Tiny hippo tang in flow

[mfinn]

I have a small issue(jk).
I ordered a hippo tang from saltwaterfish.com and it was suppose to be in the 1" to 1-1/2" range and having ordered fish online before I've noticed they tend to be on the larger size of their posted size ranges.
So I figured something in the 1-1/2" to 2" would be perfect.
What I got was this little tiny hippo about the size of a nickel.
I am not kidding.
This is the smallest tang I have ever seen.
My heater in the tank has suction cups to hold it up.
You know what I'm talking about size wise.
The heater is not stuck to the glass, it's hanging there.
This little tang can hide behind the suction cup and I can't see it, looking straight on.
Right now it is in my 20 gallon quarantine tank and seems to be doing well.Eats frozen brine, appears to eat small pellets and even ROE.
So I'm reasonably confident it has a good chance to survive.
My issue is, my plan was to put the hippo I ordered into my 240 after the quarantine period.
My 240 has between 12,000 and 14,000 gph flow in it.

I'm thinking this might not be a good idea.
Pro's and con's?

 

[Peace River]

I have a small issue(jk).
I ordered a hippo tang from saltwaterfish.com and it was suppose to be in the 1" to 1-1/2" range and having ordered fish online before I've noticed they tend to be on the larger size of their posted size ranges.
So I figured something in the 1-1/2" to 2" would be perfect.
What I got was this little tiny hippo about the size of a nickel.
I am not kidding.
This is the smallest tang I have ever seen.
My heater in the tank has suction cups to hold it up.
You know what I'm talking about size wise.
The heater is not stuck to the glass, it's hanging there.
This little tang can hide behind the suction cup and I can't see it, looking straight on.
Right now it is in my 20 gallon quarantine tank and seems to be doing well.Eats frozen brine, appears to eat small pellets and even ROE.
So I'm reasonably confident it has a good chance to survive.
My issue is, my plan was to put the hippo I ordered into my 240 after the quarantine period.
My 240 has between 12,000 and 14,000 gph flow in it.

I'm thinking this might not be a good idea.
Pro's and con's?

Are there high flow and low flow areas of your tank? Also, you may want to consider the overall flow pattern of where the fish will get pushed to - for example does the flow evenly move in a circle, do the flow crash together in a ball of turbulence in the middle, etc. Can you extend the quarantine period...like maybe to a year?

 

[AdamNC]

Pros- you get to see it grow
Cons- it may get eaten or picked on by something

 

[Mjrenz]

Are there high flow and low flow areas of your tank? Also, you may want to consider the overall flow pattern of where the fish will get pushed to - for example does the flow evenly move in a circle, do the flow crash together in a ball of turbulence in the middle, etc. Can you extend the quarantine period...like maybe to a year?

That's the same thing I was going to suggest, hippos grow very quickly

 

[mfinn]

Overflow slots are 1/4".
Could very easily slid through.

 

[Mjrenz]

Overflow slots are 1/4".
Could very easily slid through.

That would be my concern, I'd go the route of keeping him in qt. You'll be surprised how quickly he grows

 

[mfinn]

Well the little guy will be doing at least 30 days in the quarantine tank.
See what size he is after.
I may have to either put him in my 50 which is being re-started, or I'll see if anyone local to me has a small tank ( and mandatory larger tank) that wants to grow him out.

 

[ZoWhat]

First year will be the Hippos fastest growth year. Do you have the patience to QT it until March 2020? 9 mos?

Maybe take it on as a personal project to challenge yourself

A bigger question is what other fish are in the 240 DT? Tiny stressed out Hippo most likely will not make it due to bullying

 

[mfinn]

First year will be the Hippos fastest growth year. Do you have the patience to QT it until March 2020? 9 mos?

Maybe take it on as a personal project to challenge yourself

A bigger question is what other fish are in the 240 DT? Tiny stressed out Hippo most likely will not make it due to bullying

I have other fish I plan on running through my quarantine tank.
I don't have room for another tank.
This hippo will not be in this tank much longer than the 30-40 days I plan to quarantine it.

The tank has mostly anthias and leopard wrasses, and cbb, clowns.
IMO the size of this fish would probably fly under the radar of the other fish in the tank.
There are no other tangs or fish that resemble a hippo.
I doubt if bullying would come into play.

I was more concerned with the fish being able to take the flow.
But I do have other options.