Blue hippo acting up

saltwater newby · Feb 24, 2016

hello
I purchased a blue hippo last Saturday along with 3 chromis and a wrasse.
Everything was fine Saturday and Sunday. The hippo would school with the chromis and with the wrasse occasionally . I thought this was awesome!!! When we got home from work on Monday we noticed 1 chromis missing . We then realized that the 2 chromis that were visible were definitely being picked on and had pretty bad injuries. We then found the missing chromis dead and it also had some signs of being picked on. While looking around at what could be going we noticed the blue hippo come out of its home and chase the chromis. We realized that it was the hippo being aggressive. The hippo is roughly 3" and definitely bigger than the chromis. I have one chromis left and he is now in my sump. I purchased them all together thinking there wouldn't be any issues since they are all peaceful fish and they were being introduced at the same time. I have good enough room for swimming and good rock work and caves for all to find their own home. My tank is a 75g 4' long tank. "Redsea reefer 350" The wrasse just goes under ground and doesn't bug anyone. Any one dealt with similar issues?

Waters · Feb 24, 2016

Hippo Tangs unfortunately require a pretty large tank, not only due to their maximum size but also due to there need for a ton of swimming room. A lot of tangs will become aggressive in those circumstances, which may be the reason he is aggressive towards the Chromis. It sounds like the tang is becoming territorial.

eatbreakfast · Feb 24, 2016

I wouldn't rule out uronema marinum. It is pretty common with chromis and tears up their bodies badly with white and bloody sores. Aggression would have to be pretty bad for a small hippo tang to kill chromis that quickly.
@Humblefish @melypr1985

Humblefish · Feb 24, 2016

Did the "injuries" on the chromis look anything like the pic below?

saltwater newby · Feb 24, 2016

Waters said:
Hippo Tangs unfortunately require a pretty large tank, not only due to their maximum size but also due to there need for a ton of swimming room. A lot of tangs will become aggressive in those circumstances, which may be the reason he is aggressive towards the Chromis. It sounds like the tang is becoming territorial.

Ok
Make sense. But I've been told that a minimum of 75g is needed for them. I do know for a fact that they get pretty big though. I was hoping to get some new chromis, think I'll have the same issues again?

saltwater newby · Feb 24, 2016

Humblefish said:
Did the "injuries" on the chromis look anything like the pic below?

Here are pics of the 2 chromis

Humblefish said:
Did the "injuries" on the chromis look anything like the pic below?

here are pics of the 2 chromis

saltwater newby · Feb 24, 2016

eatbreakfast said:
I wouldn't rule out uronema marinum. It is pretty common with chromis and tears up their bodies badly with white and bloody sores. Aggression would have to be pretty bad for a small hippo tang to kill chromis that quickly.
@Humblefish @melypr1985

I've never heard of that before. I'm thinking they were injuries. The hippo did chase them at one point, but who knows? You may be right as well. What's with that disease? Will it spread to others?

saltwater newby · Feb 24, 2016

eatbreakfast said:
I wouldn't rule out uronema marinum. It is pretty common with chromis and tears up their bodies badly with white and bloody sores. Aggression would have to be pretty bad for a small hippo tang to kill chromis that quickly.
@Humblefish @melypr1985

I just read on uronema it's something similar to Brook, I've dealt with Brook before and I don't think that's the cause of it. They looked injured and had messed up fins. At this point, either one of these concerns is bad news My LFS offered to replace the hippo for a slightly smaller one along with the chromis. Not sure if that would help solve it.

Humblefish · Feb 24, 2016

@saltwater newby Not sure about the first pic, but that second pic you posted sure looks like Uronema to me. LFS I advise tells me he's seeing lots of Uronema coming in on chromis & anthias from West Coast wholesalers right now.

eatbreakfast · Feb 24, 2016

I see Uronema in the pics too.

Humblefish · Feb 24, 2016

I would never put another chromis or anthias in that tank ever again (see below).

Uronema marinum:

Symptoms - These are the red sores often seen on chromis damsels. The disease seems mostly confined to damsels and clownfish, but I have seen some exceptions to that.

Treatment options - This is a very difficult disease to treat. Possible treatment options include: Metronidazole (ex. Seachem MetroPlex), acriflavine (ex.Acriflavine-MS), Chloroquine phosphate and copper. The problem is the fish can never be returned to the infected tank from which it came. Uronema is a “free living” parasite which does not require a fish host. So, going fallow will not eradicate it. Most fish seem protected from it via their natural immune system; but for some reason, chromis and some other fish are not always afforded this protection. Once a tank has Uronema, it must be assumed that the disease can survive in there almost indefinitely.

Formalin bath or freshwater dip may provide temporary relief for Uronema.

saltwater newby · Feb 24, 2016

Humblefish said:
@saltwater newby Not sure about the first pic, but that second pic you posted sure looks like Uronema to me. LFS I advise tells me he's seeing lots of Uronema coming in on chromis & anthias from West Coast wholesalers right now.

Hmmm... I wouldn't be surprised if it is, with my luck.But I do have a video that shows the fish swimming and do seem pretty beat up.I wish I could post it here. I'll try shortening it. Now if I do have it. How do I know if other fish will get it? I wanted to eventually get a firefish and 2 Heniochus .

saltwater newby · Feb 24, 2016

Humblefish said:
@saltwater newby Not sure about the first pic, but that second pic you posted sure looks like Uronema to me. LFS I advise tells me he's seeing lots of Uronema coming in on chromis & anthias from West Coast wholesalers right now.

In this pic one fish has most of his tail fin bit off and the other has damaged scales to his side and a severely damaged pectoral fin. This is a pic off a video I took . The video shows the blue hippo coming to the attack and then stop and return when he see me .

hybridazn · Feb 24, 2016

Humblefish said:
I would never put another chromis or anthias in that tank ever again (see below).

Uronema marinum:

Symptoms - These are the red sores often seen on chromis damsels. The disease seems mostly confined to damsels and clownfish, but I have seen some exceptions to that.

Treatment options - This is a very difficult disease to treat. Possible treatment options include: Metronidazole (ex. Seachem MetroPlex), acriflavine (ex.Acriflavine-MS), Chloroquine phosphate and copper. The problem is the fish can never be returned to the infected tank from which it came. Uronema is a “free living” parasite which does not require a fish host. So, going fallow will not eradicate it. Most fish seem protected from it via their natural immune system; but for some reason, chromis and some other fish are not always afforded this protection. Once a tank has Uronema, it must be assumed that the disease can survive in there almost indefinitely.

Formalin bath or freshwater dip may provide temporary relief for Uronema.

Wow that's disheartening.

Humblefish · Feb 24, 2016

saltwater newby said:
How do I know if other fish will get it? I wanted to eventually get a firefish and 2 Heniochus .

They will develop red sores and die. Most fish seem protected from it for some reason, but chromis & anthias (usually) are not. I've also seen other members of the damsel family get it (including clownfish). Uronema (like brook) is a weird disease and hasn't been as well studied as, say ich or velvet.