Blue hippo tang

J

johnd185

Guest
so today when i came home my uncle had bought a blue hippo tang( i was so not ready
)
what do i need to take care of him?
any personal expirience to share?
please






that guys fast
anyone see anything worng with him?
 
S

saltman23

Guest
They are ich magenets.
I got mine and it was about the size of yours and died of ich in 4 days. (just my personal experience)
they need alot of greens and grow to be 12 inches. Your 55 will not big enough long term.
One of the less hardy tangs IMO
 
culp

culp

Active Member
i had two. the first one i bought was a little 4 inch one and it died before making it out of QT. than i bought a larger 7 1/2 hippo and i still have it. mine loves large pellets, and seaweed.
and it looks like from your picture that you did not put the hippo in QT.
 
culp

culp

Active Member
and with your pictures even though not vary clear. i still did not see any thing wrong.
 
J

johnd185

Guest
yea my uncle bought him on a whim
hes 40 and yet he still loves fish
and none of my tank are long term
i usually upgrade every other year
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by alh
http:///forum/post/2869004
What does age have to do with it?
In that case, it doesn't. Hippos that are very small, an inch or two, have a tougher time adapting than a larger fish that is already pretty healthy. It isn't that these fish are not hardy, they just stress easily and are prone to have ich on them.
 
m0nk

m0nk

Active Member
I would highly recommend you put this fish in a bigger tank asap. Juvenile tangs have a high mortality rate, especially hippo tangs. They're more susceptible to stress and could likely either break out with ich or HLLE in a 55g tank. They need high levels of dissolved oxygen to begin with, which means high flow levels. If you can't get it into a new tank asap, I wouldn't recommend leaving it in a 55g for more than 6 months and make sure you feed with algae sheet supplements regularly, soak your regular food in vitamins and chopped fresh garlic, and watch your nitrate levels. They have a higher bioload, especially when eating well, so tanks with tangs have a tendency to get nitrate buildup quicker.
 
oceanlover

oceanlover

Member
I have a blue hippo tang too. Mine has never had ick. (I don't suppose the tang went into QT before he went into your tank? That is something you really need o start doing.)
Since the tang is there already, I would leave him alone so he can acclimate to the tank. Watch to be sure no one picks on him. Feed him good quality fish foods, including some vegetarian foods too. My tangs like seaweed clipped to the tank each day. Its like candy to them.
I do water changes every two weeks so I have never had any mitrate level problems.
 
nina&noah

nina&noah

Member
I have a blue hippo in my 90 gallon. I didn't quaranteen him either (not promoting it, just talking about my experience). I got him as a really tiny little guy. He did get ich in my tank. I wasn't all that surprised because I had already had ich in my DT before. (Someone else set up my tank and added fish, before I actually learned what I was doing.) My suggestion to help you and the tang try to keep the ich away is to start adding fresh chopped garlic to his food NOW. I fed my tang mysis with garlic and also seaweed strips soaked in vitamins. He got rid of the ich (its been over 8 months) and is now living happily. I know that garlic and vitamins are not a cure for ich, but if you can build up his immune system you can help him avoid ich.
Again, I'm not promoting not quaranteening, but what's done, is done. I hope you are as lucky as I was!
 
sean48183

sean48183

Member
Don't worry your little guy will be fine. At some point he will need larger then a 55g but it will take a while as with all saltwater fish they are slow growers. Mine has never had ich either and I added an emporer that turned out to have every parasite known to mankind. I find these guys to be well adapted to aquarium life unlike many other tangs because of there varied diet and the nutrition they absorb from almost everything(Unlike my naso who if not fed turnip greens once to two times a day gets a pinched belly no matter how much other things he eats.). Like ocean lover said feed seaweed once a day everyday for optimal nutriotion. I feed my tangs turnip greens because they are loaded with nutrition and easy to digest but cause quicker growth so I wouldn't advise it for your 55g.
 
geek

geek

New Member
I got a BH Tang about 2 months ago, because my wife has always wanted one, but we never got one since I was leary of ich. While on my way home from being out of town for a few days, I dropped by the LFS (2 hours away) on my way home since it was on my way, and decided to get one for her. I watched all 7 of the BH Tangs that they had there for over an hour and a half, and even them I asked the store owner to feed the one I picked out before I said that I would take him. He's been doing wonderful since I brought him home. He was fish #7 in a 220 gallon tank (he was in my 75 gallon QT for 2 weeks) that I built into our bedroom wall. Today, I am adding fish # 8 & 9, a green mandarin dragonet, and a flame angel, that my oldest son bought for us for an early X-mas present since we don't get to the LFS very often because of the distance. The BH Tang has definately brought a lot of color to the tank, and he has a great personality. Oh, and I agree, they are a pain to get a decent picture of as they never stay still long enough. Good luck with yours.

 
sean48183

sean48183

Member
For your size tank geek I would definately advise turnip greens to spur growth. My Naso and blue really exploded when I started using these.
 
pastor b.

pastor b.

Member
Dear hobbyist,its always wise to place your new fish in quarantine before placing it into your show tank,this will prevent the introduction of unseen parasites into the main tank,which could infect the other fish. Since the Ht is already in your main tank, place some garlic onto its food,and give it greens (sea weed and spiralina ) each day. Hippo's grow fast and need plenty of swimming room. Enjoy the hobby .
 
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