I DID SOME RESCUING TODAY!!

[fangelillo01]

So I went to my friends pet store orginally just to buy some stupid stuff. Anyway he had these two blue hippos that DID NOT LOOK GOOD!! So i say dude you gotta move them they are getting picked on by a copper banded and some kinda angel. So he says if you wanna try and help them back to health take them. It isnt any ich or any disease (I HOPE!!!) It looks like the copper banded and other angel were nipping the poor things horrible. I love the guy to death but i had to do it. So now i have TWO small hippos that i have to help. HOW DO I POST PICS!!! so once they are outta the qt i can get some advice?? he said the one prob wont make it but the other maybe i hate to see things die

 

[jstdv8]

probably best to get them set up in the qt make sure everything is set good, you have good surface aggitation, temp and PH are set and then just leave it alone for as long as you can stand it. The less they see you to begin with the better off they will be. tangs in particular seem to be pretty shy at first and thats not going to help if they are on thier death beds. I wouldnt force food or activity. Hopefully they arent picking on each other.

 

[jtt]

Honestly, if it were me, I'd leave the fish there. Irresponsible owners like that need to learn the hard way. I once found a big 6 inch hippo tang in an 8 gallon tank at a *****, it was obviously stressed out, so I bought it and took it to a lfs to care for it properly. 2 days later ***** had another one, in the same tank. All they care about is getting their money. I reckon its better for the fish to die and them learn the hard way not to treat fish poorly, rather than have someone like you come in and save the animal and then they learn nothing.

 

[jstdv8]

I agree with JTT on everything except the fact it was your friend and it was free. So he lost his money either way on this one.

 

[flower]

If both these fish make it…you can only have one per tank, and it must be a big tank at that. I personally only bring home healthy specimens that I went looking for and done my homework on. These are not kittens and puppies. Now your QT is tied up with two fish you don’t even really want.
I understand your compassion, once my sister and brother in law went fishing and caught cat fish. They came in the house and held the poor things up on a rope to show their catch and then placed them in the kitchen sink.
Two hours later I went to the kitchen and happened to look in the sink, there was only a tiny bit of water it didn’t even cover them. They were out of water and gasping for breath, I thought poor things not only are they in an alien environment, they had to endure listening to the family jabber about how they will taste so good and couldn’t even be comfortable to breath. So I turned on the water to let them swim free in the sink..
My sister caught me and asked what I was doing, I don’t know why, and I felt pretty silly but I choked up and cried as I explained I just wanted them to be comfortable before they killed them. They had a good laugh at my expense, crying over a fish. I had big freshwater tanks at the time and I yet wouldn’t take them home and try to keep them. Because I “rescued” a carp once, putting it in my big Goldfish tank and it killed everything in my tank because it had a parasite called hook worms.

 

[robertmathern]

yeah but I have to give the lfs guy credit. He had them to sell. Sometimes fish get picked on thats the way it is its not his fault. I commend him for giving them away realizing they were not going to make it in his hands. I have done that with really expencive corals. I added alot more flow in my tank for the sps and some of the scollys and a few other corals did not like it and started to wither away. I tried to save them but realizedthat I had to much flow in there for them. So I gave them away to local reefers so they had a chance to live. See I think alot of you forget what it takes to run a fish store. You have to have alot of fish to sell or your store will always be empty and customers dont want to look at empty tanks because you wnt to do it right for the fish. You have to remember they dont plan on keeping the fish so by haveing some tangs in the same tank as butterflys is not a bad thing he is not wrong for that. Hell look at my tank I have tangs, angles, and butterflys in the same tank. Am I wrong? no are some of my fish bullies? yes they are. Does that make me irresponcible as a reef keeper? No it happens I have seen fish get picked to death in my tank it happens. Does not make anyone a bad reefer or lfs owner. Thats the risk we take. You can research a fish all you want. Untill you get it you will never know the temperment ofthe fish they are all different. You will read that my blue damsil is a devil and will kill my fish. He is one of the tamest fish in my tank. So you just never know what you can put in the same tank. I think you are doing the right thing nursing these tangs back to health. If you have a big tank you can put 2 hippos in the same tank especialy if they are in the same tank now. There used to each other. And if you done have a tank to raise them you can always take them back or sell them when there a re back to good health. Sorry there is no real advice I can give on nursing these back to health. From what I have seen fin nips can turn to fin rot. There are things to help fin rot but I have never had good luck with these products. How ever just try to keep there health up and they should recover. Cudos on the rescue hope they come back for you.

