Purple Tang lateral line disease

[Chantelle Arrow]

Hey All

I bought this little fella yesterday from a fish store and it looks like he has hole in head and lateral line disease.

I’ve been doing lots of research as I want to get him right but if anyone has any suggestions on how I can help him get better that would be greatly appreciated.
He’s super bright and seems to be doing everything else normally so far.

Cheers guys

 

[threebuoys]

Regrettably, that does look like HLLE.

The fish should survive, but if it is HLLE, little can be done to reverse the pittings.

This article by @Jay Hemdal explains HLLE well.

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

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yes, heavy case of hlle and often caused by poor water quality and poor diet
Poor water quality can be that of LFS or elevated ammonia and nitrate
Some recommended foods are:
LRS herbivore diet
Small plankton
Spirulina mysis shrimp
Formula 2 frozen
TDO pellets
Seaweed basted with garlic extract

 

[theMeat]

Don’t run carbon, make sure the tank is grounded and on a gfci outlet, and quality diet. If the fish is young and you turn it around it could/should leave little to no scarring. Have turned it around a few times. Wish I knew with certainty whether the cause was stray voltage, carbon, or diet but I don’t, and don’t think anyone knows for sure, so just cover all bases. Of course poor water quality isn’t a good thing for the health of your livestock

 

[exnisstech]

Just try to feed it plenty of healthy foods. The scars will most likely not go away totally. I only say that because I have seen large adults with scarring. I suppose if it's very small maybe they will fade?
I hate seeing fish like this because it's so easy to prevent with decent husbandry and feeding well.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hey All

I bought this little fella yesterday from a fish store and it looks like he has hole in head and lateral line disease.

I’ve been doing lots of research as I want to get him right but if anyone has any suggestions on how I can help him get better that would be greatly appreciated.
He’s super bright and seems to be doing everything else normally so far.

Cheers guys

Yes, that’s HLLE. Purple tangs get it easily and rather soon in the supply chain - to the point where dealers discount the price on them.
Here is m y article on HLLE:

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

Jay

 

[twentyleagues]

I have seen a diet high in natural algaes and nori can reduce or in at least a few animals reverse the scaring. As long as the main cause is neutralized, typically like @Jay Hemdal points out in his article the use of carbon and lowering nitrates.

I have seen two purple tangs and a scopas like this become mostly scar free with proper diet. Fresh marine algaes, nori, flake and pellet food high in veg content and vitamin supplementation.

On a related but not reef note Oscars and other large south/central American cichlids also have issues with this usually thought to come from high nitrate/dirty water and virus that exponentially reproduce in the "less than" ideal water quality. I have taken in a few of these fish in the past with varying levels of "hole in the head". The damage was halted and in some cases reversed with pristine water conditions and proper nutrition. I fed gut loaded crickets, meal worms, and earth worms. The "bugs" were fed a diet of vegetables and fruits. The fish were fed about an hour after a good feed for the "bugs". Contrary to "popular" belief these fish are not piscivores by nature but insectivores.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I have seen a diet high in natural algaes and nori can reduce or in at least a few animals reverse the scaring. As long as the main cause is neutralized, typically like @Jay Hemdal points out in his article the use of carbon and lowering nitrates.

I have seen two purple tangs and a scopas like this become mostly scar free with proper diet. Fresh marine algaes, nori, flake and pellet food high in veg content and vitamin supplementation.

On a related but not reef note Oscars and other large south/central American cichlids also have issues with this usually thought to come from high nitrate/dirty water and virus that exponentially reproduce in the "less than" ideal water quality. I have taken in a few of these fish in the past with varying levels of "hole in the head". The damage was halted and in some cases reversed with pristine water conditions and proper nutrition. I fed gut loaded crickets, meal worms, and earth worms. The "bugs" were fed a diet of vegetables and fruits. The fish were fed about an hour after a good feed for the "bugs". Contrary to "popular" belief these fish are not piscivores by nature but insectivores.

Oddly enough, "HLLE" in freshwater fish (Discus, Oscars, etc.) is caused by an increase in a gut protozoan, Hexamita. I have no idea why a gut protozoan would cause head lesions, but dosing those fish with metronidazole helps, so does moving them to better conditions. For years, it was assumed that marine fish developed lesions due to the same gut protozoans, but that turned out not to be the case.

Jay

 

[Chantelle Arrow]

Hey All

I bought this little fella yesterday from a fish store and it looks like he has hole in head and lateral line disease.

I’ve been doing lots of research as I want to get him right but if anyone has any suggestions on how I can help him get better that would be greatly appreciated.
He’s super bright and seems to be doing everything else normally so far.

Cheers guys

Thank you all for your advice and taking the time to respond !

Super helpful I’ve got him on a good diet keeping stress levels to a minimum and staying on top of the water quality so hopefully he makes a full recovery

Take care