need help with tiny hippo tang

[rng_pw]

I ordered a hippo tang and it came in tiny. I was out of town so my friend put him in qt on Friday. I picked him up today and put him in my qt with some cupramine. He has not eaten anything yet and he looks really skinny. He was swimming around a little at my friends and also a little in my tank but he spends allot of time hiding which I heard is normal. How do I get him to start eating? Thanks

Ricky,

 

[bct15]

They hide a lot when they are super tiny, you might have to try different foods to get it to eat...and you might have to add the food and walk away because he probably won't eat with you watching. When he does eat it will be small amounts, dart out take a nibble dart back to hiding spot, repeat. Be sure not to overfeed adding a bunch of uneaten food. If you have any dither fish in your display, they might entice him to eat. By dither fish I mean something that is always out in the open like green chromis, it will try to school or follow a fish around once in the display.

 

[rng_pw]

Thanks. I put him in 15 gallon plastic container rather than a glass tank so he will have a little more privacy. He is the only fish in qt. What foods do you recommend? I currently have mysis, marine cuisine and some flake. As far as my display tank I currently only have two clown fish.

 

[reef4beer]

Try adding some garlic to the food it'll entice him. Also if you can try feeding live brine shrimp that would be great .

 

[rng_pw]

Thanks for the advice. I'll get some garlic in the morning.

 

[bct15]

Thanks. I put him in 15 gallon plastic container rather than a glass tank so he will have a little more privacy. He is the only fish in qt. What foods do you recommend? I currently have mysis, marine cuisine and some flake. As far as my display tank I currently only have two clown fish.

Mine actually hung out with (velcroed) to my clowns until it got bigger, but it would swim around with my green chromis during feeding time. Just put a small bit of the mysis in there, when I say small I mean very small. If you can get some sea veggies you could try that too, actually all of your foods should work. Soaking in garlic soak might work, but I'd avoid it if I could with a small fish in a small space. Can damage fish intestines and dirty up water a little faster, especially since a drop is good for a whole tanks worth of fish and their food.

Also, once it starts eating good it will grow very very fast.

 

[Blasto]

I have a tiny hippo right now in my nano. I've had him for about 4 months and he still hides by the heater a lot. He does swim but when I approach the tank he will hide. I feed some flakes and frozen brine shrimp. Eats it well and has gotten bigger. Looks healthy and only has a clown and red coris wrasse as tank mates. I would say just give him a couple days to get over the shock of being moved and he'll be fine once adjusted.

 

[specvjeff]

I've had very good luck with them taking nutra mar ova and cyclopeeze to start. I then start mixing in very small pellets like the .5 mm New Life Spectrum or the smaller Hatchery Diet from Sustainable Aquatics. They are planktavores in the wild so start really small and work your way up.

Sent from my Kindle Fire HD using Tapatalk 2

 

[reefer antax]

the best food for the hippo tangs is New Life Spectrum Thera+ A Sinking Pellets work really good for them has garlic on it already

 

[PaulKreider]

I have a tiny hippo right now in my nano. I've had him for about 4 months and he still hides by the heater a lot. He does swim but when I approach the tank he will hide. I feed some flakes and frozen brine shrimp. Eats it well and has gotten bigger. Looks healthy and only has a clown and red coris wrasse as tank mates. I would say just give him a couple days to get over the shock of being moved and he'll be fine once adjusted.

You put a tang in a nano....?

 

[rng_pw]

Thanks for all of the advice. As soon as my lfs opens I'll pick up a few different options and give it a go.

Ricky,