Please help. Don’t want to kill another poor fish...

[Mycoolhamm]

One week ago. I bought a hippo tang from a friend breaking down his tank. It was very fat, great color, and looked great. Brought him home and put him in Qt. Day 1 he may have ate a couple scraps but not much. Basically spent the first couple of days laying in side and wouldn’t do much. Put in some extra pvc fittings bc I figured it was stress and still won’t do anything but hide in pvc or lay on side. I can see a couple spots of ich now that are probably related to being stressed. I want to start copper but not sure if that will stress an already stressed fish. Should I start copper or fresh water dip or what?
So far I’ve tried soaking food in garlic and change water every other day.

 

[Mycoolhamm]

 

[Punchanello]

Hippos do often lay on their side or lean in to a corner or object when they are stressed. It doesn't necessarily mean they are sick. From the photo its colours are good and doesn't look emaciated. I would give it more time before starting copper to settle in. Keep a close eye on it but try to avoid hands in or around the tank except for feedings to reduce stress.

 

[Bfragale]

He looks good in the photo. Mine often “lays” or “leans” on the rocks and stuff. He/she always has. I would give it a few days and see what he does. Have you been keeping nori on a clip in the tank? That may entice him to eat, and you can see if the nori has been eaten. If it was me I would add nori and observe over next few days before you treat. Good luck and happy reefing

 

[ReeferSteve]

I agree with the above posts. He looks healthy in the picture. Maybe take a deep breath and just let him get used to his surroundings. You’re doing good in my opinion.

 

[Sailfin11]

Especially considering you bought this fish from an established tank, I wouldn't think disease is a major concern. I would double-check your key parameters: salinity and temp. If those are both good, I think he should eat soon after he recovers from the stress of being moved.

 

[Punchanello]

They are funny fish. Mine has given me so many heart attacks. Getting wedged between rocks, laying down dead, swimming upside down, even swimming backwards. They are dopey, sooky babies.

With tangs and other larger fish, I find that the sooner they recognise you and associate that with the next meal the quicker they settle. Maybe hold off on water changes or messing with the tank too much for a little bit so that it doesn't associate you with more disruption. Just feed and watch.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hippos especially in the wild play dead and often excite their owners with this behavior.
Assure it is getting good and proper foods with garlic and vitamins added periodically

 

[Zan's Aquatica]

Why did you quarantine a healthy happy captive fish? He shows no sign of disease but if you keep him there then hit his immune system with copper and more treatments then you will have a sick fish on your hands... I would have released the little guy into the tank and let him continue being fine! Are you sure you see ich? Pics?

 

[Zan's Aquatica]

∆ this is terrible advice.

I am asking why he would quarantine a healthy and happy fish coming out of his friends tank that has been in captivity doing well... What is so "terrible" about my thought process? He stressed the fish for no reason and now it has ich... I've brought fish from my friends tanks and just put them directly into my tank, throw some food in there and let them have fun. minimal stress and never had an issue. If you're going to call me out, use the opportunity to "enlighten" me rather than just say my thinking is Terrible.

 

[good.reef]

One week ago. I bought a hippo tang from a friend breaking down his tank. It was very fat, great color, and looked great. Brought him home and put him in Qt. Day 1 he may have ate a couple scraps but not much. Basically spent the first couple of days laying in side and wouldn’t do much. Put in some extra pvc fittings bc I figured it was stress and still won’t do anything but hide in pvc or lay on side. I can see a couple spots of ich now that are probably related to being stressed. I want to start copper but not sure if that will stress an already stressed fish. Should I start copper or fresh water dip or what?
So far I’ve tried soaking food in garlic and change water every other day.

I'm just curious, if it was a friend breaking down a tank and you were impressed with how healthy it was, why did you feel the need to QT? Taking a fish from a comfortable environment and sticking it to a mostly empty, likely small, tank with just some pvc has to be completely stressful to the fish. And are you going to treat with copper? Did your friend ever have any known diseases in his tank?

I'm all for QT but I can't imagine that unnecessarily quarantining a fish is always better when taking from a reliable source. I wonder if we ever get so set in our routines and rationalizations that we don't always do what's best but just what we (think) we've learned?

If no one's mentioned it yet try keeping the lights on the tank and in the room dim for a while to help lower stress.

 

[NatD]

If the fish hadn’t already been carrying ich, it wouldn’t have had spots appear when it became stressed. I say it’s a good thing OP did not drop the guy into his DT or he’d have exposed all his other fish.

I do agree with killing the lights in the QT and the advice above about letting him settle more and getting good nutrition in him first. You can also wrap the back and sides of the QT with dark paper or something.

