Will my new 7 inch blue tang hide behind the rocks forever?

[shanghaireefer]

Bought a 7 inch blue tang 8 days ago and ever since he has been hiding behind the rockworks , coming out only occasionally and hasnt seen him touch any foods yet.

I know blue tangs are some of the shy marine fishes ,but this guy is really very different. Its a 600 liter aquarium housed with a 5 inch Emperor(who is giving some small chases to each and everyother fish i nthe aquarium except to the blue tang), clarkii,
7 inch Chocolate Sweetlips, 6 inch Foxface and a blue damsel

Ammonia, nitrites are zero, Nitrate and Phosphate very low too.
All other fishes are eating like pigs. He doesnt hide in one section,swims around once in a while, He doesnt seem to have any white spots, ich nor scrapes himself against the rock.

Has any body similar experiences too ? What to entice him to eat? come out ? He is just simply beatiful, but now gettingworried since he hasnt eaten since.

 

[Jonviviano]

Just normal behavior for a hippo tang(blue tang). Took my baby hippo who was only about the size of a quarter about 2 weeks to start acting normal. I took a peice of seaweed and painted it with Garlic Xtreme and hooked it to a veggie clip right where he used to hide. soon after he would come out, but was still very shy. the garlic and seaweed boosts there immune system also and reduces aggresion. He will most likely get ick, but its a stage 90% of hippos go through.

 

[calypso_mustang]

My hippo was isolated for umm most of its life with me and when I finally added him to the main tank he was all over it. I think the 16 weeks in iso for ich made him very personable though....

 

[titoreefs]

its regular behavior for a blue tang.I got one about 6'' and it went through the same stage.I started to put lettuce in a clip and after about a month or two he started to act better.Now hes all natural.

 

[shanghaireefer]

Ya, that is the problem with Blue Tangs. They tend to hide very much behind the rock works when anything goes wrong.

When I suspected I was having a problem with the water quality in my previous tank, I was able to fish out most of the tank inhabitants. But the previous 4 inch tang( which grew from about 2.5 inches in half a year) , remained adamant to hide under the rockworks.

I agree that when tangs are acclimatized, they eat like pigs and swim very fast , one of the earliest and fastest food takers.

Now I am thinking of adding another 5 inch blue Tang , is that advisable? I have received mixed opinions. Or may be it really depends onthe individual fish personality, so difficult to say ?