Hole in the head cure?

[Pike614]

Posted this in the general reef forum but thought this might work also. I've noticed some "hole in the head" beginning in 2 of my tangs...sailfin and blue. Anny cure for this? The tank is grounded, and diet varies from nori to bloodworms to brine shrimp.,...any ideas?
thanks!

 

[JHemdal]

Pike614,

The most often reported "cure" for this involves moving the fish to an new tank - one that has no history of HLLE. The grounding idea has never been proven, and it never worked in all the times I tried it. Many of the "diet change sucess stories" involved moving the fish to a new tank first (see above). Sometimes, diet changes alone have been reported to work....but not always. Vitamin C and Selco are the two most often reported nutritional additives used.
And then there is carbon dust: this has been proven to cause HLLE in many cases. Any chance that the tanks has had "dusty" carbon added to it at some point?

Jay

 

[Pike614]

Yes, I use carbon but generally rinse it out really well before placing it back in the filter. I am leaning towards it being a diet/stress issue. I am in the process of moving to a much larger tank for these guys, almost 4 times what they are in right now.....so once the food improves along with the size of habitat...I am hoping it will be better. I also considered adding Melafix to the water for a week, read that might help also?