Blue Hippo HELP!

[bunnyl99]

I added a blue hippo to my 125gal folr tank yesterday. It's about 2-3inches long. Acclimated for 3 hours. Seemed ok last evening swimming around. Late last night, it went into a very small hole in the live rock & hasn't moved since. All I can see is the tail end on it. Has 3 tiny white spots on it. Stressed fish or ick?? Help me :help: :help:

 

[angrycrab]

Not sure what to tell you, I did the acclimation with mine and he hid for 2 days, but game out iwth no ick and has been a happy healthy fish for the last 2 months. I can tellyou if you see white spots, things arent good, they do get ick easily.

 

[bunnyl99]

I didn't put him in my 20 gal QT tank cause the LFS said he would stress out. I hope this will pass. It has taken me so long to get my tank where I wanted it to be

. I still have the lights off. Nobody is bothering him either. Don't know why he would stress :notsure:

 

[dmjordan]

Originally Posted by bunnyl99
Don't know why he would stress :notsure:
In the past couple of days your fish was taken from the ocean, bagged and mailed to a store, put into their tank for probably 1 - 2 days, caught with a net and bagged again to go home with you, acclimated and placed into yet another new environment that (if he makes it) will become his home.
Not trying to flame or anything but your fish has been through alot in the past couple of days.
IMO you should always QT new fish. I'm sure the tank at the lfs was probably not bigger than a 20 gal.
Hobbyist invest alot of time, money and effort to get their tanks right, but yet we ignore taking the necessary precautions to prevent mishaps that can crash our systems.

Try to get him/her out and put the fish into your QT tank.

 

[bunnyl99]

It was in a 75 gal at the store. Didn't QT him cause they told me 20 gal tank was too small & he'd definetly stress out. Everytime I walk in the room it goes into a small crevace in the live rock. He'll go crazy if I try to net him. Don't know what to do???

 

[bunnyl99]

Being as still as I can be in front of the tank for 1/2 hr I noticed only on it's right fin there are little white spots about 3 of them?

 

[anonome]

He may be just fine, however, hippo's in general do hide. This in it's self is not alarming me. What does is the fact he wasn't quarantined. They are easily stressed, and are ick magnets. I quarantined my tangs--kole, hippo, and powder blue, in a 30 gallon, hyposalinity, for 3 weeks. Slowly raise the water back up to 1.024/25 and then release them into the main tank. They are fat, happy and well adjusted in my 125g. Yes, they can get stressed in a 20 gallon, but if you hypo the water to 1.009 you will ultimately drive the ick out, and the ick will die. Quarantining also allows you to make sure that they are eating well, before putting them in a tank that the others may be territorial about. I am not flaming you, I want you to succeed. Please try to catch him, and quarantine him.

 

[ghettotang]

Hey that blue hippo is okay because when I bought mine for the first time it took about three weeks before the tang comes out and swim around. And also it took a while for me to actcually feed the the blue tang. Yes blue tang tend to stress and it's normal for them to have white spot. Do you have UV sterilizer this will help you prevent from having disease lick ich.

 

[bunnyl99]

Never had the need for a UV sterilizer due to the fact I use RO DI water. I do have a diatom that filters down to 1 micron. Maybe I should run that on my tank just to be sure. Thanks for not flaming me---I've seen many people on these boards get flamed & I think it's downright mean

 

[lion_crazz]

The most important thing at this time since you do not want to stress him anymore is whether the fish is eating or not. Is the hippo eating? If so, what are you feeding and are you using garlic and vitamins?

 

[wilsonreef]

i have one too. They are by nature very timid fish. Give it a few days to get adjusted. since the fish is already in your display tank I'd probably leave it alone. I may get flamed for this but it has been through enough as it is. And if it's got ick the damage is done by putting it in the tank. Just give it a few days and see what happens. My Bllue Hippo gets white spots on it every so often and goes away within a couple of days. I don't think it's ick. like I said it's been stressed enough let it alone for a while and get acclimated to its new surroundings.

 

[bunnyl99]

Last night I fed Formula 2 pellets w/garlic. This morning I fed formula 1 soaked in garlic extreme. Looks like it ate 1 bite this morning. I think I'll try frozen mysis shrimp tonight. I really appreciate everyone's help here! You guys are great!

 

[zanoshanox]

It's good that you are giving him a wade-reanged diet at this time, as it is always essentail to the fish's health, but especially right now. Hopefully you can find something he likes and get him eating everything, because that will help him to stay healthy, and not become stressed due to starvation. I would definetly recomend a QT run also.

 

[bunnyl99]

I have one as noted above, but followed the advice of the LFS. They said he would stress out in the 20 gal tank

 

[seannmelly]

ours just hid and didnt eat for like a week.now hes eats everything we give him and swims all over. just give him some time to get used to his new home.

 

[dexter]

I QT'd my Hippo for only a week after purchasing and wished I had done the full 3-4 weeks.
After I put her into my main tank, she hid for a day or two, then was out swimming and owning hte tank, however, I noticed 1 white spot on her. then the next day it was gone. i thought my cleaner shrimp had take care of it until the white spots became 2 then 4 then 8 and when there was one on her eye, I did it. Took out 125# of my 150# of LR and caught her and put her back in my QT.
It's a 10 gallon QT with black on the sides, small filter and a large PVC pipe for her to hide. The slainity has been at 1.009 for 1 week now and I can see th ICH fading away. She is eating well, and getting better each day. Hopefully in 2-3 weeks she will be back home!

Morale of the story - QT everything before you put it in your main tank. My QT cost me about $40.00 and in my mind is a necessity.

IMO - make the commitment this weekend and set up a QT, take out your LR and put in bins with tank water, and get your Hippo into the QT.
The choice is ultimately yours. Good luck with your decision and keep us posted!
Attached is my recovering Hippo.
Dxtr

 

[bunnyl99]

Beautiful!! It's hiding in the LR like really bad. Wondering if it will stress more if I try to catch it now.

 

[dexter]

Is she eating and swimming around when you are not in front of the tank. My hippo in QT actually still takes food from my hand. :happyfish
Keep close eyes on her, and make the call if necessary. It is a 3 day weekend, so hopefully you have the time if you do try and get her out.
It took me about 1 hour to get mine back out of my 100 gallon when I did it.
Oh yea - check out the Disease forum here and read up on Beth's posts about treating ICH if you do get her back into QT.

Dxtr

 

[ghettotang]

I think it's a great idea to use RO water when changing or tapping the water in your tank, but I think if you have UV it might help you out a lot. And don't catch him because if you do you might stress him a lot.

 

[bunnyl99]

Well---Couldn't get her out of the tank so I bought some kick ich & am trying that. Also noticing my cleaner shrimp cleaning it. I hope this all pans out. Crossing my fingers!