 

[Zan's Aquatica]

If the fish hadn’t already been carrying ich, it wouldn’t have had spots appear when it became stressed. I say it’s a good thing OP did not drop the guy into his DT or he’d have exposed all his other fish.

I do agree with killing the lights in the QT and the advice above about letting him settle more and getting good nutrition in him first. You can also wrap the back and sides of the QT with dark paper or something.

Strictly speaking, in microbiology, ich most likely and almost certainly present all tanks. It is an opportunistic pathogen that is likely kept at bay by a fish's healthy immune system.

If you have an otherwise healthy and stable tank and have made no recent additions to you tank but your temp spikes for several hours (or some other change to the otherwise healthy tank conditions) and one or two of you fish get ich, where did it come from? The fish, their immunity dropped due to changes in environmental factors and gave the ich a foothold.

Same thing can happen to humans when their immune systems become compromised. In this case, the healthy fish was pushed.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Props to OP for QT. Very much in agreement with the idea of avoiding contact with the tank outside of feeding. Ammonia alert badges can be good warnings.

Not all tanks have ich, just those who choose to let it into their display. The fish didn’t “get ich” from OPs actions, it already had it and the visual symptoms just showed.

 

[Bapeluso]

Well put @NeonRabbit221B

 

[ReeferSteve]

Props to OP for QT. Very much in agreement with the idea of avoiding contact with the tank outside of feeding. Ammonia alert badges can be good warnings.

Not all tanks have ich, just those who choose to let it into their display. The fish didn’t “get ich” from OPs actions, it already had it and the visual symptoms just showed.

This.

 

[Zan's Aquatica]

Props to OP for QT. Very much in agreement with the idea of avoiding contact with the tank outside of feeding. Ammonia alert badges can be good warnings.

Not all tanks have ich, just those who choose to let it into their display. The fish didn’t “get ich” from OPs actions, it already had it and the visual symptoms just showed.

Just what we are saying, it is a present part of biology that is kept at bay with the immune system. Ich is very present and acts opportunistically. You can take any of your healthy fish, put it in QT, stress it out, and it will have an ich outbreak due to compromising its immune system. Do you see where our understanding overlaps? But our opinions on how to handle the situation doesn't? My opinion, don't stress the fish and it will be healthy... yours, stress the fish and see what happens. This fish had no reason to be quarantined. It didn't come from the wild and just experience several shippings and fish store treatment, etc.. came from his buddies stable tank and then thrown into a shocking situation and it is crashing.

 

[Bapeluso]

Ok, I cant hold back, gotta throw in my 2 cents. The fish is moving to a new environment regardless of QT or DT so it is going to have some level of stress regardless. It would probably be less stressed being introduced to a QT tank which has no new tankmates. If it does happen to break out with the ich while in QT, it probably would in the DT as well. Better to have it happen in QT where it will be treated rather than it get into the water column, substrate, rock, other animals, etc. I would totally do what the OP did and then some knowing how hippos are ich magnets. Hell I'd even give it some medicated food supplemented with metronidyzol when its finally introduced to display tank as an added repercussion. By being in QT it also eliminates the potential of future breakouts when new tankmates are added or any other changes

 

[ReeferSteve]

Ok, I cant hold back, gotta throw in my 2 cents. The fish is moving to a new environment regardless of QT or DT so it is going to have some level of stress regardless. It would probably be less stressed being introduced to a QT tank which has no new tankmates. If it does happen to break out with the ich while in QT, it probably would in the DT as well. Better to have it happen in QT where it will be treated rather than it get into the water column, substrate, rock, other animals, etc. I would totally do what the OP did and then some knowing how hippos are ich magnets. Hell I'd even give it some medicated food supplemented with metronidyzol when its finally introduced to display tank as an added repercussion. By being in QT it also eliminates the potential of future breakouts when new tankmates are added or any other changes

Thank you for this. I’m shocked reading some of these replies literally blaming the OP for doing the very thing that this hobby teaches you to do. Introduce a new fish? QT it first. I don’t care if it came from across the street or the Red Sea. Especially a tang. It’s so ill advised to tell someone not to QT because the fish “came from your buddy”

That’s simply terrible advice and I’m surprised to see it here on R2R to be frank.

 

[Zan's Aquatica]

In the natural world, every turn of a rock is a new environment and these fish are swimming and surviving all day long. They have endless hiding spots and other fish around to feel safe. They are never placed in a confined exposed plastic box... the DT tank is the closest thing to nature and his best defense...