shows signs of improvement after grazing on that rock I may just put him in the DT, where he can graze and swim stress free in a 65g with 80 lbs of live rock. I'm just super paranoid about introducing some disease into my DT.

Also i'm vitamin supplementing all his food ever since i got him. I use a vitamin enriched flavor Krill enhancer. Is there anything else that you guys suggest for vitamin enrichment?

 

[MrTuskfish]

If he's been ich-free for 3 months, you can put him into your DT. I have a feeling he will clear up faster there. There is nothing I've ever seen that suggests that HLLE is contagious. (Paranoia in this hobby is a good thing!)

 

[MechEng99]

I would treat with PraziPro then introduce him to your display. He has a better chance of healing up there (and I share my opinions on HLLE with MrTuskfish).

 

[flameangel88]

My flame angel trio exhibit hlle during cupramine treatment but they recover pretty quick after treatment. I recommend keeping water quality good and feed food soaked in vitamin and feed as much nori as your flame will eat. As others have said your fish will recover in the DT much better than in QT.

GL.

 

[SkullV]

I have a flame with HLLE as well. My LFS took it in on a donation and sold it to me very cheap. It was reef safe in its previous tank so I figured I would give it a shot. Slowly but surely the whiteness in it's face is going away. It grazes constantly and is fed at least 2 times daily with either Rods regular blend or NLS Ther-A+.