blue tang behavior

[underpar]

Hi,

I have a yellow and a blue tang in quarantine for two days.

The yellow seems to be doing fine: swimming curiously, responsive to food, very active.

The blue, however, does not seem to like his temporary quarters. He spends most of the time standing on his head; shows little interest in food; very sedate.

Question...Is this behavior normal? Am I being impatient?

Further...How long does "Ich" take in a quarantine system to appear?

Thanks, Fred

 

[Stenopus]

Blue tang or hippo tang need some place to hide, he is very tough fish and fast swimmer. Did you get them from your local LFS? Does he eats and act well there? He needs some time to be used on a new tank. Check if they are both ok without fighting.

 

[underpar]

I purchased both fish from "Pacific East Aquaculture", which is not too far from where I live. They seemed to be fine in their old environment.

I do have several pieces of PVC for them to hide in during the quarantine period. The yellow is in and out of these pieces all the time. But the blue just stays in a corner, standing on his head. He has got to have a terrific headache by now!!!

Perhaps I am being impatient!!!

Thanks, Fred

 

[seafansar]

I just got a small hippo tang two days ago. He's very spooky, but he seems to eat a little. He's in a 20 gallon quarantine tank with some sand, rock, and macro-algae. I'm hoping he'll start to get more comfortable with time like my convict tang did. The convict was very shy and freaked out if you looked at him, but now he'll almost eat out of your hand! He's been in QT for a little over 3 weeks.

If I were you, I'd QT for 4 weeks since hippos are so susceptible to ich.

 

[Stenopus]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12751822#post12751822 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by underpar
I purchased both fish from "Pacific East Aquaculture", which is not too far from where I live. They seemed to be fine in their old environment.

I do have several pieces of PVC for them to hide in during the quarantine period. The yellow is in and out of these pieces all the time. But the blue just stays in a corner, standing on his head. He has got to have a terrific headache by now!!!

Perhaps I am being impatient!!!

Thanks, Fred

try to catch him to see if he is moving fast , i don't think that he has to be in that positon all of the time.

 

[underpar]

It's been four days now, and the blue is still not showing signs of liking things.

Thoughts, anyone!!!

 

[seafansar]

Well my little hippo is still very shy too. Is yours eating? I have to add the food and then move to the other side of the room before he'll come out and eat. He just jams himself in the macro-algae when he sees me.
You could put a towel around the tank, so he has less to be afraid of. With time you could start taking off the towel. You could also add more things for him to hide in, anything to make him feel more secure.

 

[GoSUV]

Hippos are very skittish and the slightest movement around the tank will startle them and they will dart for cover. I guess that's their natural behavior. IMHO, hippos are the kind of fish that may benefit from introduction straight to the display tank, despite conventional wisdom that they get ich very easily. Being in the confines of a QT and the subsequent event of another traumatic move to the display will just stress them out tremendously.

Of course if it is already placed in QT, just give it a few more days, leave the lights out and let it rest and recover. If it has adjusted, offer a little food and see if he shows any interest. The presence of another Tang (the Yellow) also doesn't help. I wouldn't try to move it now or disturb it in any way.

 

[seafansar]

I added a small hippo tang to my main tank a while ago. He was so skittish and shy. He never started eating, just hid all the time, and eventually died from ich. So I'd recommend adding them to a QT tank to get them eating and keep bullies away from them until they get used to tank life. As long as the QT tank is in a quiet room with lots of cover in the tank, I think it's less stressful for the fish.

 

[DrBegalke]

Blue/hippo tangs often play dead, act strangely, even more so then clown fish... I suspect yours will come around... How large is the QT? Are there places to hide or is it a bare tank?

 

[underpar]

The QT is 10 gallons with several pieces of PVC for hiding places.

Thanks

 

[seafansar]

How's the tang doing? Mine's still frightened of me, but looks good.