Zebrasoma desjardini - Spot ID?

[TheRealRuk]

My Zebrasoma desjardini has developed spots above both eyes... The article on HLLE and carbon had me thinking, but there is no other markings on him but the two in the exact same place on each side... He just started changing colors a couple months ago, and is notably more stressed... No new fish additions... I have a 150G but it is a 36" cube. I was stating to think about finding him a new home before he outgrows the tank, but then he got the spots... He really is a beautiful fish. What do you guys think? I did post in the fish disease forum as well... Good pic is from January of this year with clearly no spots.

Matt

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

beautiful fish!

beautiful fish!

difficult to say for sure if it's hlle from here.

Symmetrical/bilateral (whatever you call it!) markings usually indicate it's not hlle... but to me.... it does look like hlle.

 

[5380]

How closely did the markings coincide with the color change of the fish overall?

 

[TheRealRuk]

How closely did the markings coincide with the color change of the fish overall?

Went back through my pictures... He started to really change color around mid February, I can start to see the marks mid-late April (in the pictures). I attached a pick of him (so you can see him white) with the first mark I can see in my pictures, taken on April 30th. You can just barely make a mark out above his right eye. The other spots was something in the water... He'll change white with orange stripes to black with purple stripes in seconds..

 

[TheRealRuk]

Hlle!

I walked down stairs to set up my summer fan and a whole sequence of events was triggered when I looked at my skimmer cup"¦ My skimmer cup was black"¦ It's been black off an on for a couple months now. I thought it was because of a huge turbo snail that died, and then I thought it was because one of my wrass' went missing and died. Then I thought about when the wrass started having problems, with when the sailfin started having problems, to when I switched my carbon, until then I was getting my carbon from the LFS. I bought a bunch of carbon last group buy we did and changed it up around February-March! Until I read (skimmed) the Coral mag article on HLLE & Carbon, I had no idea, and certainly wasn't rinsing my carbon as much as I could have been.

I pulled out my carbon last night, and will go from there"¦ Thoughts on not running carbon for a while (how long)? Switching to something different (whats everyone using)? Does anyone not run carbon?

 

[Paradiddle7]

Make sure when you run carbon that the particles aren't moving and boiling. I use the BRS reactors and I sandwich the carbon in between foam pads at the TOP of the canister. This prevents them from moving too much. I rinse the carbon in a fine metal sieve with tap water briefly with not too hard of a flow so I don't make more dust. Then I assemble the cartridge and run either old tank water (from a water change) or RODI through it. I just rinse with tap water until the water is clear, then I wash it with RODI.

 

[tmz]

Extra sponge top and bottom in the Two Little Fishes reactor works for me. Rinsing to remove dust is important.
FWIW use Rox8 carbon from BRS and have run it 24/7 for years. I have tangs and rabbit fish in the system. Some are 8 years old. None have HHLE. Rox cost more but you use a little less; 1/3 cup per 50 gallons of system water with a monthly change out vs 1/2 cup per 50 gallon for standard carbons. It has less dust and doesn't grind up like softer carbon.

 

[Paradiddle7]

Yeha, I use the ROX 0.8 Carbon from BRS. The dust washes out in a matter of seconds. I also have a rabbit fish and tangs and have never had a problem.

 

[TheRealRuk]

ROX 0.8 Carbon from BRS

Seams to be the weapon of choice. Same response from the fish/disease forum.

Do we think I should not run carbon for a couple weeks, or just switch to the ROX.8?

F/S - 5 Gallons - 15 Pounds Bulk Lignite Aquarium Carbon -> Cheap... Don't scroll up...

 

[tmz]

FWIW I'd rinse it thoroughly and just switch.

I think the potential HHLE issue is from dust which irritates the skin or messes with the slime coat and not the water chemistry . The Coral Magazine article was overstated as a "smoking gun" ,in my opinion, as unusually large amounts of soft, dusty , unrinsed lignite were used . It did serve as a reminder that dust should be rinsed out before use. It did not,however, offer any insight as to why fish swimming in lots of carbon dust developed HHLE.

Leaving it without carbon for a week or two probably won't harm anything depending on the amount organics in your tank.,if that's your preference.

Granulated activated carbon adsorbs some organic compounds ( mostly hydrophohic types) . Perhaps, the dust settles on a fish and becomes a site for organics to accumulate , be colonized by microorganisms partial to the organics and the ensuing bacterial activity as they breakdown the organics spurs the lesions.

 

[TheRealRuk]

It'll take a few days for the new carbon to come in, then I'll try just switching it out. FWIW I did rinse until there was no visible dust. However, I don't believe I had the reactor set up so the particles couldn't boil around at the top.

If I remember, I'll repost how the lesions are doing in a month or so.

Thx Guys!

Matt

 

[reefboarder]

Sorry to steal your thread. tmz how are you rinsing your carbon? tap water, rodi, fresh saltwater. also do you run gfo? if so can the same rinsing method be used?

 

[tmz]

I rinse the Rox8 carbon in the reactor by running a couple of gallons of water through it into a buckett. I change 6 gallons of water a day so this is an easy way. I rinse HC gfo( low in dust and sturdy) the same way.Regenerated gfo needs no rinsing.
I also use some carbon in a canister filter in loosely filled fine mesh bags . I rinse these under the tap; ro would be a little better but I'm lazy about it.

 

[reefboarder]

THank you for the info tmz, I have plenty of water for changes so changing an extra gallon or two to rinse my gfo is not such a bad thing.