 

[fangelillo01]

Ok so i came home from work ( a car show) hahah to expect the worst. BUT to my surprise the one is swimming around eating the algae i had attached to the clip and the other one is still hiding under the rock. I know its only the second day but my hopes are still up. Yes i know that i'm gonna hafta get rid of one if not both but at least i can enjoy their odd behavior. Is it normal for them to wedge themselves into a rock and rub themselves on it. Also the one swims around and than swims to where the other one is hiding and it sits next to it for a couple minutes than leaves. Its like its checking up on the other one. Either way i'm gonna do my best to help them.

 

[robertmathern]

you want to see something that will blow your mind. Pick up the rock its almost like it attaches itself to the rock. and yes for a hippo that pretty normal for a new home. Sounds like they are doing ok there thats good to hear. I just got a hippo tang from swf that came in friday. I thought it was dead just laying on its side at the bottom of the cooler thing they send them in to acclimate in. But beleive it or no it was playing dead in the QT tank its doing fine even ate as soon as I put it in the QT tank. There a cool fish hope you can keep one but if not hey cudos again for doing what you did

 

[flower]

..I thought rubbing on a rock was a sign of ich..itchy you know what I mean, in a few days you may see spots so be ready. Good thing thay are in a QT

 

[fangelillo01]

AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH i hope no ich. He keeps hangin with the other one who has been hiding the whole time and than he shoots out and picks at the rock alittle and sometime he turns sideways and lays on the rock. WIERD but intresting

 

[fangelillo01]

So day three and still they are kickin. The one who is the worse for wear is starting to come outta its hiding spot and hanging around with the other one than going back to his cave. The other one seems to be doing well swimming around eating and still occassionally checking up on the other one. My plan is to get a cleaner shrimp cause the one who is the worst has a small circle of what looks to be like some kinda fungal infection. I'm trying to identify what it is so i can try and treat it.

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by fangelillo01
http:///forum/post/3274552
So day three and still they are kickin. The one who is the worse for wear is starting to come outta its hiding spot and hanging around with the other one than going back to his cave. The other one seems to be doing well swimming around eating and still occassionally checking up on the other one. My plan is to get a cleaner shrimp cause the one who is the worst has a small circle of what looks to be like some kinda fungal infection. I'm trying to identify what it is so i can try and treat it.

I wouldn’t get a shrimp, in case you need to dose the QT to help your sick fish. Most meds are not invert safe, once you introduce a shrimp in a sick tank you can’t just put it in the DT or you would infect it with whatever ails the QT.
So far your doing really well with them..get some stress coat for the booboo if it isn’t infected. If it is infected PM Beth for further instructions on what to do.

 

[fangelillo01]

True on the shrimp. Thanks for responding. I hope they will pull thru i love watching them do their crazy behavior of laying sideways and such. I see no signs of ich either as of yet and the one is always rubbing around my zoa's for some reason. WHo knows but its cool to watch

 

[robertmathern]

I dont think he has ich. I see hippo tangs do that alot lay side ways and rub up on a rock. Almost asif he trying to rub its way inside the rock to hide. The spot is a infection as stated add a stress coat to the water to help it heal. If it gets worse pm beth. I have read some of her threads and she seems to know whats shes talking about on these issues. Keep an eye on it iffections can get bad quick. Hope he pulls through

 

[fangelillo01]

Thanks man i really appreciate everyones support and responses. I have rescued every single animal that i have. A chichuha, a pomeranian, two inside cats, two outside cats HAHAHAH. Its like noahs ark at my house whats two more animals LOL

 

[robertmathern]

lol and I just caught the shrmp idea. Dont do it it a bad idea. The shrimp will do its job and try the clean the fish but will make the infection worse by aggravating it.

 

[fangelillo01]

Got ya and i'm not gonna do it. I'm just gonna take it step by step, nurse them back to health than give them away. Just one of them haha the other one i'm gonna keep and than start looking for a bigger tank to build LOL

 

[beth]

Feed the hippos 3x a day with a mixture of quality meaty foods and vegetarian foods. Add zoecon or selcon to 1 meaty meal a day. Algae sheets are also good.
If their chewed flesh is regenerating that is good. If you notice redness or diseased areas, then it may be time to use Maracyn Two for Salt water fish.
To post a picture Click on the "Go Advanced" button at the bottom of the post area. Then, in the new window, go to the "Manage Attachment" section, click, then attach a picture off of your computer.

 

[btwk12]

Yes i know that i'm gonna hafta get rid of one if not both but at least i can enjoy their odd behavior.
if u would like to get rid of one or both pm me i have a 125 with only 5 fish the biggest a powder brown tang 4-5 inches i'll pay for shipping and whatever else i have to pay for

 

[fangelillo01]

So here is another update altho a sad one. The one with the bad sore died yesterday when i got home from work. He has been eating mysis shrimp and i put a sheet of algae in there and he ate all of that. I've never seen a fish pig out like he does haha. I'll keep you in mind if i decide to get rid of him. I'm putting plans together for something larger in the future when he gets bigger.