What do you use to cure/prevent HLLE?

[kevensquint]

My hippo has started it, and all things point to a lack of a good diet. According to fellow reefers, I have a few good choices on how to cure this. IYE, what is the best option, without poluting the tank too much (I have mostly SPS, and don't want a nitrate festival)

[Gary Majchrzak]

(IME and IMO) HILLE is often caused by more than simply a dietary deficiency, although diet plays a big part in it.
Paracanthurus hepatus (Dori :p ) is extremely apt to show signs of HILLE in captivity if all conditions are not optimum.
One obvious cause of the problem (ie: stress) is keeping a hippo tang in a small aquarium. You might get away with keeping a small specimen in a small aquarium for a few months, but they require a larger aquarium as they grow (and they should grow fairly rapidly in good conditions). Another problem might be high nitrates. Hippos do not tolerate poor water conditions well.

[kevensquint]

To get an idea of the size of my hippo, look with a magnifying glass in the center of my avatar.The 125 will be set up in febuary :), and I actually looked at the other possibilities before posting this. I have 0ppm nitrates and phos. I do weekly 15% WC's I run carbon 24/7 that I also switch out weekly with the WC and I have a ground probe in the display and another in the sump/fuge. All that said my Acros have shown me that my water quality is fine:D, so....probably the diet. I feed myses, brine shrimp, tetra color bits and romaine lettuce, pretty bad, I know. So along with perhaps an improved menu, I just wanted some advice on what food/vitamin reverses the HLLE. Thanks

[jjmatti]

Similar question but yet different.. How important is feeding your fish Selcon? I soaking different foods in it every other day and feeding this to the fish and they seemd to love it. BUT ..... It made my skimmer go dead.. Or at least this is what the manufacturer said. I was told stop using Selcon and Stress coat if I want the skimmer to pull out more. I stopped using those two additives and started using the Boyds food. So far so good.. But is it as good as Selcon?
Does anyone else have skimmer problems when adding these things?

[kevensquint]

I think I'll tery this in reef discussion

[buldog]

New Life Spectrum Pellets, Thera A and Fish Solution said on the bottle that they would cure the disease.

[Gary Majchrzak]

New Life Spectrum offers great products. Use them in a rotational diet with other high quality foods. :thumbsup:

FWIW, Steven Pro recently wrote an interesting article on HILLE in Reefkeeping online Magazine:


http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-06/sp/index.php