hippo tang and acne?

[e46er]

it looks like my hippo tang has acne...........still swimming strong eating good not flashing or anything he has been in a QT tank for about 6 weeks
anyone have any ideas what this is/? he didnt have it when i bought him.......
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z76/E46Maniac/IMG_2551.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z76/E46Maniac/IMG_2549.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z76/E46Maniac/IMG_2547.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z76/E46Maniac/IMG_2546.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z76/E46Maniac/IMG_2543.jpg

[banditpowdercoat]

Looks like scars from HLLE ??

[e46er]

ok after doing a quick google it says carbon may cause this or lack of a good diet or water changes....

thinking back it devolped as soon as i put carbon in the filter..........hes a picky eater and only seems to eat new life spectrum pellets.... hes in a 20G QT and i change 5 gal every 5-6 days so i cant see a lack of water changes being the cause

thanks for the quick reply!!

[christyf5]

try feeding nori, it may help

[e46er]

ive been trying to get him to eat nori since day 1 i tried it soaked in selcon soaked in garlic from a algae clip...........maybe ill try wrapping in on a small piece of PVC with an elastic band?

[christyf5]

yeah that might help, or try a different brand of nori. mine wouldn't eat it until he saw other fish eating it, now he guns it down like its going out of style

[e46er]

ok maybe thats an idea i just have to go to a different store coopers foods only had 1 kind of nori that wasnt flavored

[naesco]

That is what it is all right.
If your water conditions are excellent it could only be the food.
Algae is the food necessary for tangs except the hippo tang which is a meat eater.
It will heal but you need to feed it high quality foods like fortified mysis and the like.
Try some spirulina flakes both dipped with garlic/selcon and without.
Also try some broccoli in the microwave until it gets soft and float a branch of it in the tank.
Another possible cause is stray electricity and you can buy a ground in the lfs to deal with this.

[Leah]

I feed frozen plankton....you could try that

[fishoholic]

High nitrates can also cause this. What is your No3 reading?

[Doug]

I have also seen it from carbon. Many years ago a dusty carbon caused some lateral line in my sailfin. Talked with several experienced aquarists that had seen the same thing.

I stopped using that brand and went back to Black Diamond and never a problem again.

I also like the spirolina advice. IMO, best food there is for tangs in general. Esp. if they wont eat nori at the start. They will eventually figure out how to eat the nori.

And as mentioned soak the spirolina in something like Selcon or Boyds Vita-Chem

[e46er]

thanks for all the help and ideas everyone i just threw in some spriula tablets and she seemed to nibble at them


no3 is under 5 ppm

[Doug]

Try Ocean Nutrition Formula Two Flakes. A very good spirolina flake. I also like HBH Veggie Flake

[e46er]

I read that you should get him out of the tank he devolped HLLE in but tie the only tank I have apart from my display tank ...... Is this disease contagious or just individual fish

[christyf5]

IMO HLLE is a water condition/nutrition problem so its specific to certain fish, not to all fish and not contagious.