Adding hippo tang to established tank mates?

[PedroYoung]

I have a 200G reef with 2x yellow tangs, Kole tang, blond naso tang, mandarin goby, 3x bimac Anthias and 3x pyramid butterflies, all have been in the tank for a couple yrs, thinking about adding a hippo and a flame hawk. Wondering what the static level would be from the other fish.

 

[Troylee]

Hard to say but my hippo tries to run my tank! It’s the biggest but the gem tang normally keeps it in check. I wouldn’t worry about the hippo unless it’s much smaller.. they can and will hold their own.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

If you don’t have a way of doing a Four to Six week Quarantine and treatment, don’t do it. They are Ich Magnetics. Also plan on Quarantining all future auditions, unless you can get them pre-quarantined. This includes invertebrates.

 

[PedroYoung]

If you don’t have a way of doing a Four to Six week Quarantine and treatment, don’t do it. They are Ich Magnetics. Also plan on Quarantining all future auditions, unless you can get them pre-quarantined. This includes invertebrates.

I get all my fish from @Marine Collectors so Elliott does all the quarantining and conditioning. I made the commitment at the start to keep the ich out, but thanks for the input

 

[mfinn]

With 4 other tangs already in the tank, I would probably pick up a acclimation box ( the biggest I could find) and put the new tang in the box for a day or so to see how the other tangs react.
I would also have a good sized mirror handy once the new tang is added, just in case one of them gets aggressive with the new addition. The mirror trick has worked for me 3 different times.

 

[exnisstech]

I have purple, yellow, hippo, Naso, and convict in a 180. The yellow runs things. I had to remove a second yellow because of aggression from the other one. My hippo is probably just as docile as the convict.
Not a concern for the OP but I'm not sure about the ich magnet statement. I've had two hippos with no problems. Powder brown and powder blue I don't even try any longer because they always end up with ich.

 

[Mike1970]

In tank Acclimation box is your friend

 

[PedroYoung]

With 4 other tangs already in the tank, I would probably pick up a acclimation box ( the biggest I could find) and put the new tang in the box for a day or so to see how the other tangs react.
I would also have a good sized mirror handy once the new tang is added, just in case one of them gets aggressive with the new addition. The mirror trick has worked for me 3 different times.

In tank Acclimation box is your friend

I have a largish fish trap, but they always feel like super stressful for the guy hanging out in it. Is a pvc Pipe enough of a hideout?

 

[mfinn]

I have a largish fish trap, but they always feel like super stressful for the guy hanging out in it. Is a pvc Pipe enough of a hideout?

It's less stressful than a fish picking directly on it.
Plus having the new fish in a container makes it easy to remove if the aggressive fish in unrelenting.

 

[mrpontiac80]

I’m bringing this topic back up since I’m going through it now…. I have a yellow belly hippo that finished qt on Thursday night and has been in an acclimation box since. So 3 days now. How long do you think he should remain if at all?

Tank mates that are questionable are a purple tang that is the boss, a bristle tooth tang, foxface that’s super calm. The tank is a 180 gallon.

The last fish I introduced was a copperband several months back. After a few days in the box I released him and even though not one fish cared while he was in the box, as soon as he was released the purple tang made sure it knew who was boss. For a week or more it was nerve wracking. This go around, same story. The purple and others don’t seem to care, but I anticipate some roughness upon release.

 

[Mike1970]

I leave tangs in the box for month or more, I just have to clean it once a week

 

[mrpontiac80]

I leave tangs in the box for month or more, I just have to clean it once a week

Wow much longer than I’d have thought. I was thinking a week. When you release them do you still see a role of dominance play out?

 

[Mike1970]

Wow much longer than I’d have thought. I was thinking a week. When you release them do you still see a role of dominance play out?

Yup it will last like a day or so depending on the fish my powder blue is a monster Sometimes

 

[mrpontiac80]

Yup it will last like a day or so depending on the fish my powder blue is a monster Sometimes

Yeah I really thought my purple might end up killing my copperband even if just by stress. After a week or two it calmed down considerably and now they are fine together. Just didn’t know if a longer stay in the box would mean less aggression

 

[Mike1970]

Yeah I really thought my purple might end up killing my copperband even if just by stress. After a week or two it calmed down considerably and now they are fine together. Just didn’t know if a longer stay in the box would mean less aggression

Just make sure he/she is eating good (the food you feed) hand are as healthy as you can get them before releasing them

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

I have a largish fish trap, but they always feel like super stressful for the guy hanging out in it. Is a pvc Pipe enough of a hideout?

You could always put them in the sump for a few days until they recover from shipping. Then put them into the fish trap for a couple of weeks. But yeah the hippo is going to need PVC or something big enough for them to hide in. Also worried about the same thing for my guy lol.

 

[secret_reefer337]

When I introduce our quarter dollar size hippo tang in our tang tank, I did three days in acclimation box. The boss (achilles) never paid attention.

 

[littlefoxx]

My hippo was added after a purple and yellow. They really tried to bully him but he didnt care at all. Just swam around and ignored them even when they tried to hit him with their spike. He was also way smaller than them too. Strange fish lol

 

[PedroYoung]

I’m bringing this topic back up since I’m going through it now…. I have a yellow belly hippo that finished qt on Thursday night and has been in an acclimation box since. So 3 days now. How long do you think he should remain if at all?

Tank mates that are questionable are a purple tang that is the boss, a bristle tooth tang, foxface that’s super calm. The tank is a 180 gallon.

The last fish I introduced was a copperband several months back. After a few days in the box I released him and even though not one fish cared while he was in the box, as soon as he was released the purple tang made sure it knew who was boss. For a week or more it was nerve wracking. This go around, same story. The purple and others don’t seem to care, but I anticipate some roughness upon release.

I leave tangs in the box for month or more, I just have to clean it once a week

I was going to put a PVC section in the box as a hiding place (I’m going to use a fish trap that’s 6”x6”x8” as acclimation box). Notice neither of you have any hiding places. I’ve never used this method before (acclimation box), is it a “bad” idea to give the hiding place and instead force the new kid to stand up at the front of the class?

 

[PedroYoung]

Recent tank vid, the real “boss” is the male bimac anthia and to a lesser extent the blonde Naso (no one messes with him, but he’s in his own world ignoring everyone else)