Tang with HLLE

[CMD26]

I'm trying to nurse a yellow tang back to health that I rescued from a well intentioned but uninformed friend. He's definately got HLLE which I'm pretty sure is from a poor diet. The guy that owned him only ever fed him frozen brine and I don't think he ever gave him veggies. My question is if I get him on a better diet with some vitamin soaked food and regular access to veggies is it possible to reverse the damage already caused or will he be permanently scarred? I read somewhere a while back that vitamin C can help with HLLE, does anyone know the truth of that?

Thanks =)

[Hara]

He may carry some scarring, but you can get it back to health. I have read about vitamin C as well, I cannot say from experience, but I do know you need to be careful using it. I would try the vitamin soaked food and nori on a clip. Keep the vegetable matter in front of it at all times until it recovers.

[melosu58]

I `ve also heard of Vitamin c but only from green vegatable matter. MRS Hara mentioned Nori which is good I fed mine some grape Calerpa which is High in Vit. C. I also fed mine some small clips of Broccli which are high in Vit . C. All these will bring him back to good health. I have had experience with this disease and these are what I fed mine mostly the Grape calerpa.

[CMD26]

Thanks for the advice. I hope I can get him back to good health. They're such pretty fish.

[CMD26]

Wanted to update...

Sad to say but I lost the fight. She died last night. =(
Ultimately I think it was probably the stress of the whole ordeal that killed her. When I got her she was already in pretty bad shape and the move and everything probably added insult to injury and ended up being more than she could handle. It's a shame these fish are so often labled as "good for beginners" when they really aren't. Their diet is relatively specialized even though it can be easily managed. The person that I rescued her from had the best of intentions at heart he was just ignorant to the needs of the fish.

[melosu58]

I`m sorry about your loss but I have to disagree about your assesement about the yellow tang. They are a good fish for starters and a pretty hardy fish at that. You just so happened to get yours at a bad time when he was beyond repair. They are not too hard to raise. Mine eats whatever the rest of the tank eats plus a little bit of calerpa or vegatable matter. Dont give up on the yellow tang because of one bad experience that you could not control. Again I`m sorry and have a good day.

[CMD26]

I haven't given up on the yellow tang. My issue comes with them being labled a beginners fish by LFS and not telling the beginners about proper husbandry. In a new tank there might not be enough residual greenery for them to feed on and it is neccessary to suplement them with veggies. The person that i rescued this fish from was never educated by those that sold it to him. He thought it was an "easy" fish and I don't neccessarily think they are.