Hippo tang vs porcupine fish

[JacquelineVictor]

Hello everyone.. maybe someone can help me. I have a 55gal with a hippo tang, diamond goby and a clown fish. I had my sick porcupine fish in a QT tank for a month. I added Bloat ( porcupine fish ) to my display tank. And his is very interactive with my husband and I when we get close to the tank. But now my tang, who always kept her distance, now get jealous. She swims up to Bloat, opens her mouth and lays sideways. Should I be concerned?? She does not act like that with any other fish, only when she see's Bloat in front of tank, wanting attention.. I've been trying to read everything I can find, and still no real answer... please help me... Thank you

 

[4FordFamily]

Welcome home, you will love it here!

It almost sounds like she thinks the puffer is a cleaner wrasse or something of the like which is very strange, I would keep an eye on her.

Any other signs of disease such as swimming in to powerheads, heavy breathing, spots, dusting, flashing, etc?

 

[Mark Gray]

Hello everyone.. maybe someone can help me. I have a 55gal with a hippo tang, diamond goby and a clown fish. I had my sick porcupine fish in a QT tank for a month. I added Bloat ( porcupine fish ) to my display tank. And his is very interactive with my husband and I when we get close to the tank. But now my tang, who always kept her distance, now get jealous. She swims up to Bloat, opens her mouth and lays sideways. Should I be concerned?? She does not act like that with any other fish, only when she see's Bloat in front of tank, wanting attention.. I've been trying to read everything I can find, and still no real answer... please help me... Thank you

Welcome hopfully some one will answer you soon they tank is a little small for the fish I think

 

[ndrwater]

The Hippo needs therapy..
That said, unless there is actual aggression that leads to injury, I wouldn't sweat it at all.

 

[dbl]

Welcome to R2R. I would agree...keep an eye on it looking for aggression.

 

[Maritimer]

Welcome aboard, JacquelineVictor!

I would be watchful of the tang, especially if it looks as though she's trying to "slap" the puffer with her tail.

That tank is a bit smaller than is recommended for those fish, so they may have some frustration to express.

~Bruce

 

[JacquelineVictor]

Welcome hopfully some one will answer you soon they tank is a little small for the fish I think

 

[JacquelineVictor]

Tang has ich, but none of my other fish.. but I know it's coming, so am treating already. I still new to salt water. Sorry.. what is flashing and dusting??

 

[KJ]

Welcome to R2R.

 

[ndrwater]

Flashing is a reference to any fish, other than a Wrasse, looks as though it is trying to scrape or itch itself. A common precursor to an ich outbreak.
Dusting refers to the look of a fish with ich, or Velvet. As in " the fish looks like it was dusted with salt or fine powder", a common phrase used to describe the physical appearance of the affected fish.

 

[Maritimer]

Tang has ich, but none of my other fish.. but I know it's coming, so am treating already. I still new to salt water. Sorry.. what is flashing and dusting??

What are you treating them with, and are you treating in the display or in a quarantine tank?

~Bruce

 

[40B Knasty]

If you have ich and in a reef tank. Use Medic by Polyp Lab. Order it on EBay asap for $35 with free shipping. Dose it twice a day on time every time for 20 days. Don't slip up on medicating either. It is like when you have to copper treat in a qt. Stable dosing timed right. 1hr before lights on. 1hr before lights out. Best if you have a moonlight for an hour before complete lights out.
Get the slime coat as best as possible on the fish. The hippo's slime coat is probably one of the thinnest. Use VitaChem on your frozen. Let it melt into the frozen. Then feed the fish. This will help with building up the slime coat to protect it from the parasite attaching. The parasite likes to detach and attach when lights are out the most while the fish is sleeping. Not as hard to attach then. Pull your chemical medias for the 20 days. This stuff has a great chance to kill the ich parasite in 2 stages of the life cycle. The two cycles that ich can not be killed is in the attached to the fish time and cyst form on the sand bed before the 1 parasite bursts into 200 more. It will kill it when it is falling or trying to attach as a new parasite.
It is reef safe. My 16 zoanthids are the only ones that react to it, but they open back up in 20m. So it is reef safe and you can run your protein skimmer the whole time.
1 spoon full per 50 gallons or 190L.

 

[Maritimer]

But does it kill the ich parasite?

I'm given to understand that this stuff is essentially peroxide. Expensive peroxide.

