New blue hippo tang, advice?

MMreef · Apr 5, 2017

When I started my very first saltwater tank I had one thing in mind, coral! So, I've never had, really, more than 2-3 fish at one time. The first two fish I ever owned was my two black occi clowns. I still have them and they have been my only two fish for many years now. They are getting up there in age!
Anyways, I've always been fascinated with tangs. I had an amazing purple tang for roughly 7 years and he passed away last year

. So, I've been on the prowl for a really tiny blue hippo tang this time and I finally found one yesterday. He's about the size of a quarter, if that, VERY small. He's also very very skiddish, even though he has been swimming around the tank exploring everything. It's been about 48 hours since I introduced him into my tank and I haven't seen him eat anything yet! I went out and purchased some fresh "Sally's seaweed salad" as well as "Ocean Nutrition Formula One Pellets". Just looking for any advice into keep this guy healthy and alive! I've read a bit about them, but I like hearing from people with real experience and real success. Thanks in advance guys :> Picture posted below, you can see him in the upper left corner of the tank, very small!

MMreef · Apr 5, 2017

Actually, I fibbed a bit. There are 4 fish in my tank. I forgot about my little firefish I put in there after it was finished cycling. I wasn't quite ready to introduce my old buddies (the clowns) to the new system. So, I picked up a tiny firefish a few months back and he's taken well to the tank.

AllSignsPointToFish · Apr 5, 2017

If you can get some live brine shrimp or black worms, that might entice the hippo to eat

Encore · Apr 5, 2017

You can buy nori from an asian market for waaaay cheaper then fish tank branded seaweed. Tried any frozen mysis yet? I usually ask the place i buy from wht they were feeding the fish i want. Usually make them feed it too

MMreef · Apr 5, 2017

I rinsed some frozen brine shrimp last night and fed the tank a cube. He acts like he wants to eat, but he's very very shy. That and my clownfish get incredibly excited when it's time to eat. They will push, shove and fin slap anything in the way of them and their meal.

I put a bit of the seaweed down in the corner of the tank that he seems to have taken to, in hopes that he will munch on it.

AllSignsPointToFish · Apr 5, 2017

I feed a varied diet...many types of meaty and herbivore mix frozen foods, nori enriched with Selcon and VitaChem, and several types of pellets. Mine is a pig, actually. I got her when she was about 3 1/2" long...now she's pushing 6" a year later....and FAT.

AllSignsPointToFish · Apr 5, 2017

Here's the frozen food assortment I use:

MMreef · Apr 5, 2017

You're tang is absolutely gorgeous! I love blue hippos! On a side note, I noticed today that my hippo has some color fading around his eyes, it almost looks similar to that of lateral line disease, often seen in purple tangs. I understand he's probably been through all heck in the past couple months, from being plucked from the ocean, flown across the world, sitting in various tanks for days/weeks. I've also noticed it's very difficult to find really small blue hippo tangs that look to be incredibly healthy, I see MANY hippos with ich, super skinny and just overall looked incredibly stress out.

AllSignsPointToFish · Apr 5, 2017

And dry food:

AllSignsPointToFish · Apr 5, 2017

MMreef said:
You're tang is absolutely gorgeous! I love blue hippos! On a side note, I noticed today that my hippo has some color fading around his eyes, it almost looks similar to that of lateral line disease, often seen in purple tangs. I understand he's probably been through all heck in the past couple months, from being plucked from the ocean, flown across the world, sitting in various tanks for days/weeks. I've also noticed it's very difficult to find really small blue hippo tangs that look to be incredibly healthy, I see MANY hippos with ich, super skinny and just overall looked incredibly stress out.

Lots of vegetable matter enriched with vitamins and fish oils. That will help tremendously.

MMreef · Apr 5, 2017

I appreciate all the help! The local pet store down the road has, for some reason, a huge variety of frozen foods and a few dry foods despite their lack of marine animals. I'll have to stop in there tomorrow and take a closer look at some of their foods.

AllSignsPointToFish · Apr 5, 2017

MMreef said:
I appreciate all the help! The local pet store down the road has, for some reason, a huge variety of frozen foods and a few dry foods despite their lack of marine animals. I'll have to stop in there tomorrow and take a closer look at some of their foods.

You're most welcome! Hopefully, you found it useful.

I supplement with pellets a couple of times per week, but I mainly feed frozen foods and nori.

Lynn52 · Apr 5, 2017

A little over a year ago I found an extra bag labeled yellow belly hippo tang in a shipment from an online fish vendor. Inside that bag was a tiny fish about the size of a dime. It was almost colorless. I didn't order it nor had I ever wanted one. I stuck her in a very tiny QT tank with an air stone. I put her through a full series of tank transfers. She was shy and didn't eat much. Everyday I went down to the basement sure she'd be dead. She must have been eating because she was growing. After 30 days of QT she moved into my 125. She'd grown to about the size of a nickle and got some color. That tiny fish held her own even in the big tank with all my other tank. Initially she was so small I fed her spirolina brine and crushed flakes. She showed no interest in nori until she moved to the big tank. She is now close to 3" long and one of my favorite fish.

4FordFamily · Apr 5, 2017

AllSignsPointToFish said:
If you can get some live brine shrimp or black worms, that might entice the hippo to eat

X2. Red nori also proves irresistable to many tangs.

AllSignsPointToFish · Apr 5, 2017

4FordFamily said:
X2. Red nori also proves irresistable to many tangs.

Or even red grape macroalgae, but that's harder to find:

4FordFamily · Apr 5, 2017

AllSignsPointToFish said:
Or even red grape macroalgae, but that's harder to find:

But it sure is beautiful!

AllSignsPointToFish · Apr 5, 2017

4FordFamily said:
But it sure is beautiful!

The tangs are LAWNMOWERS when it comes to this stuff!

4FordFamily · Apr 5, 2017

AllSignsPointToFish said:
The tangs are LAWNMOWERS when it comes to this stuff!

I've not had any! Interesting note, I have some purple macroalgae in my tang tank that they're leaving alone! It's darker and more like lettuce, though. At one point I knew what it was.

wowkingjames · Apr 5, 2017

I feed my tangs, (purple tang over 21 years old & blue hippo about 3 years old) seaweed extreme (pallets) and different types of frozen cubes. My hippo was about 1" or 2" and now she is about 6".

MMreef · Apr 6, 2017

Thanks for all the replies! My new blue hippo is doing quite well now, seems to be adjusting well to the new environment. I caught him eating some of the seaweed piece I put in there and I went to throw some pellets in the tank this morning and he dove straight into the mingle with my clowns and managed to fight them off and get at least 4 pellets! Consider me impressed, those clowns are a handful at feeding time!