Tang HLLE Help

peiloy3196

peiloy3196

New member
I added this Yellow Tang to my DT after 12 weeks of QT. It has been in my DT for about a month now. During QT it was treated with CP in case of any ich. I did not use any Prazi during QT. After about a week in the DT I noticed HLLE and also some fraying of the tail fin. I have been feeding selcon dosed nori every day and selcon soaked meaty foods and NLS pellets. He is eating without any issues, but I find him very reclusive/flighty compared to other yellow tangs I have had. All other fish in the DT are fine and I am not seeing any aggression towards him. He is the only Tang. I took a shot under Actinic Led only as it highlights the HLLE. It is actually not as bad as it looks in the picture but the Actinics LEDs seem to emphasize the difference in color. The HLLE is not getting any better but not getting any worse, same with the fraying fins.

Tank size is 72" Long x 32" W x 24" High.
Ammonia - 0
Trites - 0
Trates - 0
Phos - Undetectable

Should I change anything that I am doing? If so what should I do?

Edit: I have checked for Stray Voltage (found none) and do run a grounding probe. I also run BRS Lignite Carbon 100% of the time.
 

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unfortunately that is all you can really do with HLLE. selcon soaked foods + nori as much as it will take.

i had several yellow tangs that had HLLE and i do recall it taking a long time to start looking normal again. same with frayed fins.

general water clarity will also help, albeit given you even have low PO4 means it is probably in pretty good shape. do you use activated carbon (in moderation)?
 
Spar said:
unfortunately that is all you can really do with HLLE. selcon soaked foods + nori as much as it will take.

i had several yellow tangs that had HLLE and i do recall it taking a long time to start looking normal again. same with frayed fins.

general water clarity will also help, albeit given you even have low PO4 means it is probably in pretty good shape. do you use activated carbon (in moderation)?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help. I do run activated carbon all the time in a reactor. About 2 Cups changed monthly. Should I take the reactor offline? My water clarity is great, no cloudiness at all.
 
Ok. I definitely rinse it till the water through the reactor is clear, but I will pull it offline for a month to see if it helps.
 
peiloy3196 said:
Thanks for the help. I do run activated carbon all the time in a reactor. About 2 Cups changed monthly. Should I take the reactor offline? My water clarity is great, no cloudiness at all.
Click to expand...

Carbon in reactors is a special issue - any tumbling at all will create further dust, except that since it's wet, you can't see it as such. To see a YT get that bad that quickly indicates that this could have been the issue.

BBraker
 
Ok so I have pulled the carbon offline now and done a 40 gallon water change. Do I do anything else at this point? Also when/can I run carbon in the future? If I do run it do I run it so that there is no tumbling?
 
What are you running carbon for?
If I would run carbon I would only use high quality pelleted carbon and only in front of a protein skimmer and have a fine filter running behind it.

Also, while carbon now has been clearly identified as a causative agent for HLLE, it is not the only one. There are likely other factors that either cause the same or similar symptoms or effects.
Though if you have a fish with HLLE and are running carbon, the likelihood that it is caused by the carbon is extremely high.
 
I run carbon for clarity and have always done it without any issue. I've never had any issues with HLLE before and have kept multiple types of Tangs successfully for years. So is the main consensus now that carbon shouldn't be used? I always thought that the brs lignite was a good carbon. I am quite willing to change to ROX if that will help.
 
As I stated, I would only use well rinsed pelleted carbon in a setting where it won't grind off particulates and use a skimmer to remove whatever may still get released.

For clarity in a larger system I would probably rather use low levels of ozone in a skimmer. Though right now I just do excessive water changes.

Also, some fish seem to be more sensitive than others.
And there are vast differences in the quality of carbon - did you always use the same or buy whatever is available?
 
No I have always used lignite from BRS without any issues. This is a new reactor though as I upgraded tanks when I moved so it is possible that the velocity through the reactor is too high. It's now off and I'll keep it like that for a while with the hope that I will see a positive change in the yellow tang.
 
Just an update:
Since taking the carbon offline the Tang does not seem as skittish anymore and is generally more active. I haven't seen any improvements on the actual HLLE but I imagine that this will take some time.
 
I have done some research on it and from what I have read is Lignite has a lot of carbon fines/dust and this is a suspected cause of HLLE. Also from what I have read Lignite is also the softest for of carbon so it powders easily if tumbled in a reactor.

If I am wrong ThRoewer please correct me.
 
peiloy3196 said:
I have done some research on it and from what I have read is Lignite has a lot of carbon fines/dust and this is a suspected cause of HLLE. Also from what I have read Lignite is also the softest for of carbon so it powders easily if tumbled in a reactor.

If I am wrong ThRoewer please correct me.
Click to expand...

That's correct. I use BRS ROX 0.8 as it has excellent adsorption capacity and virtually no dust. Running a couple of gallons through the reactor rinses any residual dust. It costs more than Lignite or other carbon types, but it's worth it IMO.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/olwGTdnbpWE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
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