Hippo Tang Skin Irritation

[jayray]

I have a 2 year old hippo tang that has had a nasty habit of wedging itself in tight places. Normally I wouldn't care, but there is skin discoloration and some red irritation that develops over time (approx 1-2 months). If I put it in QT with no hide spots the irritation goes away.. Water parms are reasonable Nitrates 10ppm no ammonia or nitrites SG 1.023-24. I wonder if this is just behavioral.

 

[jollyballs]

mine is the same way, he goes and hides in tight spots and he marks his side. doesnt seem to affect him or get any worse thou.

 

[Chris27]

That is just something you have to deal with when you have a Hippo. When my lights go off my Hippo goes over to the same spot every night and backs into his hole. It's important to keep very clean water and a proper diet with the Hippo's as they will almost always have scratches on the side of them - foul water and poor nutrition will help that scratch turn into a problem.

 

[jayray]

Thanks, I feed it a varied diet of frozen krill/brine, marine flake, and pellets. Looking to start feeding frozen broccoli on a veggi clip again to see if that might help with the discoloration.
J