blue hippo tang...

[badkharma]

Does anyone have any experience with this fish (Blue Hippo Tang)?? It's very beautiful and one of the easier tangs to take care of - so I've heard...anybody have/had one?

 

[snakes'n'fish]

I would not say these are easy. I have had one. Everything was good in the tank and it had been set up for a year. The tang didn't last a week, he never even started eating. Make sure it is eating well at the LFS and what they are feeding. From other peoples experiences they are very sensitive and it will take time for them to adjust to a new system.
If you are looking for an easyier tang consider a yellow, they are very hardy. But as with all tangs they need room to swim.

 

[cgr]

I think everyone has or has had a hippo. They are great fish with great personalities. They do need lots of room to get around. I have one in my 120G and I truly enjoy it.
They are tough but like other fish you most provide a clean and healthy environment.

 

[cincyreefer]

I don't think blue tangs are very difficult to keep. They may not be as hardy as a damsel, but given good water quality and purchasing a healthy specimen, I have found them to be one of the easier fish to keep. Just make sure they are given plenty of greens and have plenty of cover in the tank.

 

[bdhough]

Swimming room, and lots to eat will keep one happy.
Make sure you can quarentine them. They and the powder tangs are notorious for the "but he didn't have ich at the LFS" problem

 

[terminus est]

Given plenty of space, 100g minimum and good water quality they arent bad. The space thing is the killer, if they dont have room to swim alot they get stresses and die pretty easily. I dont think there is such a thing as a hardy tang although yellows and koles make a good try at it.

 

[royalshrimp]

how about a blue tang in a 75? some websights say a 70 gallon is a minimum.

 

[steve40]

In my experience they are not that hard to keep. If you put it in a 75 I dont see any reason it wouldnt be alright, but once it gets big it will appear to be crammed. When I had one in my 125 it takes up so much space that it just looks unbalanced. Guess its your own personal preference though. If you got one that was still 4-5 inches it might look pretty good in a 75 or so.

 

[terminus est]

would be ok in a 75 for a little while, but remember these things get a foot long and like massive space to swim or it will stress out and bad things will happen. So yes when it is still 4 or 5 inches it will be ok, however tangs grow pretty fast so that wont last long. BTW were these sites that said they would be ok in a 70 you saw commercial sites? If so, toss that info out the window, commercial sites will put anything up in order to sell products, not even this site is safe from misinformation which is why you should listen to forums like these to make your decisions and not theirs.

 

[royalshrimp]

thanks terminous, i'll reconsider the tang