Opinion Help w/ Hippo in QT, please

F

funloven

Premium Member
I've have had my Hippo in QT for 10 days now but he is so stressed out I don't know if I or the fish can stand it.

Everytime I came anywhere near the tank he plays dead - laying on the bottom of the tank of his side. I know he is really o.k. because I have on occasion, when I coax him, seen him swimming around but it is rare. He doesn't come to eat, but I think he is eating because the food pellets are usually gone after a time.

I know the recommended time in QT is 4 weeks, but - - -
what is everyones opinion about putting him my main tank (where I hope he will be happier) sooner?
 
He is probably stressed about the tiny tank he is in. If he hasn't broken out w/ ich yet, I would put him in the display before he dies.
 
Do you have anything for him to hide in? They naturally hide in crevices. Get a couple of PVC tubes for him to hide in.
 
I would not add this fish to the display early...98.9% of these fish have ich, you do not want to have to pull all the fish out to treat. These fish do hide in small spaces and they do like to lay down.. Add some hiding places as LargeAngels suggested and be patient...the fish will be fine..Watch him closely, erratic swimming and hiding are good signs of upcoming outbreaks
 
I do have a nice big piece of PVC tubing in the tank but I never see him go in it. I also set the microalgie drum from my wet/dry in there because I was having touble controlling the amonia levels (no problems with amonia today). So either tucked under that or the PVC is were I usually see him. I usually scoot him out of there once a day just to make sure he is breathing and swimming o.k. and to get him to eat a bit. He seems to be swimming fine.

I have been adding Stress Coat on occassion to help with his slime coat but he does have ick which I am treating. I recently read someone solution to curing ick with low salinity. Has anyone tried this? I'm worried that this ick business is going to keep cropping up again and again as long as he stays so stressed.

I am constantly debating with myself on which is the best approach to the lighting - as my usual tank or reduced light. Usually I go with the reduced lighting.

I'm as much a nervous reck at the fish is! You know how parents worry :lol:
 
You might try putting a dark cloth over half the tank, giving him a shaded spot to go to.
 
My yellow tang just came out of QT. One piece of pvc isn't enough. I had 4 large (3 3" T's 1 4" Y) pieces and he still wasn't overly secure. I'm going to get a few more for next time. It took a week for him to start to really hide in the pvc.
 
I have a Regal Tang in QT for 4 weeks now. Best thing I ever did was to add some mollies to this tank. This has really calmed the Tang. I don't think I will ever QT again without them.

HTH
 
O.K. so my PB Tang died. I think it was overtaken by Ich even though I was treating it. Wonder if the med was to old and so not as effecitve? One day the fish would look not too bad and the next day he would look horrible. Anyways, we all mourn when we lose one of our secondary children!


So now what I am wondering is --- I had placed a biowheel in the QT to help with filtration and cut the ammonia levels (worked very well). Do I have to worry about the ich contaminating the biowheel? I don't want to place it back in my main display sump and then end up with an ich epidemic in my display tank.
 
When you guys say you were treating for ich...what were you treating with? There appear to be a lot of "ich cures" out there that are questionable at best.

jds
 
The hippo that I had was in qt for 3 months. You will need to provide hiding spots for him so that he feels safe. I fed mine food soaked in garlic. The salinity was kept at 1.009 for the duration of the qt. He went from the size of a quarter to approximately 4 inches in length in a 150 gallon tank. Due to extreme incompetence on the part of the electric company I lost him, 50 degree water and no circulation will do that.

On a side note though make sure he receives enough food that is high in essential proteins and vitamins.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7684922#post7684922 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bureau13
When you guys say you were treating for ich...what were you treating with? There appear to be a lot of "ich cures" out there that are questionable at best.

jds
Click to expand...

I have been using hypo. There are lots of good reading on this subject. Use the search button.

HTH:rollface:
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7683010#post7683010 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by funloven
O.K. so my PB Tang died. .
Click to expand...





:eek: WOW!! Your Hippo was so stressed he turned into a PB Tang!!:eek:


Sorry, just caught that;) Was it a Hippo or Powder Blue? If it was a PB, many don't do well ...often just die for no apparent reason


Sorry for your loss!!:(
 
:eek: Sorry about that - it was a Pacific Blue Tang.

I see them in quite a few of the tank pics here on RC so I won't give up just yet, BTTRFLYGRL. (amI nuts or what!)

I was treating it with Malachite Green, bureau13.

So today I did a partial water change which brought the SG down to 1.016. I know that that isn't 1.009 but I only have a swing-arm hydrometer and so I don't want to get too low. I figure it might help a bit and I don't want to kill all of the beneficial bacteria in my biowheel .

And now I have to wait 6 weeks :eek1: Hope no other irrisistable fish comes along. :rollface:
 
Hmmm, I've never used Malachite Green with saltwater fish, and I would invest in a refractometer (they can be found for a decent price) if you're going to do hypo....if you don't get it low enough, it simply won't be effective.

Lots of people recommend Cupramine if you're going to treat with copper. That's what I've got, although I haven't used it yet.

jds
 
As bureau13 stated hypo won't be affective unless you have a refractometer and keep it at the recommended level.

Cupramine, IME, is an excellent copper medication that is even affective with some species that are very copper sensitive. Keep in mind that hypo is ONLY affective against ich, not velvet. I do however recommend the Red Sea copper test kit over the Seachem copper test kit.
 
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