There are things that will kill Cryptocaryon irritans - dead-and-gone - but they're not reef-safe, and must be administered in a quarantine tank.

~Bruce

 

[40B Knasty]

But does it kill the ich parasite?

I'm given to understand that this stuff is essentially peroxide. Expensive peroxide.

There are things that will kill Cryptocaryon irritans - dead-and-gone - but they're not reef-safe, and must be administered in a quarantine tank.

~Bruce

Well here is how I see it. If you have a fish with ich. Main reason for ich being able to do it's thing is, because the fish has been stressed. Slime coat went down. Now they can attach. Knowing that there are fish that are pretty resilient like a dragonet for instance. There is a way of "living with ich." Living with ich is not letting the parasite do it's thing the whole time by keeping your fish healthy as possible. So pulling it out and QT'ing the fish. Seeing and knowing it has it will just stress it even more. Plus no matter what. The DT now has it. So QT'ing it is great, but now it goes back into the DT after QT. YOU just stressed it again and made it susceptible again to the ich still present in your DT. The DT has it no matter what from corals, fish and inverts. Unless you QT corals for the recommended amount of time. Also inverts. Also fish. I don't know the % of people that do qt each one. I am sure we all can assume that it is very low. Me being on of them. I don't personally have 3 tanks to do each QT. So whatever it is made of. It says it "kills ich" in the two stages of free swimming. Take it for what it is worth. I don't see someone wanting to tear down a 70g+ tank to catch one fish for months on end. Also stressing out the other fish making the ones not infected yet by the parasite to be stressed and now making them susceptible to it even more now. Then ya gotta tear it all down again. I mentioned it to my only trusted LFS guy. Not asking to buy it from him, but asked him if he has ever heard of it. He said "it really works and is great. I have used this a few times for clients that bought outside of my shop. Cured!" If it was even .01% garbage. He would have said it.
Here is a video to nit pick for those that like to. It shows you how to use it, reasons why, when, and other info about further use after to make sure you did not miss anything.

 

[Maritimer]

The "main reason for ich being able to do its thing" is that it's a parasite, and that's what parasites do. Yes, stressed fish are somewhat more vulnerable - there are those who would argue that a hippo tang and a porcupine puffer in a 55 gallon tank would already fall into that category.

So with the polyp lab "conditioner", you dose this stuff (peroxide) twice a day, just after the lights go out, and somewhat before they come on, in hopes that you'll make the ich parasite uncomfortable enough that the fish can stay ahead of it? And maybe it doesn't damage your corals or kill your shrimp. (Shrimp and peroxide are not a good combination... then again, shrimp and porcupine puffers generally aren't either . . . )

Or, you remove the fish from the tank, and you kill the parasites, and you keep the fish separate from the display long enough for the parasites in the display to starve to death, which they will, given time, as both ich and velvet require a fish host.

JacquelineVictor, you may be in a difficult spot if you want to completely eradicate ich - the two best chemical treatments for both ich and velvet are Chloroquine Phosphate (CP) and copper (either ionic copper such as Cupramine or chelated copper such as Coppersafe). Puffers don't tolerate copper well at all, and hippo tangs don't tolerate CP. You might look into TTM (Tank Transfer Method), but this will be challenging with as many fish as you've got.

Very likely that @melypr1985 or @Humblefish can offer deeper insight and better advice. There's nobody I know who I trust more than those two folks when it comes to getting fish through disease.

~Bruce

 

[40B Knasty]

The "main reason for ich being able to do its thing" is that it's a parasite, and that's what parasites do. Yes, stressed fish are somewhat more vulnerable - there are those who would argue that a hippo tang and a porcupine puffer in a 55 gallon tank would already fall into that category.

So with the polyp lab "conditioner", you dose this stuff (peroxide) twice a day, just after the lights go out, and somewhat before they come on, in hopes that you'll make the ich parasite uncomfortable enough that the fish can stay ahead of it? And maybe it doesn't damage your corals or kill your shrimp. (Shrimp and peroxide are not a good combination... then again, shrimp and porcupine puffers generally aren't either . . . )

Or, you remove the fish from the tank, and you kill the parasites, and you keep the fish separate from the display long enough for the parasites in the display to starve to death, which they will, given time, as both ich and velvet require a fish host.

