Asking for Tang permission

[Carpentersreef]

Hi everyone,
I am wondering if adding a Hippo Tang to my 180g community would be a good thing or not. Besides a plethora of corals, my fish population consists of:
Foxface
Bicolor blennie
Yellow watchman goby x2
Kole Tang
Mandarin
6 line wrasse
Flame hawkfish
Tomatoe clowns x2
Bangaii Cardinals x3

There seem to be a lot of tang experts out there, and I would like some experienced opinions/advice.

Thanks,
Mitch

 

[Carpentersreef]

Oh, one more thing, I am currently feeding the community a variety of mysis, brine shrimp, clams, squid, silversides, brown and green seaweed and krill. Would I need to feed a hippo anything different?

Thanks,
Mitch

 

[2poor2reef]

Permission denied. No tang for you.

2poor2reef.
Formerly the Soup Nazi.

[ October 16, 2001: Message edited by: 2poor2reef ]

 

[naesco]

The Kole and the other fish will not be a problem. The Kole is a mild mannered tang more interested in sucking the algae of smooth rock and glass.
I don't know about the the foxface which IMO is the only issue here but I have never had one.
Feed nori or other greens.
I think it is very important with Hippo Tangs that you choose a really healthy one; plump, alert and eating aggressively at the LFS otherwise pass on it. There will always be another. I would feed it garlic extract soaked nori for 10 days or so to avoid the high possibility of an ich outbreak.
Good Luck

 

[davelin315]

No problem. I'm not a big believer that tangs are so difficult to keep when you are looking at the commonly kept varieties. The one you want is not much different from the kole tang, although the kole is more specialized for grazing than the more omnivorous pacific blue/hippo/hepatus/regal tang. Your food is fine. The one thing that I can 99.9999% guarentee is that when you introduce the new tang, it will have an outbreak of ich within a couple of days, which will gradually disappear if you have a healthy system. The foxface shouldn't be a problem, as it's not an overtly aggressive fish except with other foxfaces in smaller tanks.

By the way, you don't need to ask for permission. You're grounded for 2 weeks for not knowing that.

 

[Carpentersreef]

Thanks guys,
but with all the gun talk in the sump and all the tang passion here in general discussion, I was thinkin' that there could be mini cams on all tang tanks in Canada and the US!
Does anyhbody think that the Hippo would be aggressive towards current inhabitants?

Thanks,
Mitch

 

[Anonymous]

I would say it deoends on the size. If you're talking full grown tang it may be an issue, and it will definitely get ick. If it a teeny baby no problem.

Glenn

 

[esmithiii]

My understanding is that hippo tangs eat primarily zooplankton, not macro algae.

E

 

[davelin315]

They're omnivorous, and will eat both (I've watched mine run around with pieces of caulerpa hanging out of their mouths, pods, flake, pieces of shrimp and fish, you name it, they've eaten it). They're also not very aggressive, although they will spar with other fish periodically. Mine are always cruising and shaking in the tank at this damsel or that damsel, or that angel or that tang. It's kind of cool to watch, and no one ever gets damaged.

 

[Green Lantern]

There might be a guy over on reefcentral willing to give you one for free.

 

[Fish Guy]

I have kept a regal for the past year in my 240. I purchased it 1.5" long and it is now 6" long. It is a placid fish that just eats and swims around with my 10" Naso. They only fish that gave it any trouble was my yellow but that stopped as soon as the regal outgrew the yellow. Great fish, only problem I had was initial ich. I recommend you have some cleaner shrimps in your tank before you get this fish.

 

[Carpentersreef]

Thanks.
A group... now THERE'S a good idea

(saw post on RC)

 

[Josh's Reef]

I love hippos, but I would never get one. They are so ich and LL disease prone. They are really nice but they always look like they are wasting away to me.
As long as the hippo is at least the size of the fox face you should be fine. The fox face and hippo are the same shape and the fox will look at him as competition for food.
herbivores

 

[Laurie]

I, too, thing a Hippo will be fine in your system. The ich thing shouldn't be too much of a problem (after a probable initial case of it) since your tank is fairly large.

We got our Hippo just over a year ago. She was about the size of a quarter and we put her in our 29 gal. temporarily. We had to move her within 3 months because she grew so fast. She was also having bouts of ich. She'd have it one day and the next day it would be goned. Then a few days later she had it again. I used so much garlic soaked seaweed it was unbelievable. I finally realized that it wasn't spreading anywhere else and that it was just her.

When we moved her to our 75 gal. she was about 2" long. Still had ich showing up on and off but otherwise very healthy.

Two months ago we set up our 200 gal. tank. She is now in there with our black tang and a bunch of other smaller fish. She is now about 5" long. She is very thick around the middle since she grazes constantly and eats like a pig. I haven't seen a spot on her since the first couple of days in the new tank. She has lots of room to roam now and I think that has made the difference.

Your diet plan sounds great - my Hippo loves everything. Just make sure to put seaweed in the veggie clip a couple of times a day.

Good luck.

 

[Josh's Reef]

Laurie sounds like your doing a great job and relly having fun ,but dont think a bigger tank is disease proof. If you see ich treat it.

 

[danmhippo]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Carpentersreef:
<STRONG>

Does anyhbody think that the Hippo would be aggressive towards current inhabitants?
</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

What the hell are you talking about? I am never aggressive toward ANY fish!

Seriously, I actually would suggest you go with 3 small hippos in your tank. Hippos do form a group and is more active and disease resistent when in groups. Your 180 is fine for a group of juvenile hippos. In addition, being a group, other tang/herbivore are less likely to pick on the newly introduced hippos.

 

[KenH]

A Hippo should be a fine addition to your current tank setup. It should get along well with your Kole. I keep a Hippo, Kole and Yellow tank in a similar size tank. I'd also recommend getting a small specimen, as it will tend to acclimate to your tank and tank mates easier. I'd recommend not getting a group of baby Hippo's, even though that is how they live in nature, since you would not have the facilities to support their growth.

--- Ken

 

[sawcjack00]

The hippo and foxface should get along ok. I have a purple, a hippo, and a foxface, and they all behave nicely althought the hippo is definitely the head honcho of the tank. My hippo chows down on nori as weel as any meaty foods I put in.

 

[Carpentersreef]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by danmhippo:
<STRONG>



Seriously, I actually would suggest you go with 3 small hippos in your tank. Hippos do form a group and is more active and disease resistent when in groups. Your 180 is fine for a group of juvenile hippos. </STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Really? I thought that having numerous tangs was an invitation for trouble? I can just see it now - a band of rogue juveniles roaming the tank extorting mysis and nori from the peaceful community! I may as well buy three little leather jackets and have "Hell's Hippo's" embroidered on the back!

Mitch

 

[JeremyR]

I really believe the "ich" and health problems with hippos is due to the rotten drug catch and shipping methods since the vast majority of hippos come from indo sources. Soloman hippos which are more rare in the trade are much healthier, and give me virtually no problems.

Fwiw, I believe lateral line problems with hippos is a water quality/food issue.. IE I've never seen a hippo in a healthy reef tank develop hlle.

I would not stock multiple hippos, they do school as juveniles, but as they grow up they become more solitary, and will begin to fight IME.