Baby Hippo tang help...please!!

[Jonviviano]

The other day i bought a baby hippo tang at my LFS. Ive done my research and i realise a 55G is to small for this fish, but i will upgrade my tank when he outgrows it. The reason i am mosting this thread is because ever sinse i put him in my tank hes been hiding deeply in the rocks, almost undetectable. I know this is normal with new fish. How long can expect him to do this? I dont want him to starve. Is there anything i can do to encourage him to come out? At the moment i have two lyretail green cromis's, two blue damsel fish and a fourstripe damsel. They dont seem to be bothering him, infact i dont think they saw him yet. Hes only about an inch long. ANY help would be greatly appreciated, i dont want to lose this little guy.:strooper:

 

[Jonviviano]

Oops, forgot to add that I got his a day ago, dont know if he should sill be hiding that much.Thanks

 

[bigbenji]

My baby hippo hid for almost a week, coming out only at night to eat. Offer food at night, maybe that will help.

 

[Dave Cox]

I had three babies - an inch long. Now after 8 months they are close to 3 inches.

They hid a lot in the first week, but came out and about more and more. They still dash for the rocks when I first enter the room.

Anyway, other than an expected early bout of ich, they are thriving.

I think it's just the nature of the species and he'll be fine.

 

[Fishfirst]

well, I don't know about him being fine... you only have some of the most aggressive fish (per inch) in your tank... my guess is this will create a lot of stress for him (especially when he comes out)

As for his behavior now, its completely normal.

 

[Mike de Leon]

he will come out , but you will have to be patient. It would help if he had a companion ( preferably another hippo tang and about the same size), so he wouldnt feel as lonely. In the wild, juveniles form in small groups or pairs but as they age, they tend to seperate because of growing aggresion

 

[kjmst29]

Sell him back. I bought one. Worst mistake. Still have him since the wife had to have a "dory". Got ich within a week. Spent time and money to beat that. But now he appears to suffer from lateral line disease, even though i offer a wide variety of healthy food and feed generously. I call her Mrs. Pac Man because of the way she eats. She's grown nicely, appears to be a happy fish, but her fins are all torn up, and she has pits in her sides, especially around the eyes. Medicated and the skin filled in, now she's got them again. While medicating, the filter has to be off. Ugh!

I'm pretty much waiting (and hoping) for the fish to kick the bucket. I'll never buy another hippo tang again!

 

[msman825]

better wach the damsels, If your tank is cycled you dont need them anyway, If he's that little he better stay hid, He want last long with them devils. I would get rid of damsels Then you can get some REAL FISH!

 

[bigbenji]

I missed the part about the damsels. Do some research on them and you'll find that they pick on fish 3 times their size. Get them out.

 

[Denadai]

This is the only fish in your reef ? When blue tang is alone, they used to hide. Buy another fish like a clown or somenthing like that

I hope that works

Regards

 

[cabot]

We love our blue. They are kind of shy; some more than others. It's so interesting the way they exibit some of the same behaviors as Dory.

 

[xinumaster]

My blue tang hide in the rack caves for weeks and slowly come out after a few days but hides quickly when he sees me. My blue damsel and 4 green cromis never pick on the blue tang. Give it some time and it'll be all right.

 

[Fishfreak218]

when i first got my Baby Blue Tang he hid the first day, then he would coem out... but when i came to look at the tank he would ussualy hide.... then i moved her into a bigger tank and she doesnt hide any.... in the first tank (the smaller one) she was picking on my yelow Clown goby.. now she shows no aggression

 

[Jonviviano]

I was thinking of getting out the damsels, but that would be nearly impossible. Any tips of ideas on catching them would be appreciated. I put a piece of seawead on a veggie clip and dipped it in some dilluted Garlic Xtreme. I also added a few drops directly to my tank as directed for fish that arent eating. Im praying this works.:fish2:

 

[shag26272]

you can take your rocks out if you dont have many corals, it sounds like a pain but it will be much faster than trying to catch the stupid damself with the rocks in