Blue Hippo Tang

[ReefGamer]

Hello everyone, so my must have fish is A blue regal tang and I have spent the last 5 months in researching about everything on saltwater tanks and of course fish. This has got me nervous about any tang.

I have a 120 gallon
tank and I have waited to get the tang last, of course.

My stock list now:
3 ocellaris clown fish (long story lol)
1 lawnmower blenny
1 purple fire fish
1 anthia
1 carpenter wrasse
1 flame angel
1 yellow coris wrasse ( added 2 days ago, took it from someone as the fish wouldn’t have made it in the tank that was broken down)
1 royal gramma

When I feed there seems to be a lot of empty space in the tank or “free swimming area” but I know the fish I have will grow. They are all small from 1” to 2.5” except the yellow wrasse I just got who is the biggest about 4.5”.

I am most nervous about ICH.. all my fish have been doing amazing and are very healthy. No signs of any disease or parasite. I know this does NOT mean I don’t have ich though. ALSO NO QUARANTINE SETUP OR PLANS TO DO ONE (talk to the wife).

My nitrates have been between 0-5 and phosphates 0-0.1 for the last 4 months and I do OVERFEED. My export is light; two filter socks, decent skimmer, and a big bio rock in the sump ( probably two years old, looks like marinepure rocks). 10% water changes a week.

my questions are:
1. My stock list is okay with the tang?( not heavy stocked?)
2. I’ll be getting the tang from TSM aquatics, what are the chances it comes with ich or gets it from my system and if it gets it from my system will it then spread and kill everything else?
3. how much bioload will the tang add to the tank regarding Nitrates and phosphates? Small, medium, or large?( might need Fuge?)
4. What size should I get? TSM has sizes 1” up to 3”

Sorry for the long post and thanks for helping out. Hopefully give me some comfort in this.

 

[ca1ore]

Hippo tang is susceptible to,ich, though not like an Achilles. Really small ones don’t tend to do all that well and have a high mortality rate; larger ones will quickly outgrow a 120 (4’ long?). Hippo is an awesome fish, but quite idiosyncratic, particularly when cramped.

 

[Jerry Barnes]

I’ve had them for many years. They are ich magnets. You just have to accept the fact that you may lose your fish in the event you get ich.

 

[Fishingandreefing]

Hippo tang is susceptible to,ich, though not like an Achilles. Really small ones don’t tend to do all that well and have a high mortality rate; larger ones will quickly outgrow a 120 (4’ long?). Hippo is an awesome fish, but quite idiosyncratic, particularly when cramped.

I stopped liking my dory and it’s kind of partly on me. She’s grown like 6” in my 120 and bullies other tangs. She also nips on my sps.

 

[ReefGamer]

Hippo tang is susceptible to,ich, though not like an Achilles. Really small ones don’t tend to do all that well and have a high mortality rate; larger ones will quickly outgrow a 120 (4’ long?). Hippo is an awesome fish, but quite idiosyncratic, particularly when cramped.

They are ich magnets but that’s if you have it in your system, I don’t have any reason to believe I do but it’s possible. My 10 other fish don’t have any symptoms.
It is a 4 foot tank. All the feeders around here with their gem fangs and hippo fangs in their frag tanks and doing very good for years gives me satisfaction in adding one to my 120.

 

[ReefGamer]

I’ve had them for many years. They are ich magnets. You just have to accept the fact that you may lose your fish in the event you get ich.

Lose the tang or all the fish?

 

[ReefGamer]

I stopped liking my dory and it’s kind of partly on me. She’s grown like 6” in my 120 and bullies other tangs. She also nips on my sps.

You stopped liking bc the bullying? It would be my only tang. Is it stressed about the size of the tank or livestock?

 

[ca1ore]

Lack of symptoms does not mean lack of ich. If you have not done QT on your fish, odds are you do have it. Term ‘ich magnet’ gets tossed around a lot. The Achilles (and to a lesser degree the powder blue/brown) are ich magnets, I would not say the same about the hippo though. I do have ich in my system, yet my hippo swims about without symptoms (I’ve had it since 2013). Add an Achilles ..... spots galore.

Lots of people do lots of things ..... doesn’t always make them good ideas. My hippo, in a 4’ 90 back in 2013 went insane at about 6’ and turned into a coral fragging machine. Upgrading to a 265 helped immeasurably. Just have a plan.

 

[Kryptonian]

Here's my 2 cents. If you're gonna get a blue hippo, TSM is the place to go. Their quarantine practice is among the best out there. I've purchased two blues from TSM and both are doing fantastic. (I've purchased all but 2 of my fish from TSM, I have 17). No signs of ich or anything else. Anything can bring ich into your system even if they're not showing symptoms. Blues are just susceptible just like quite a few other fish. This just means that if ich is in your system, they're probably going to show signs before other fish that are less susceptible. I love both of my blues and am very happy with them. TSM is very open to questions so if you're concerned, send them an email. They have responded to all my questions very quickly and with very complete information.

