Help! Scopas tang fins eroding and scales falling off

[insanelogic]

I have a scopas tang that I got about 2 years ago and ever since then his fins have been eroding, I’ve tried pimafix, melafix, prazipro, copper power, vitamin supplements, none of those work. All the tank specs seem to be on point, all the other fish are happy and healthy, I feed him nori, plankton, pellet food, mysis shrimp, and brine shrimp. he eats everything but the brine shrimp. His fins are getting really bad now and he’s losing scales, I’m scared it’s going to get so bad that he dies, thank you to everyone that helps out!

 

[SaltyT]

This looks like it could be a severe case of lateral line erosion. Let's call in the expert @Jay Hemdal

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

Is your Aquarium Water Grounded? If it is, could you move your ground to an independent grounding rod or have an electrician check your grounds and neutral, at the breaker panel?

 

[insanelogic]

Is your Aquarium Water Grounded? If it is, could you move your ground to an independent grounding rod or have an electrician check your grounds and neutral, at the breaker panel?

No, it is not grounded, is that something that wouldn’t affect the other fish? None of the others have any problems, just the tang.

 

[insanelogic]

Is your Aquarium Water Grounded? If it is, could you move your ground to an independent grounding rod or have an electrician check your grounds and neutral, at the breaker panel?

Okay I put my voltage tester in the water and it’s about 6 volts! I never even thought to put a ground in it, I found the source of it was the heater so I unplugged that for now and I’ll get a ground probe, that’s a very plausible source of all the problems, thank you so much for mentioning that!

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

Tangs seem to be extra sensitive to stray voltages. Also extra sensitive to certain chemicals. They tiled my basement floor and had to use a primer on the floor. Noticed my Yellow Tang was having problems, and none of the other fish or corals were having problems. I quickly put every air pump I had outside and pumped air into the tank. He recovered, told them if they had to use the primer again to tell me. Well they used it without telling me and I lost him.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I have a scopas tang that I got about 2 years ago and ever since then his fins have been eroding, I’ve tried pimafix, melafix, prazipro, copper power, vitamin supplements, none of those work. All the tank specs seem to be on point, all the other fish are happy and healthy, I feed him nori, plankton, pellet food, mysis shrimp, and brine shrimp. he eats everything but the brine shrimp. His fins are getting really bad now and he’s losing scales, I’m scared it’s going to get so bad that he dies, thank you to everyone that helps out!

Sorry, that is a really bad case of HLLE, head and lateral line erosion. It isn’t reversible when it reaches this point.
Carbon filtration has been implicated in causing this in tangs.
Jay

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Okay I put my voltage tester in the water and it’s about 6 volts! I never even thought to put a ground in it, I found the source of it was the heater so I unplugged that for now and I’ll get a ground probe, that’s a very plausible source of all the problems, thank you so much for mentioning that!

Actually, stray voltage has been ruled out as a cause of HLLE.
Jay

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

Ruled out by who?

Actually, stray voltage has been ruled out as a cause of HLLE.
Jay

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Ruled out by who?

By me! (grin). I devoted a decade to researching this topic. Unless something has come out since 2013, this is a red herring.

I did extensive testing and found zero correlation between stray voltage and HLLE. Likewise, the early vitamin C connection was also ruled out, as was the possible viral component. In addition to carbon usage, the other other causes that haven't been fully ruled out include dietary issues and "general stress".

The Role of Activated Lignite Carbon in the Development of Head and Lateral Line Erosion in the Ocean Surgeon

Head and lateral line erosion (HLLE) is an acute or chronic, often progressive problem affecting captive fishes. Its etiology is enigmatic. This study examined the relationship between the use of ...

www.tandfonline.com

Head and Lateral Line Erosion (HLLE)

This article discusses studies performed regarding head and lateral line erosion in captive fishes. Specifically, carbon use and nutrition as they relate to this syndrome.

www.reef2reef.com

HLLE Survey Results

A chevron tang with HLLE on its left side only, right side was clear of symptoms In preparation for a research project on Head and Lateral Line Erosion (HLLE) in fishes, I undertook a quick survey of 100 intermediate to...

microcosmaqx.typepad.com

Jay

 

[insanelogic]

Sorry, that is a really bad case of HLLE, head and lateral line erosion. It isn’t reversible when it reaches this point.
Carbon filtration has been implicated in causing this in tangs.
Jay

There is no carbon in this tank. I’ve tried so many different things, I’m not really trying to completely reverse it just stop it

 

[Sean Clark]

From what I have seen stable water and lots of quality food/nutrition is the path to recovery of HLLE. I am not an expert.

 

[insanelogic]

Tangs seem to be extra sensitive to stray voltages. Also extra sensitive to certain chemicals. They tiled my basement floor and had to use a primer on the floor. Noticed my Yellow Tang was having problems, and none of the other fish or corals were having problems. I quickly put every air pump I had outside and pumped air into the tank. He recovered, told them if they had to use the primer again to tell me. Well they used it without telling me and I lost him.

Ah I’m sorry to hear that but thanks for letting me know. Stray voltage is one of the last things that makes sense, I don’t really believe it is a parasite or disease as the medications would have taken care of that. All the fish “specialists” around me have no clue what it is, they just keep saying put copper in the tank, the R2R community always seems to have more ideas and knowledge, anyways sorry for my rambling but thank you!

 

[insanelogic]

From what I have seen stable water and lots of quality food/nutrition is the path to recovery of HLLE. I am not an expert.

Alright good to know, I’ve been feeding slightly over the recommended amount to try and keep him healthy so hopefully that helps if I can find out what’s happening and stop it, I’m getting a grounding probe and hopefully that helps

 

[insanelogic]

From what I have seen stable water and lots of quality food/nutrition is the path to recovery of HLLE. I am not an expert.

More quality food and less of the pellets*

 

[JumboShrimp]

I’ve had a Yellow Tang in my 150 FOWLR for about a year now and (so far) he looks perfect; but I refuse to run carbon in the tank. Previously I had a YT in a tank where I did use carbon... HLLE. Just sayin’ .

 

[insanelogic]

I’ve had a Yellow Tang in my 150 FOWLR for about a year now and (so far) he looks perfect; but I refuse to run carbon in the tank. Previously I had a YT in a tank where I did use carbon... HLLE. Just sayin’ .

Alright thanks! i had some carbon in there about 18 months ago I think it was but that’s long gone. All the water has been replaced since and he’s still getting worse and worse

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Bad water conditions?
-d

 

[insanelogic]

I don’t believe so unless my test lies

 

[Sean Clark]

More quality food and less of the pellets*

Well I guess I would say quality balanced food.
Not all types of foods can be lumped into good or bad. Not all pellets are created equal. I feed a lot of pellet foods and I believe that they are quality, I also feed a mix of frozen flake and nori. My fish love it all so I give them all of it.

I would never suggest that someone not feed one type of food over another or suggest that any particular type of food is not as good.

I let my fish tell me that. Not very scientific I know.

Hopefully with a healthy infusion of nutrition this tang can bounce back. From my experience it does take some time.