How long should new fish (hippo tangs) hide for?

Oberst Hajj · Apr 30, 2021

On Tuesday I received a shipment of fish from TSM Aquatics (I'm really happy with my experience with them). This shipment included three Blue Hippo tangs that are still hiding all the time. They went into a temporary 40g breeder setup along with a bland Naso tang.

One of the Hippos is sometime active when no one is around the tank and he will dart out when I feed Reef Frenzy, but goes back into hiding as soon as he grabs a bite. The other two are pretty much edged between the tank bottom and a rock all the time. They don't come out at feeding time either. I think one grabs food as it floats by him, the other I've never see eat anything. I am putting nori in the tank every afternoon and it is gone in the morning, so someone is eating it.

The Naso was swimming around a lot the first afternoon, but has since become more secluded. Water parameters are all in check.

I know fish need time to adjust, I'm just wondering at what point I should worry about it?

vetteguy53081 · Apr 30, 2021

My hepatus was almost 4 months. At 15 months still a little bashful

NashobaTek · Apr 30, 2021

My hippo is over a year and still hides but not as much as it use to

Oberst Hajj · Apr 30, 2021

vetteguy53081 said:
My hepatus was almost 4 months. At 15 months still a little bashful

NashobaTek said:
My hippo is over a year and still hides but not as much as it use to

As in sitting under a rock for months and never coming out?

NashobaTek · Apr 30, 2021

Oberst Hajj said:
As in sitting under a rock for months and never coming out?

No, just for 10-15 minutes. When I first got it, it hid for days before we'd see it.

N3mo · Apr 30, 2021

Some take weeks before they feel comfortable to come out of hiding. Each fish will have their own personality and acclimate to the surrounding differently.

Oberst Hajj · May 4, 2021

Thanks everyone. Two of the hippos will dart out at feeding time if I step back a couple of feet. The third is still pretty shy and we rarely see it just swimming around. I set up a security camera on the tank and I have seen all three out swimming and eating the nori via the camera. Now that I know all of them are eating, I'm not worried about them hiding all the time. They'll come out when they are ready.