Ich magnet doesn't mean they're bringing ich into your system. It just means they're going to show signs earlier than other fish. TSM is the only place that I do not quarantine fish from.

 

[Fishingandreefing]

You stopped liking bc the bullying? It would be my only tang. Is it stressed about the size of the tank or livestock?

If you’re keeping her by itself prob ok. But again, she nips on my sps. I want to get her out but I got too much rock works and corals.

 

[Jerry Barnes]

Seems every couple years mine get ich out of the blue. Then my powder blue gets it the next day. The hippos are my favorite though. I’ve got four of them in my 300.

 

[ReefGamer]

Thanks everyone. I would be in the same boat as you with just dealing with it in the system if I find out I have it in there.
My biggest concern is what I had read somewhere here before. Is if it is in my system and the new tang gets it all over that it makes the ich in the system stronger and multiply faster.. leading to my healthy fish getting it now? That’s what I am worried the most about..

If I could get the tang healthy enough to fight it off and not get symptoms anymore then would be good to go, but it is getting the tang to that spot without dying.

 

[ReefGamer]

Here's my 2 cents. If you're gonna get a blue hippo, TSM is the place to go. Their quarantine practice is among the best out there. I've purchased two blues from TSM and both are doing fantastic. (I've purchased all but 2 of my fish from TSM, I have 17). No signs of ich or anything else. Anything can bring ich into your system even if they're not showing symptoms. Blues are just susceptible just like quite a few other fish. This just means that if ich is in your system, they're probably going to show signs before other fish that are less susceptible. I love both of my blues and am very happy with them. TSM is very open to questions so if you're concerned, send them an email. They have responded to all my questions very quickly and with very complete information.

Ich magnet doesn't mean they're bringing ich into your system. It just means they're going to show signs earlier than other fish. TSM is the only place that I do not quarantine fish from.

That’s what I have heard and I read their website! Which size tang should I get and is most likely to make it? I prefer to get everything as small as possible

 

[ca1ore]

If it is in my system and the new tang gets it all over that it makes the ich in the system stronger and multiply faster.. leading to my healthy fish getting it now? That’s what I am worried the most about..

That is a legitimate concern. You could run a large UV when introducing the new fish - UV won't eliminate ich, but it will reduce parasite pressure. This is also another reason to do QT. You can use water from your display to 'expose' a new fish to anything in your tank water and it can build up some level of immunity (or die).

 

[Kryptonian]

That’s what I have heard and I read their website! Which size tang should I get and is most likely to make it? I prefer to get everything as small as possible

I’m with you there. I like buying small so they can grow with my tank. I purchased a 2” and a 4”. When I was buying, those were the only two available. You might want it’s size to be comparable to the gramma to avoid bullying though the tang will be a lot faster.

 

[Hugh Mann]

Do you have plans to upgrade to a minimum 6 foot tank in the future, or are willing to rehome the fish within a year or two? If the answer is no to both, don't get a Hippo. 4' is way too small for an adult.

What people mean by 'ich magnet' is that if ich is present in a system, if your perameters are perfect and the fish is happy and healthy, it will be fine, but throw off a perameter or stress the fish and it will get ich. Odds are without quarantine, regardless of the stores QT practices, it is likely present in your tank, just hidden.

I got my own Hippo about six weeks ago. Lfs told me they coppered it, but after 3 weeks of observation, I forgot a water change, and next day, ich. Ich everywhere.

 

[Ribo15]

This post is exactly what I am going through! Had an ich free system with 13 fish yellow, naso, regal, blue throat trigger, and others added a sail fin and it caused some aggression for a couple days next thing I knew my blue regal had ich spots. Since then it has spread to some other fish and the spots have all come and went a couple times on various fish. The blue regal being hit the hardest for sure but I have a UV running and I’m feeding heavily with vitamarin. It’s been about a week since the spots first showed up and fish are doing well still don’t see flashing or rapid breathing just the spots. Guess that sailfin caused me to go the ich management route! Going to see how it goes. I can’t pull out that much rock and coral and QT that many fish..

 

[lilkiwi930]

I have a 32g tank set up. I have similar fishes besides the wrasses. But I do as well have a fox face fish. I believe if you get a blue hippo tang it should be fine and would be a wonderful add.

I have a kole tang in my tang with mostly everything you mentioned plus my fox face. Surprisingly my tang gets along with my fox face. The tang was a bully prior to me getting the fox face. But once I got my fox face idk how everything calmed down in my tank.

 

[Ribo15]

Do you have plans to upgrade your 32? That seems extremely over packed for such a small tank.

 

[lilkiwi930]

Do you have plans to upgrade your 32? That seems extremely over packed for such a small tank.

If this question is for me, yes. I purchased a 72g tank with a sump. Planning on moving so waiting for to set it up once we are in the new house. For my fishes I have 1 Fox face, 1 royal gramma, 1 clown fish, 1 purple fire fish, 1 kole tang, 1 lawnmower blenny, and 1 damsel. Minus the snails and such. They get along perfectly but will be moving over to a 72g tank.