hippo tang

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Ok folks I need info on these fish. There on the bucket list and I was literally there today . One of the best looking hippos I've seen. Small about 2.5-3". But not a tiny. Supposedly captive raised.
The guy was very honest , hence why I didnt get it. Said they stress very easily, injury themselves the first few wks bc of being skittish. Hitting live rock, tank sides ect. Ich magnet iam aware of.
Now is the above true?
If I qt the little guy, w no issue will transfer into the big tank again cause stress w an ich out break?
To my knowledge if a tank is ich free its ich free. Unless introduced. All my tanks are disease free knock on wood, I want to keep it that way.
So give it to me peeps?
Relevant info, tank is between a 125-180. Fowlr. Tank is not set up yet its not even bought lol. Iam not terribly worried about this bc I will be putting my current filter cartridges from my other tanks in the new filter, also cured live rock, live sand ect I dont expect a major cycle if at all. However mr hippo will be in qt any way lol
 

geridoc

Well-Known Member
Hippo tangs are great fish. They will scare you by lying on their side wedged under a rock, but that's normal for them. Like all tangs, they are ich-susceptible, so a thorough quarantine procedure is a must. 2.5-3" is the minimum size I would ever consider. The small ones are cute, but have a zero survival rate. I prefer 3-4" for my hippos. Good luck!
 

jay0705

Well-Known Member
It could be a slight bit bigger iam bad at guessing lol. Thanks for the info geridoc. Tangs and ich always scared me, but I never had an issue w my yellow.
 

mauler

Active Member
There very shy I don't know about them hurting themselves but they will hide if your near the tank. I say go for it hippo tangs are great.
 
I been having my hippo for about 2 years I bought it really small about an inch had it in my 55 gal and have upgrade to a 185 gal tank and this fish is a monster he is about 4-5 inches in just 2 years and fat too they are great fish to have but yes quarientine is a must be carefull with pumps and they do get scared and hit rocks and pumps when really small .. they will eat anything you put in the tank so feeding is easy and once big they will sometimes nip at lps corals when they get hungry and he will move frags with his mouth. luckily you don't have corals
 

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Hmm, ill see what I can find. My normal qt is a 20, but iam setting up 29. Ill use that as his qt. There is no sand so if I have to medicate its easier
 
when I qt my tangs I just used a 5 gal bucket with main tank water and a small aquaclear filter, heat source and inside the bucket was some pvc pipes that he can hide in. its was very simple .. don't medicate until you really have too. after a few weeks once his better put him in the main tank and injoy. feed him some algea with garlic juice to get his immune up
 
yeah a bucket its was really small LOL I could tell he was healthy cuz when he got up to eat I could still see his skin and fins and eat everything in site I never needed to medicate. its funny because after a year when I upgraded my tank he got stressed and developed ick or maybe it was funges don't really know but it went allway on its own.
 
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