JacquelineVictor, you may be in a difficult spot if you want to completely eradicate ich - the two best chemical treatments for both ich and velvet are Chloroquine Phosphate (CP) and copper (either ionic copper such as Cupramine or chelated copper such as Coppersafe). Puffers don't tolerate copper well at all, and hippo tangs don't tolerate CP. You might look into TTM (Tank Transfer Method), but this will be challenging with as many fish as you've got.

Very likely that @melypr1985 or @Humblefish can offer deeper insight and better advice. There's nobody I know who I trust more than those two folks when it comes to getting fish through disease.

~Bruce

We all know those two fish should not be in a 55g. What we are dealing with is case at hand. Not the does and don'ts. Bruce, you came up with the word peroxide. Okay so if it is made with it. Maybe it is used at a safe treatment Level, because they say it is "reef and invert safe." It is like saying copper is safe. Well it is not at all no matter who recommends it. You just said "the puffer will have a bad time with this one." "The hippo will have a bad time with this one." Correct? So giving a suggestion of those knowing neither is reef safe, invert safe, and those two fish not safe. Asking anyone else who you trust and I trust also. Is not going to help the situation at all if the treatments are very dangerous for those two fish and they would have one major problem still for the DT, ich! I am not trying to reinvent the wheel here. Just using common sense. I am sure the first person who said "dose vodka" got called out for being crazy. I see people all the time saying they dose peroxide and this is the common reef keeper with no lab proving anything doing scientific research. I am giving the suggestion of a company that puts a great product forward that can relate to the majority of people. Probably 90% who do not have 3 tanks to qt.
Read the reviews. I am using it. I can not complain. Had 3 white spots. You know what I don't see anymore, white spots. All my invert are all alive and still happy doing their thing. (Tuxedo urchin, snails, lettuce eating nudibranch, peppermint shrimp, fire shrimp, cleaner shrimp, maxima clam, conch.)The ich is not doing their thing.
Polyp Lab makes great products.

 

[Mark Gray]

We all know those two fish should not be in a 55g. What we are dealing with is case at hand. Not the does and don'ts. Bruce, you came up with the word peroxide. Okay so if it is made with it. Maybe it is used at a safe treatment Level, because they say it is "reef and invert safe." It is like saying copper is safe. Well it is not at all no matter who recommends it. You just said "the puffer will have a bad time with this one." "The hippo will have a bad time with this one." Correct? So giving a suggestion of those knowing neither is reef safe, invert safe, and those two fish not safe. Asking anyone else who you trust and I trust also. Is not going to help the situation at all if the treatments are very dangerous for those two fish and they would have one major problem still for the DT, ich! I am not trying to reinvent the wheel here. Just using common sense. I am sure the first person who said "dose vodka" got called out for being crazy. I see people all the time saying they dose peroxide and this is the common reef keeper with no lab proving anything doing scientific research. I am giving the suggestion of a company that puts a great product forward that can relate to the majority of people. Probably 90% who do not have 3 tanks to qt.
Read the reviews. I am using it. I can not complain. Had 3 white spots. You know what I don't see anymore, white spots. All my invert are all alive and still happy doing their thing. (Tuxedo urchin, snails, lettuce eating nudibranch, peppermint shrimp, fire shrimp, cleaner shrimp, maxima clam, conch.)The ich is not doing their thing.
Polyp Lab makes great products.

Just thought I would comment every time I does vodka I wake up with an extreme headache so I do think dosing vodka can be crazy

 

[4FordFamily]

I would avoid putting a bandaid in a bullet wound and bite the bullet and treat the fish properly. Puffers are relatively sensitive to copper so you'll need to increase the levels slowly. Better yet, if you could get your hands on Chloroquine Phosphate your puffer would do better -- but hippo tangs struggle with it and would do better with copper.

Not an ideal situation at all. In a tank that small with fish that large and dirty, there won't be a scenario where you can manage stress to where ich would be manageable-- let alone when velvet, brook, or other parasites make their way in. So in essence you'll need two quarantine tanks and two medications to execute best. If not, roll the dice and treat the puffer with copper but increase very gradually (add a little every hour or two) over a couple of days.

Sorry I know you don't want to hear that...

 

[JacquelineVictor]

Thank you everyone for your input. I just though it was weird that my hippo was acting like that with just my porcupine. My hippo is bigger than him. My porcupine is just 3 inches. My damsel is bigger than him.