Carbon causes HLLE disease

[rayray]

May 6, 2011

The cause of this disease is usually chalked up to generally poor water quality or stray electric currents, but now...

Some public aquariums suspected the dust from soft, activated lignite carbon causes Head and Lateral Line Erosion disease (HLLE). So they did a peer-reviewed study with some fish aquaculture folks and claim to have found "the smoking gun." This means other "experts" in the field have read the study and find the study methods acceptable (more than just 1 guy's opinion).

Almost everyone with a reef uses carbon. Personally, I have used almost every type of carbon and have never had HLLE disease in my tanks...

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blo...ted-in-inducing-head-and-lateral-line-erosion

http://www.coralmagazine-us.com/content/activated-carbon-hlle-smoking-gun-found

 

[Octoman4]

wow crazy, i have used carbon in every tank i have ever had and never had a problem with HLLE... I do know that grasalaria can help cure HLLE but i didnt know carbon dust is a culprit... i guess since i "wash" my carbon before i use it i wouldnt see a problem

 

[wickedfish]

From what I have seen it seems some fish get it more easily. The blue pacific tang (hippo) seems to get the markings pretty easily in aquariums.

 

[Factorybacking_05]

My blue Hippo Tang has developed this, and it seems to have happened after I started running carbon 2 months ago. I will take some photos, and also stop running the carbon for awhile to see if it heals.

 

[IEreefmaster]

Ya hippo tangs are notorious for having head erosion. I have seen several tangs with this problem.

 

[rayray]

Yeah, who hasnt been to a fish store and not seen tangs with HLLE disease?


Like other reefers, I use carbon to clarify the water so the tank looks more pleasant, so that more light gets to the corals, and just in case it pulls out toxins...

I would suggest aquarists use high quality carbon, rinse it really well, and run a protein skimmer to pull out carbon dust.

I find it interesting the mechanism of injury by carbon remains elusive:

"no carbon fines (dust particles) were seen in the histological examinations of the lesions of the study fish. This means that the dust causing the effect is either fleeting, the fines were too small for the histologist to see, or that there is some other factor associated with carbon use that causes HLLE in susceptible fishes..."

But the fish also had internal injuries...

 

[gumbii]

lame repost...

http://www.socalireefs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19176

 

[wickedfish]

lame repost...

http://www.socalireefs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19176

Either Way: Its one of the better discussions on the forum lately.

Well, pertaining to something that we may be able to prevent the ugly harm it does to the fish we keep.

Now that I am Lawrence part deux, I have no fish to worry about. Rip "your my boy blue!"

 

[Reefer08]

I strongly do not believe carbon has any relation to HLLE. I've always ran a lot of carbon in my tanks and never encountered HLLE on my tangs. It could also be because I keep them healthy and well fed? Their are many variables. But from all my research HLLE is caused by poor water conditions and poor nutrition for the fish.

If you guys have the time Bob Fenner has some great answers about HLLE:


http://www.wetwebmedia.com/HLLESWCauseF.htm

 

[rayray]

Bob Fenner is certainly an authority in this field, but the new published finding is an experiement with appropriate controls. If you read it at the end it does say controlling for feeding/nutrition was the hardest part of the experiment.

There is room for disagreement as in any intelligent discussion. But remember in the scientific world experiemental findings that are reproducible rank higher in the evidence scale than expert opnion.

Reefer08, why not setup your own expeirment and publish it? It would be a valuable contribution.

Tons of carbon is sold yearly to the aquarium trade and to fish aquaculturies. A lot of the world relies on aquacultured fish for staple food. So this is an important report.

 

[gumbii]

does the study say how long the carbon was in there...? most crappy carbon leeches stuff back into the water column... that's probably what really causes it... they say that the wack carbon causes the disease anyways... that's probably why...


anyways, i didn't use carbon for years... i used it like a year ago, and haven't since... meow...

 

[Flame_Angle]

I used carbon on and off but never experience any of my fishes got HLLE.

 

[gumbii]

i got HLLE before on some wild severums in the past... didn't use carbon at all on that setup...