My poor new Hippo.. : (

[psibabi21]

Yesterday I bought a new juvi hippo only about the size of a quarter (probobly my first mistake)...he looked great in the store, very bright in color, obviously b/c he's just a little midget he wasn't super active like adult hippos are...
Anyways before adding any new fish I always test my water..everything looked great.
Amonia 0
Nitrates Nada
Nitrites Zip
Salt right where the hydrometer says it should be
Temp 78
PH perfect
I was putting him in my small tank 30gal for now until he grows up some...otherwise he'll get picked on by the bigger fish..anyways I aclimated him for a good 45mins I'd say (I thought it was long enough) and let him and a royal gramma into the tank. At first the hippo was doing great...right to the powerhead having a great time swimming and the royal gramma hid instantly...I wake up this morning...both fish are hiding in the rock...normal for new fish...I try to feed them...neither new guy wants to eat...I start seeing the royal gramma poping out and about...but no tang still under the rock... A few hours later he's laying on his side in the back of the tank..I checked to see if he was still breathing, and he was...but then I must have scared him and he got up...he was swimming upside down in circles and was getting pushed around by the current of the tank..he looks like hell..he has that pearly whitish color to most of his body and his colors are very very dull. I really think he's going to die.
Anyone have any insight on this?

 

[mazdaman]

45 Minutes Isnt Long Enough Imo ,he Could Be In Shock Try Turning Off Your Light For A While But It May Be To Late

 

[psibabi21]

I've heard all different things as far as acclimation, some LFS's claim 15mins others claim an hour, I know invert's take much longer, but have never heard of acclimating a tang for more than an hour?
Am I wrong?
The light is off, I'm trying to stay out of the room to attempt to reduce any stress...poor guy!

 

[katieb]

I just gpt a tang and the lfs said 15 minutes, so I knew that was wrong and looked up on this sight and it said 3 hours, I always double check this sight's opinions first.

 

[psibabi21]

I've noticed that on here, but I have never heard of a 3+hour acclimation time, I'm wondering if it's due to the fact that fish ordered from online have been transported and bounced from place to place and need more time to adjust atelast thats how I took it...
I've had plenty of healthy fish in the past with 30mins-1hr acclimation time, I'm wondering if this guy just wasn't strong enough...
Hopefully he'll perk up...

 

[katieb]

Yes, even though this place says 3 hours, I did not do 3, more like 1.5 since I bought directly from lfs. But hopefully your fish makes it, I don't have much else advise, I am new to this this. Good luck though~!!

 

[psibabi21]

Well thanks..

 

[jon321]

For whatever reason Ive never had luck with TINY fish and short acclimations. They always seem to go into shock. I lost a 1" zebra lionfish within 48 hours after 1 hour acclimation, looked fine at the shop. A few months later I got a 3/4" radiata lionfish and pushed a slow, 3-4+ hour drip and it was feeding the next day.

Jon

 

[ledzep fan]

Sorry to hear about your hippo tang. I also have a small blue hippo tang. I bought him also when he was the size of a quarter. I've had luck with mine though. I still have him since April 2006. Thats just my experience with small fish.

 

[puffer32]

I always test the lfs water before i decide an acclaimation time. If his numbers are similar to my tanks, I aclamate n hr. I got a fish once and the PH was the only thing even close to my tanks, acclaimated that one for 3 hrs.

 

[imurnamine]

Did you know that the reason LFS people only do it for 15 minutes?
Because they don't have time. Most don't even drip acclimate. 1/4 of the fish don't make it BECAUSE they acclimate them long enough or properly.
I ALWAYS drip for 3 and a half to 4 hours.

 

[toughguy80]

I'd go at least 2 hours for a sensitive fish such as a tang. It really has little to do with shipping times and more with salinity. Different tanks have different salt levels that a fish needs to adjust too. I've heard it equated in human terms to going from really hot water to ice water, it's quite a shock on the system.

 

[tnn1567]

I usually check the salinity of the water and if it matches up with my salinity in the tank, I just throw the fish in. Of course, I usually make sure the temp is equivalent.

 

[saltn00b]

pH is also a factor. you dont want to have massive differences from your bucket to the display. also consider getting a small floating heater for your drip bucket. i have seen bucket water start at 80 degrees and drop to room temp of 75 in 45 minutes. by the time you put the fish in thats an instant 5 degree temp change, which is very tough on the fish. also keep the lights off for 4 hours after introduction at least.

 

[royal gang]

how do you acclimate it?(fish) i heard only to put them ontop of the tank in your bag so it can get used to the temp..is that all?

***)

 

[mombostic]

I've had pretty good results with dripping. I think you should float the bag for about thirty minutes to equalize the temp, then start the dripping process. Most lfs keep their salinity pretty low to combat parasites--or at least that's what I've heard! Just by reading on this site, the tiny little tangs have a pretty high mortality rate, even when you do everything right.

 

[hatessushi]

Acclimation should depend on the difference between the LFS or shipping water and your tank water. If the difference is huge like temp dif. or 10f or SG dif of say 1.017(lfs) and 1.025(Qt) then it will take longer then if the difference was smaller. You also have to consider PH. I just acclimated a fish shipped to me that was 10degrees difference between it and my tank. It took 6 hours to acclimate it. Temp, SG, and PH acclimation should always occur slowly and it doesn't matter whether the fish came to you locally (LFS) or shipped.
An excellent acclimation process to follow is the one from this site. Try the Acclimation link on the left of this page.

 

[gnorman]

Hows your fish doing?

 

[emeralcrab]

I use a QT tank, check the salinity in bag, it is always lower then what I keep mine at 1.025, I adjust my water if no other fish are in there to the salinity that the fish came in. Then do the drip. Have had great luck doing that.

 

[watson_ab]

This behavior doesn't seem totally out of the ordinary for a blue hippo, but i definately would acclemate all fish regardless of what type for atleast an hour and a half with no light and wait an hour or two for light. He should be fine, good luck.