New blue hippo Tang Hiding

[Afm32607]

Have a blue tang I bough three days ago. So far I have yet to see him out, have accidentally caught him on his way back to hide in the rocks once.

He is in quarantine (40gal Breeder) with a kole tang, bought at same time from same dealer. The kole tang is slightly bigger, but I have not seen any aggression between the two in fact when I was acclimating the pair the blue tang was hiding underneath the kole tang in the bucket.

In the tank the kole tang doesn’t seem to be chasing the blue, as he avoids the blues hiding spot altogether. So while I cannot say for certain there is no aggression between the two, if it were life threatening the kole would be more interested in the hippos hiding spot.

Should I separate the two or just leave them, plan to put them in my 200g reef after QT?

 

[Jon Fishman]

Is be hiding from light possibly? Photosensitivity may be signs of disease

 

[Afm32607]

Honestly I can't tell. He could simply be reacting to the Kole that reacts to me as I walk in, the QT tank is around the corner in a laundry room. The store had it for over a month in their tanks, so it isn't like it was fresh off the plane. I also turned off the white light spectrum on the fixture (old AI SOL Blue).

Sometimes if I am quick enough and quiet enough I can see him halfway out of his hiding spot, but I have no real way to watch from across the room or anything.

 

[jgvergo]

In my experience, they are skittish fish and will take a few days to get comfortable. Before they do, hiding is quite natural. Give it time...

 

[LiveWire]

IMO If he is eating then I would just give him some time. I am sure he is stressed from another move after only a month. I would also offer some Nori on a clip to make sure that he is getting all that he needs for his nourishment requirements.

 

[Afm32607]

I got the nori in there, no Idea if she is eating yet, however the Kole is eating just fine, so the hippo will hopefully pick it up too.

 

[Afm32607]

I know they are skittish when small, but I am just worried about aggression between the two in such a small QT tank. Any opinion on how long I should wait?

 

[LisaMarie]

Every species of tang I've ever had was very shy at first. My Kole took forever to warm up to us. Ditto on the nori!

 

[DarthSimon]

Blue hippos are usually very shy at first. Offer him some nori on a clip. Usually they can't resist the green seaweed.

 

[Afm32607]

I’ve been doing nori during the day and a variety of frozen at night. I will stick with that for now I guess. Just was not sure about two tangs in the same QT