Double your trouble

[Carman34L]

Ok, so I came home with my brother over at my house with a Purple tang acclimating in the sump....... He says happy birthday, my birthday is Oct. 12th mind you.... So I take a look at him and grimmace, I have a 29g tank. The tang is small about 3" long so its not a adult yet. thats the first problem. Second problem, around its eyes and stretching down its back it looks like its skin is falling off. AARRGGGHHHH, now what???

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/Carman34L/DSC00730.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/Carman34L/DSC00728.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/Carman34L/DSC00726.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/Carman34L/DSC00729.jpg

Any Idea?

[Dubbin1]

This is a simple fix. Take it back.

[joshinjosh]

major upgrade time! lol. I would like to second Dubbin1

[travis0712]

head lateral line erosion HLLE.

tangs are highly prone to it. trick is buying one that doesn't have it and only one that is 3" long.

but that doesn't help you now.

I reversed my blue tang, I bought it at just 1" long. It took 3 months.

1- feed veggie strips daily
2- make sure your nitrates are less than 30
3- feed spirulina enriched food in small amounts 3x daily
4- ecosystem reef solution

I might catch some flames from #4, but in my study, it was after providing the reef solution did I start to see rapid improvement. It contains all the vitamins, trace elements you need, minus calcium.

In two weeks you will see a world of difference. I also feed ocean nutrition's formula two pellet food for herbivores.

don't feed heavy, but often is the key. it helps to lower the stress.

[Carman34L]

hmm, brother bought it, I was already planning a much larger tank, so in two month he would have 120g of room, bought the tank, just in the middle of getting the stand etc.. now how do I fix the thing with the face.

[KDodds]

Third... take it back for a full credit, or better yet, make your brother do it. The "skin falling off" is HLLE, a condition that sometimes can be reversed and sometimes can't. While HLLE has been blamed on numerous things in the past (stray voltage), it really seems to be a combination of water quality (not close to NSW) and/or diet, with diet probably being more important than chasing actual parm numbers. For a PT, that would mean a need to increase the vegetable matter in its diet and fortify it with fatty acid and vitamin supplements. Personally, tho, I wouldn't attempt to "save" it, I'd be p'd as all heck and make whoever bought it return it. I'd probably also lecture them on the inappropriateness of buying a living creature they know nothing about as a gift for someone who may not even want it. You could be more tactful, of course, and say, "please don't buy me fish any more, if you want to give me a fish, get me a gift certificate and we can go shop for it together, and I may not buy anything the first, second, or even third time we go".

[Carman34L]

ok , i keep corals so my nitrates are always less than 10, i make sure of that, now veggie strips is there a brand or just veggie strips?

[travis0712]

veggie strips I use are from two little fishes, but you can also use nori at oriental grocery stores.

[Carman34L]

I already gave him that lecture, he is 20 years old and looking to get into the hobby so I dont want to lace into him that bad. But I have this fish, he said he bought from a store i have only been to once, and i dont know if they return live stock or not, some here do and some here dont, so i dont know. I love the fish, I would love to keep it to tranfer to my 120 in a month or so, active georgous fish

[travis0712]

they are awesome, I love them. I don't have a purple one yet though. I would keep it. The transfer back might end it's life... you can save it. more times than not, HLLE is not life threatening. Just work hard to provide ideal food and feed lightly 3 times per day, herbivore diet and soaking your frozen food in vitamins like zoe or ecosystem reef solution.

[travis0712]

when you see his belly getting thick (fat) then you are feeding enough, just make sure it's enough of the right herbivore foods. Also, make sure there aren't any other fish picking on it to induce more stress.

[Carman34L]

well, my saddleback female and the tang are trying to figure out who is going to run the tank....... i think the tang is winning, I am going to do my best to keep it, i already love this fish, i will do my best to feed it right.

[travis0712]

I have a blue hippo and a yello tang. the first 3 days were rough, but for the past two years they are now in love. they go everywhere together and even sleep in the same cave together.

[KDodds]

Okay, well, since you're going to have a go at it...

Nitrate, at this point, is the least of your worries. SG, pH, and Alk should be stable and around NSW parms, as should temp, at a stable base somewhere in the 78-86ºF range. Diet should consist of Nori (Dried, not Toasted, and Unseasoned) or other seaweeds, fortified with Selco and Zoe (or similar). Meaty foods are okay, as long as it's getting the bulk of its food in greens. You'll likely see a halt to the spread of HLLE well before you'll see any reversal. It can take months, or even years, for the condition to even start reversing and it may never reverse completely.

[Carman34L]

well, its time to get my feet wet, i will get nori, never used it before but i know where to get it, as far as selco and zoe, is that something that a LFS should stock?

[outy]

i used zoe soaked food to help a emporer angel get back and i beat it C vitamin helps alot water quality a must which you have. you may pull it off let us know

[Carman34L]

oh i will let you all know..
i will probably ask many questions again soon.

[KDodds]

If your LFS does not stock the supplements, most online fish supply retailers do.

[smiller]

Like stated above, HLLE can be easily cured in most cases. I cured a tang with a much worse case than yours a few years ago with daily carrot strips and Zoe soaked Seaweed Selects algae. Do a search for HLLE and you will get lots of great info.

Small tank or not, in this case I would keep it and try to cure the little guy. A trip back to the LFS and a sale to someone else coudld very likely mean a death sentence to him.