[thezookeeper]

Hi guys. I finally bite the bullet and purchased a hippo tang. He's quite small, about 1 1/2"-2". Was at the LFS for a couple weeks, treated for ick there as a precaution. Was eating fine there. He's been home in my 75 for about three days now and he's been eating fine. He did seem to get a scratch on his side the first day from something in the tank, but it seems fine now. I was wondering what behaviors I can expect from these fish since I'm a first time owner of a tang. I know they're ick prone, but I add fish about once a year and I think this is it for this tank anyway. I notice he seems to sleep in wierd places, under rocks, on his side. And last night after lights went out (hours after) he seemed in a trance under a rock, not wanting to move. Don't know about today since lights were still off when I left the house, but I don't want to worry over something that's normal behavior. Any help, advice, is appreciated. The only tank inhabitants are 2 false perculas, one bicolor blennie, one sixline wrasse, one cleaner shrimp, and one serpent star. That's it except for coral. TIA


Joanne

[fsa]

Zookeeper,
I have what was sold to me as a Regal Blue Tang. I think it might be the same as your hippo. I got him when he was about quarter size and now he is a little bigger than my lemon peel angelfish. This is the second one of these I've had and I've never had a major problem with them getting ich. Every once in a while he will start scratching himself on a piece of ornament (I don't have live rock) and might do this a day or two but then he quits and things seem OK (when he scratches I look for stuff on him but can't ever see anything). He swims around a lot and eats like a horse. Eats just about anything I put in including flake and frozen food which is just about all I feed. He will get skittish at times and hides. I don't have a lot of hiding places. He goes to a bleached out store bought piece of what looks like a staghorn type of coral and wedges himself into the arms and stays there for protection. Once everything seems OK, he's back out and swimming around. The only time I've seem him lay on his side and not move is when I've torn down the tank to move (twice in the last year). I think he plays dead but if you get close to him he perks up and swims away. Otherwise, I don't recall him laying on his side normally. I think it's probably just a survival reaction and personally wouldn't worry about it if he's eating and seems healthy. I, too, have a 6 line and also a percula along with a cleaner shrimp. He gets along fine with all of them. Sounds to me like yours is doing just fine.

[kevinpo]

This is typical behavior for these fish. In your case he will be the fish in charge over time. This is a very fast growing fish if placed in a large tank. Mine has grown more than 2.5" in 6 months.

Regards,
Kevin

[GregD]

Joanne

Congrats on your purchase of a hippo tang. I have had one for several years and itis one of my favorite fish. When I purchased it, it was the size of a quarter. He is now about 4" long.

If I had to describe my hippo's behavior, its kind of like a small fish trapped in a big fish body. My hippo can sometimes be scared by his own shadow despite being the largest fish in the tank. The hippo is very calm and non-aggresssive towards other fish. Mine is also a very avid swimmer, with almost constant movement unless the lights are out (if the lights are out it retreats to a cave for security).

Like FSA said mine eats like a horse and is not fussy, eating spirulina, flakes, brine shrimp, kryll, squid...etc. I do make sure to feed plenty of spirulina and nori as a balanced diet concentrating on veggies helps prevent patches of color loss as they get older.


HTH
Greg D

[scubadude]

Beautiful little guy you got there!!

Yup i agree to pretty much everything said.....Feed them well....try some romain lettuce every once in a while too....most tangs eat it. They are herbivores however mine likes fish, shrimp, etc etc....just loves to nip at the nori all day....and I soak my food in Zoecon and/or selcon and havent once had to treat for ich (knock on wood) and I have had my 3 tangs for almost 2 years now....and have had ich about 3x's already. They are kinda weird fish....i have seen mine swim weird, sleep weird...and even scratch himself against rocks....I think the scratch bit is when he is getting ich (maybe trying to scratch it off) but no big deal really....Doesnt a sixline wrasse clean parasites like ich? I know your cleaner shrimp will.....just watch the guy...and see if the cleaner hops onto him....it will take a few days/week for him to adjust though im sure.

[marinelife]

I have had mine for about 5 years and he was about the same size at the one you purchased. Now 5 years later he is about 5-6" long. Mine swims around for a while then hides for a while. I feed him nori seaweed, formula2, and other greens and meats. At night he does find a cave to sleep in. He sleeps in about the same spot everynight. I have seen mine lay on its side for a while and it seems to be fine. Since you have a cleaner shrimp in your tank, most likely you may see it taking a ride on the hippo, when I had a cleaner shrimp it did. I have a cleaner wrasse in my tank and all my tangs love to be cleaned. Good luck with you new fish, it is a great fish to have

[fsa]

Scubadude
My 6-line has never cleaned any of my fish that I have seen. My cleaner shrimp doesn't clean my tang or my angelfish that I have seen, either. I keep hoping that it will but no luck so far and I've had him close to a year now.

[thezookeeper]

Hippo (as I've named him ) is doing well. Eating everything in sight. Sleeps in strange ways and places, but just fine. Haven't seen the cleaner shrimp doing his duty yet. But he could have. I'll post a pic soon!


Joanne

[SCETT316]

Mine is also named Hippo
He also performs all those strange things everyone has mentioned. (I wonder why he is my favorite )
Anyway I have never had any problems w/ Hippo.
Good Luck. Take pics soon. I will be holding my breath.
Sue

[Bughead]

I've had "Hippie" for two years, he's grown from 2" to 5 1/2". Some behavior he does that hasn't been mentioned: He'll take an empty shell (or sometimes even one with a snail or crab in it), scoops it up in his mouth and swims across the tank before dropping it from mid-water. He has his own home under a rock in the front, where he rests lying down sideways, as was mentioned, but in the evenings he has a ritual of racing to his side-lying position, stays motionless for a few seconds, then darts straight up, nose first, wildly shimmying his butt. Then he'll dash back and forth, swim around the tank and go back to his home and repeat. The odd thing is, while he's doing this his black bands turn gray and all but disappear. By the time he returns "home" his black bands are back. The only thing I can think is this is some sort of mating behavior. He never does it during the day but all the lights are still on in the evening. He must have some sort of internal clock. He's been doing this nightly for about the past 8 months.

[organicreefer]

just an fyi ,hippos need alot more meat in their diet than other tangs. (i dont think anyone metioned it so i thought i would)