purple tang in copper developing HLLE

[geaux xman]

I got a 3" purple tang in ~.5ppm cupramine for 1.5 weeks now. Looks like he is developing HLLE. He certainly didnt have it when i bought him about 2 weeks ago.

I feed him x3/day mysis, flakes, nls pellets and nori.

will he recover? i'm going to do 3weeks of copper.

My LFS guy has 2 ~5" PT and i'm pretty sure he has copper in that big tank. those two PT has HLLE real bad.

[lhm nole]

Yes he will... my blueface and emperator gets hlle when I treat but goes away pretty fast when I remove it. And my tangs will also get a minor case of it

[MrTuskfish]

I've never heard of any relationship between copper and HLLE; but everything else seems to cause it for someone, so who knows. Activated carbon is the newest culprit, maybe. IMO & IME, there is no connection between copper and HLLE.

[lhm nole]

Originally Posted by MrTuskfish

I've never heard of any relationship between copper and HLLE; but everything else seems to cause it for someone, so who knows. Activated carbon is the newest culprit, maybe. IMO & IME, there is no connection between copper and HLLE.

I have seen it with my own eyes I have qt 3 different bf angels and 6 imperators and each one developed hlle in the 2nd
week of cupramine treatment starts with little pin holes around the eye region and then gets worse as treatment progresses after 4 weeks and the start of cu removal it starts to go away with no change in diet lightning etc.I have seen this with my own eyes and thought it was just a coincidence until it happened to me multiple times during cu treatment.

There are also people that have no issues using cupramine on flame angels and I have had no such luck.Too many unknowns in this hobby and I am lead to believe that everyones tank is different and there is still so much we do not know

[geaux xman]

I had a an adult blueface and emperor juvie in copper for 4 weeks. both got it lightly and the blueface still has it. they've only been in my DT for about 2 weeks though.

[MrTuskfish]

HLLE has been linked to so many things; from nutrition, water conditions, vitamin deficiency, stray voltage, activated copper, and now, maybe copper. I'm starting to think its a symptom, rather than a separate disease/condition. Who knows? The upside: its almost always reversible.

[Chris27]

In my experience, tangs generally don't do well when removed from a reef setting. Live rock and such provides hiding spots and food, and oftentimes when you remove them from that setting they can suffer.

I use copper on tangs, but generally only treat them for 2-3 weeks with ionic copper, any longer then that and their health starts going south.

Keep feeding well, and ensure the water is well oxygenated with an air pump or venturi on a powerhead. You should be able to get that fish back in a reef shortly.

[awais98]

Brought this old thread while searching
I have a purple tang in chelated copper and I see the exact same HLLE which ti didnt have before this.
Imm beginning to think, copper itself can cause this OR dirty water quality.

[JustinM]

I don’t think copper will directly cause HLLE but it could be a secondary effect of it possibly. Chelated copper is very easy on zebrasoma tangs.

Are you feeding him nori while in copper?

[Jdub968]

Keep wAter quality good while in cu and soak his food in vitamins yay can also dose vitamins to the tank water. This seems to be the recommendation of most people that deal with hlle.