I'm having some issues with 2 of my hippo tangs. I have had them for a few weeks and they all have been active. I was away from the tank the last 2 days and today I found that 2 of my hippos have went into hiding. They are not that active like the other 2 are. There are no signs of aggression towards any fish in the tank. One of the hipos is hiding in the shade with its fins fully extended. The other is hanging out under a coral. The one hanging out under the coral is breathing extremely fast also. Any ideas what is wrong with them? I'm also trying Voogle by Easy Life to see if this stuff really works or not.
Hippo tangs
- Thread starter teriyakithunder
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Yeah something is definately stressing them. You said nitrate is always around 15? That could be it as these are new additions and all your other fish are used to the environment. I know my nitrates were around 50 and when I added anything new it died (didnt know it was 50 at that time due to crappy test kit). All my other fishes seemed fine and normal. Finally got it down to 5 ppm and so far my new clown and 6 line wrasse are still alive (new record considering all previous fish died within 2 days lol).
I have not noticed any marks or wounds on them. They seem to be more skinny than the other 2 hippos. I fed a little earlier and they didn't come out to eat. I noticed this once the lights turned on. So everything I noticed was within the first hour of lights on if that helps any. I can't think of anything that can stress them out. I haven't seen any aggression towards any of the fish. I do have 2 rbta's in my tank.
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+1. I didnt see the post where your tank was 120. Everyone opinion is different but I have a Red Sea tang in my 225 and I would only ever consider putting another tang in there and thats it. Some people get lucky and cram a bunch of small tangs into a tank and as juvis they sort out al their little dominance junk as they grow, but in a tank that has a tang already problems will arise. As far as nitrate at 20 it is a little high but not that big of a deal. I have known people to have their tanks slowly crash from prolong nitrate exposure and some who have had 20+ all their reefing life. I would say the rapid breathing is a sign of an inpending parasite outbreak and the outbreak is due to a stressor such as bullying.
See if you can pull the rock the one is hiding under and see if there are any signs of Ich... Hippos are extremely susceptible to it, and stress VERY easily. If you can't get them to a quarantine tank, you can treat the whole tank with Kick Ich... My Hippo came down with Ich within a week of bringing him home, and I panicked. Chad at coral Gazers calmed me down and I bought a bottle of Kick Ich. Within a week, the ich spots were gone and he was happy and healthy again. Works great!
