White spots on yellow tang..ich?

[jmwils1]

This juvenile yellow tang was in quarantine for 4 weeks and showed no symptoms. It went into our DT that had been fallow for 6-7 weeks due to a presumed Brook outbreak that killed the prior occupants within 4 days of onset. At that time there was no sign of ich. The other current fish (firefish, 2 clowns) have no signs of disease and were similarly quarantined. The fire fish did have a scrape that we think was from a crab 2 weeks ago but it completely healed. We had an outbreak of what we thought was Dinos but turned out to be algae under a microscope. It was treated for 48 hours of blackout until we realized it wasn't Dinos. During this blackout period was when these spots appeared. I'm assuming it is ich but unfortunately will have to just manage it as our quarantine tanks are only 10 gallons and have other occupants at this time. Temp 76, Salinity 34.5, pH 8.25, All 10.5, Ca 480, Phos 0.15

 

[Zionas]

This is not ich but HLLE. Head and Lateral Line Erosion. Usually not fatal. How have you been treating and do you run carbon in the main tank?

Maintaining stable parameters and feeding it a good diet usually makes it go away.

 

[jmwils1]

Thanks! We just found it today when we took the covers off the tank and turned on lights. There is Red Sea reef spec carbon in the filter compartment (tank is a Red Sea max e260 aio). We’ve had Uv running until last night when we added Dino x. We haven’t treated the tang with anything as there is coral in the tank. We are using stress guard though.

 

[Zionas]

That could be a contributing factor to the HLLE though can’t day for sure. Maybe look into Stress Guard but I’m not too familiar.

 

[jmwils1]

I just read about hlle and the white lines and white around the eyes have been present since we got this fish. It’s captive bred and they all had this appearance in the store. There are 2 tiny white areas on the right side below the white line that are new. It may have hlle as well (just read an article that said it may be common in captive bred).

 

[Zionas]

Yes that’s true I think. Sometimes the scars will remain. Just take good care of it when it comes to water and feeding and it should be fine.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I just read about hlle and the white lines and white around the eyes have been present since we got this fish. It’s captive bred and they all had this appearance in the store. There are 2 tiny white areas on the right side below the white line that are new. It may have hlle as well (just read an article that said it may be common in captive bred).

The first captive raised yellow tangs suffered from epithelial thinning, related in appearance to HLLE, but with different causes (we think). A YT with true HLLE looks different, the lesions are actually yellow, and the fins erode.
That said, there are also those white spots below the lateral line, too large to be ich, could be bacterial, possibly viral.
Jay

 

[jmwils1]

Thanks Jay! To be clear you don’t think the tang has hlle or ich but instead has epithelial thinning and a bacterial or viral infection?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thanks Jay! To be clear you don’t think the tang has hlle or ich but instead has epithelial thinning and a bacterial or viral infection?

Yes - the white lines are epithelial thinning but the new spots could be bacterial or viral. The viral component could be Lmyphocystis and won't require treatment. If the spots grow larger or spread, they could be bacterial and that could require treatment.

Here is a link to an article I wrote about it when the tangs were first released to the public:

Captive-Bred Yellow Tangs - showing HLLE? - CORAL Magazine

I've seen photographs of wild Black Tangs, taken with flash photography, where they show what looks like classic HLLE lesions, but which is simply due to the camera flash.

www.reef2rainforest.com

Obviously, I missed the mark when I said I thought the lesions would resolve in time.....

Jay

 

[jmwils1]

Thanks Jay. This morning the spots seem unchanged but there is a new white patch on the dorsal fin. Would you suggest we remove him and prophylactically treat with Kanaplex/Metroplex? Or should we try feeding with Focus and these antibiotics. He seems to be behaving normally and eating well.

 

[jmwils1]

To update, we decided to just observe him and the areas seem to be healing. He’s continuing to act normally and eating well with food soaked in garlic and Selcon. We are continuing to use Seachem Stress Guard. We did remove the Red Sea Reefspec carbon. Happy new year!