[ChrisN87]

Hiya Guys.

I was thinking about getting some new fish, but I have some questions before I get them.

What I have.....

Bursa Trigger (sometimes mean) , Velvet Damsel (mean), Tomato Clownfish, Spotted Toby Puffer, and 3 Yellow Tail Damsels.

What I Want.....

Blue Hippo Tang (First), and a Flame Hawk (second).

Do you think that would work out?

I have heard that both fish.. The Flame Hawk and the Blue Hippo are very hardy fish. Is this true?

What would the Flame Hawk eat?
Would the Hippo eat Nori and Dried seaweed, Flake food, Bloodworms, Clam or Squid?

Thanks!!!
Chris Noonan

[Wind]

HEY.

Do you like damsels?

Hippo Tangs are nice, however they need big tanks. With the current setup, I think it all depends on your tank size.

[Neal359]

their are some nice large wrasses that arnt reef safe but look realy realy cool might wanth to take a look at them

[ChrisN87]

Thanks.

I'd really like a Hippo Tang but people on the other boards say that they are prone to some different disease. They said that yellow tangs and sailfin tangs are much hardier. Is this true? The sailfins are cool to though....

I have a UV light.. But the bulb is probably really old....And I don't have the UV light plugged in....

What do you think? Is the hippo easier then the Sailfin?

Thanks!
Chris Noonan.

[Steve]

I have a sailfin tang that I bought from a pet store. He had really bad HLLE (head and lateral line erosion) when I bought him. That was over 5 years ago and he is almost completely healed. He is a very cool fish.

[ChrisN87]

Cool!

It's either a Sailfin..Hippo.. Or Naso.
Are Naso's hardy?

[Bughead]

Nasos get real BIG and need a 120+ gallon tank even before adulthood.

You like the hippo, go with the hippo. They seem to be a little slower growing than the other tangs, at least mine is. Also, no more or less disease prone than the other tangs. They need good nutrition and a stable environment, and of course, excellent water quality should be your goal, regardless.

As far as ich prone, my powder blue swims away with the trophy. I broke one of my cardinal rules a couple of weeks ago when I introduced a new flame angel to the main system without pre-quarenteen. Stupid, STUPID, STUPID! Now, after a year of having a disease-free tank, we have a rampant case of ich. But, while my powder blue is really suffering, my hippo tang has only a few white spots and acts perfectly healthy. He's not even itchy.

Hippo tang.

[ChrisN87]

THANKS. You don't know how hard this is for me.

Before I read your post, BugHead.. I was getting a yellow tang.
I am probably going to get a Hippo now! Thanks!

[Neal359]

if going with a hippo the most dificalt thing is geting a helth fish. they are the worst when it comes to ick (when it comes to tangs) the first month can be realy tuchy with this fish after it setels in their usualy good to go its that first month you have to watch

[GregD]

Chris,

I have had the same experience as Neal cited above.

I have had both a hippo tang and a flamehawk in the same tank for 2 years now and they get along just fine.

The hippo tang does seem very prone to ick when it is first introduced to the tank though and can be a bit of a skittish or frantic fish until it acclimates. What I advised for a friend of mine who introduced a hippo tang to his tank was to have some natural conditioner that can be added to the tank if the hippo starts to show signs of ick. This seemed to work very well.

The thing that I always look for in a conditioner was that it was reef safe and helped generate or promote a healthy skin coating. You basically just want something to help the fish through the most stressful part of the acclimation period. Note--> This will not kill the ick in the tank but just give your fish some time to adjust and reduce its susceptibility to an ick outbreak.

Hope this helps!
Greg

[deanp]

GregD

What do you recommend for a natural conditioner?

Thanks!

[GregD]

DeanP,

In the past I have used both "Stress Coat" (brand? can't remember and I am at work right now) as well as MelaFix.

Basically, I looked for something that would promote the slime coat on the fish and generally these use aloe or some similar ingredient. I really liked using the MelaFix product because it uses eucalyptus/tea tree extract as its ingredient and really brought out the colors in all of my fish as well as eliminated visible signs of ick on my hippo.

If you use any of these products make sure you turn off your skimmer if you use one when you add them otherwise it is foam city!

-->Also Chris I realized that I forgot to answer the second part of your question regarding foods accepted by hippos and flamehawks...
I feed both of mine a mix of spirulina, flake food, and brine shrimp. The falmehawk will also pick at squid or scallops when I feed my anemones. Both fish have showed a lot of growth and good coloring with this mix. For the hippo a mix of veggie based food is extremely important to keep it from losing its color or developing clear patches under the skin. (I should feed mine more nori but I seldom do)

Hope this helps!
Greg

[saltjunkie]

Also I think youy need to take in account the damsels and the trigger. these fish will be curious and want to establish domiance to any fish you add. especially if they all have been in there a while and set up a territory. Tangs stress easy, and having 5 fish bothering him my not help a tang to settle in? I think you need to determine the agressiveness your fish have towards each other, then think about how they will treat a new addition? How were your current fish introduced into the tank? Wee the other fish calm, or aggressive as you started adding new fish?
These questions, observations will help you out alot, and others answer your questions better??
just my .02
Rick

[ChrisN87]

Thanks Rick.

When I add new fish, the fish act fine.


I am concerned about something though. I go away almost every weekend. I leave Friday.. and the fish are fed. Then.. I come home on Sunday.

Would that be a problem?

Thanks.

[saltjunkie]

What size tank are these guys in?

[GregD]

Good points Saltjunkie!!

When I introduced a hippo tang into my tank I had a very aggressive Clarkii that had harassed some other fairly tough fish in the tank (even caused a bit of damage). I did several things to help the introduction of the tang...
1) Introduced the fish with the lights off
2) Re-arranged the rockwork to make the setting less familiar/territorial for the original fish
3) Provided some rock work that provided a hiding place for the tang (narrow-slot shaped places in the rock)

This seemed to work out fine...the clarkii chased the tang a slight bit the first day or so but I think has since realized the hippo tang may be the wrong fish to pick on (in my experience Tangs can hold their own against most other aggressive fish). The clarkii has resumed his favorite pastime of chasing the green chromis around the tank whenever they get too near the clarkii's anemone!!


Also, I too am out of town a fair amount due to work and have left my fish on autopilot for a day or two (any longer and I get a friend to stop by and check on them). The flamehawk is a pretty good scavenger. My hippo tang will also eat algae that may be growing on the live rock. Not the best diet but it works...

[ChrisN87]

Thanks.

If I add the fish with the lights off.. Would the lights be off for the rest of the day, or should I turn the lights on a few hours after the fish is back into the tank?

Thanks!
Chris Noonan

[GregD]

I just leave mine off for a couple of hours to let everyone settle in. Then I turn them back on or let them kick on the next day on the timers if it spans into the evening.