Yellow Belly Blue Hippo habbits?

jonny

jonny

Member
anybody how these guys act in a tank. mine seems to either want to wedge himself into a rock or kinda float around the top. he kinda swims in a bobbing motion. when i had my old blue hippo (not yellow belly) he did not swim like this as much. so i was just wondering if what my fish is doing is normal or should i be concerned. sometimes its like he just doesn't care to swim. when that happens he will sometime get stuck in the current of the overflow and if i move toward him he will jostle himself off the overflow. any advice would be great.
thanx
 
jonny

jonny

Member
Originally Posted by Sharkboy13
im not quite sure, there r alot of lazy tangs, maybe urs is just one of em
when he does swim around its like he can't keep his back end down so hes tilted a little bit and he bobs through the water. hopefully it is lazy but who knows. going to watch him one more night and if still doing going to take it back. if something is wrong i don't want to risk it dieing behind all my rocks and stinking up my tank.
thanx
anyone else with exp. with them
 
ricks280

ricks280

Member
a tang in your size tank should be swimming at all times , the fact that he wedges him self in between rocks teels me that his in a bit of stress , is there any signs of white spot on him couse they can sit in the current when ick occurs. the other question is what happens when you feed him? does he eat well? is there another fish that bothers him? how long have you had him?(rick)
 
seannmelly

seannmelly

Active Member
Originally Posted by ricks280
by the way shark boy there is no such thing as a lazy tang unless there sick!

i second that
 
sharkboy13

sharkboy13

Active Member
Originally Posted by ricks280
by the way shark boy there is no such thing as a lazy tang unless there sick!

my last tang was lazy, oh jeez have i put myself in a spot
 
jonny

jonny

Member
i got him yesturday and other than the every once and awhile graze he hasn't eaten. hes in with a kole tang same size and thats it. kole tang doesn't bother him at all. so no i don't think it has to do with that. right now he doesn't go for anything as far as food. i will most likely take him back tomorrow since i know the guys there. unless you guys think he will just pull through this. they had regular hippo that i might try or there is my emperor juvi they have on hold for me for like a week.
side note they got in a 10in black trigger yesturday very sweet fish.
 
pontius

pontius

Active Member
wedging itself into rocks is a trademark of hippos, especially when first put in a tank. it is very likely that it will settle down and act normal after a day or two if it doesn't have ich (which is also a possibility since hippos are ich magnets). give some brine/mysis shrimp with garlic and see if it eats. another possibility, as with other new fish, is that it has seen it's reflection in the glass and is hovering in a corner because it's scared itself (this has happened with my hippo every time I've changed tanks).
also, I don't believe there is any such thing as a "normal hippo" and a "yellow belly hippo", a hippo is a hippo. everything I've ever read says that any tang that develops a light colored stomach is missing something out of it's diet. so other than some kind of intestinal/dietary problem, if the hippo you got has some kind of disease, it's very likely that the other hippo at the store has a disease too since they are the same kind of fish coming from the same source and the same store.
 
jonny

jonny

Member
well i took him back today for he was still doing the same thing. he was still trucking though who knows.
there is a difference between the two types of hippos. yellow bellys are just much more rare. when they are adults they will be bright yellow on the belly. i believe they come somewhere from africa, could be wrong on origin. who knows.
thanx for the help peoples
 
pontius

pontius

Active Member
Originally Posted by jonny
there is a difference between the two types of hippos. yellow bellys are just much more rare. when they are adults they will be bright yellow on the belly. i believe they come somewhere from africa, could be wrong on origin. who knows.
unless it is in a genus other than Paracanthurus, it is a blue hippo tang. it has a color variation just like coral beauty angels come in a wide range of color patterns, it's still the same fish with the same behaviors and prone to the same diseases.
 
snapperboy

snapperboy

Member
I would not have taken him back, this was normal behavior. Mine hid in the smallest of a crack, in the corner of the tank for about 2 months when i added him. He was 1.5-2in. and only ventured 12-15" area during that time, bobbing up and down and hiding whenever anything swam by, or anyone came up to the glass. He now doesn't do the fast spastic bobbing. Blooey is 5in. approx 1yr old and doing great now.
 
rabid frog

rabid frog

Active Member
Originally Posted by Pontius
also, I don't believe there is any such thing as a "normal hippo" and a "yellow belly hippo", a hippo is a hippo.
I believe Yellow Belly Hippos come from Western Africa vs. other Hippos ( gathered from Indo Pacific region.
 
jonny

jonny

Member
Originally Posted by snapperboy
I would not have taken him back, this was normal behavior. Mine hid in the smallest of a crack, in the corner of the tank for about 2 months when i added him. He was 1.5-2in. and only ventured 12-15" area during that time, bobbing up and down and hiding whenever anything swam by, or anyone came up to the glass. He now doesn't do the fast spastic bobbing. Blooey is 5in. approx 1yr old and doing great now.

$55 was too much to risk while watching him for the 2nd day float to the top and swim on his side. i couldn't tell anymore if it was aclimation or behavior. would have loved to keep him, but i got to air on the side of caution. he had gotten stuck to every power head and the overflows so who knows.
thanx
 
mace

mace

Member
From what I have noticed was they do better in pairs or groups. I had one that was doing what yours did so I went and bought another one and they are all over the tank now. :cheer:
 
pontius

pontius

Active Member
Originally Posted by rabid frog
I believe Yellow Belly Hippos come from Western Africa vs. other Hippos ( gathered from Indo Pacific region.
hippo tangs range from East Africa, Japan, Hawaii, Australia, and there is only one fish in the Paracanthurus genus which means there has only been one hippo tang described scientifically.
to the original poster, if you don't QT, you may as well flush the money down the toilet as to buy a hippo. because chances are, you WILL get ich either upon introduction or when other fish are added. I don't believe they do any better in pairs or groups than they do alone. in fact, they are very hardy outside of being very prone to ich. I've had one for 2 and half years and he got ich 3 times before I finally got rid of it for good. other than that, he's been very healthy.
 
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