Juvenile Hippo Tang not eating

[roberteb]

I bought a hippo tang yesterday the size of my thumb nail and he seems to be doing well. The problem is I have not seen him eat yet. He is currently in a 10 gallon quarantine tank with all the sides bocked with cardboard so he doesn't get more stressed than he already is. I have a small piece of seaweed on a clip, I added a couple of frozen brine shrimp, a algae wafer and Formula two marine pellets. He just swims around a little and hides behind a heater. Any advice on what to feed this little guy

 

[litoallie]

I've heard that they eat phytoplankton so it's really hard to get them to eat real food.

 

[david24]

Don't overfeed tank and remove any uneaten food. It can take a few days for any fish to start eating and Hippo's are really jittery fish as i'm sure you already know.
Don't get to worried until it's around day 5 of not eating. My 6 inch Hippo wouldn't eat for over a week after I bought him. I finally bought some Cyclop Eeze put it in syringe and sprayed it right in front of him and he ate it up.
Right after I did this he ate anything I put it tank.

 

[cedarreef]

I totally agree with David. Tangs are naturally jittery and nervous when you first put them into a new tank. My vlamingi didn't eat for about 3 days when I first got him. After that, he would eat anything and everything. I would give such a small tang a while to adjust and good luck!

 

[nycbob]

just keep an eye on it. the blue hippo that small is very hard to care for. maybe u can add some garlic drop to a few mysis shrimps to entice it to eat.

 

[roberteb]

Originally Posted by David24
http:///forum/post/2717267
Don't get to worried until it's around day 5 of not eating.

Even for a tang this small?

 

[mrme123]

I put garlic drops on flakes. And he is doing good. He is now about 6 inches long.

 

[stanlalee]

juvi hippo tangs feed almost exclusively on zooplankton (no fish feeds on phyto BTW, zooplankton feed on phyto). you can try something like emerald entree to get some greens in it(a frozen mix of brine/mysis and algae). For staple food graded mysis soaked in zoacon or selcon will be fine. next time get slightly bigger (about an inch) unless you are going to buy a scool and keep some branching stony corals for them to take cover in. they arent solitary at that size which is probably doing the most stress.