Do blue tangs hide?

thor109 · 05/05/2012, 05:50 PM

I received a order of fish yesterday. All 7 or doing ok except today I can't find blue hippo tang. When I put it in yesterday it was swimming around but staying in one area behind a rock. This morning he was out and about but I noticed the back part of his upper fins didn't look so good. I thought to myself they will heal. Anyway since 2 pm I have not seen it. I just feed tank and no appearance. I've looked for him but no luck. I've had fish hide for several days. Do blue tangs do that? I need a pic of dead body for credit if its dead.

Misled · 05/05/2012, 05:55 PM

Sometimes any fish can hide. Quarantining a fish, or 7 in your case, is the best way to insure a fish's health prior to putting it in the display tank. You don't have any tank info, but 7 fish is a lot to introduce to any system.

cloak · 05/05/2012, 06:07 PM

The blue tangs that I've had have always been real skittish at first. Eventually they've come around though. Just give it some time. If you think it might have died, just use a powerhead and start moving things around. It should pop up.

drew2007 · 05/05/2012, 06:20 PM

My hippo was scared for the first week or so. Now when i put the seaweed clip in there she cant get to it fast enough. She did hide a lil bit at first.

aleonn · 05/05/2012, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drew2007

My hippo was scared for the first week or so. Now when i put the seaweed clip in there she cant get to it fast enough. She did hide a lil bit at first.

+1. They're big scairdy cats at first, and can be drawn out with Nori seaweed. When they're scared or sleeping, they wedge themselves between rocks.

f3honda4me · 05/05/2012, 06:43 PM

7 fish at once plus no QT. you have an expensive lesson in your future. :/

Anemone · 05/05/2012, 06:53 PM

Yes, hippo tangs hide in the rocks.

Kevin

LOMBO · 05/05/2012, 07:40 PM

Mine wedges into rocks at night

dzfish17 · 05/05/2012, 09:41 PM

Man, you are gutsy. Adding all those fish at once (even if they are small) to a new tank is asking for problems. You have to understand that a tanks "cycle" is ongoing and you may see an ammonia spike. Feed light for awhile and keep an eye on ammonia.

hollister · 05/05/2012, 09:45 PM

Adding 7 fish at one time not good. Fish stress easy and need time to ease in the new home. Turning lights out a day or 2 might help.
And good water flow for oxygen levels.

thor109 · 05/06/2012, 12:53 PM

I found it dead behind some rocks. I guess ill try again. I wish live aquaria had blue tangs in stock. I've been on waiting list for weeks. This fish had some problems. You can see in pic how the rear portion of his upper fins are damaged. I never would of purchased it if I could of seen. Mail order sucks for that reason.

freeswimmingfis · 05/06/2012, 01:22 PM

What size tank are you putting these fish into?
How old is the tank?
What are the other 6 fish?

thor109 · 05/06/2012, 01:53 PM

It's a 240 g with a 75 g sump/fuge and a reef octopus 3000. It was started about 6 weeks ago. It has 100 lbs Marco rock and 75 live manado. I put in 4 green chromis and a crab free cleanup crew about 3 weeks ago. I just ordered at 1 time a flame angle , a blue tang , a sailfin tang and a blonde naso tang. I also put in 4 true perculas and a diamond goby. All the other fish are doing fine. I have a quarantine tank I just didn't want to use it. Im taking a chance with my initial stocking. If I get ick or something I will treat fish in my two spare tanks. In about 6 months when I know things are ok I will start to add corals. All future fish will be quarantined.

reeferstace · 05/06/2012, 04:32 PM

Thor, you need to slow WAY down. I am afraid you are in for more of the same if you keep adding livestock like that.

Glad to hear you are going to quarantine from this point. Unfortunately, however, you have likely already contaminated your DT with nasties.

Zobp · 05/06/2012, 05:14 PM

Sucks to hear about your loss, but the blue hippo wedge themselves into rocks quite often. Mine sleeps on his side in between rocks.

thor109 · 05/06/2012, 05:49 PM

I had a indigo dottyback hide for the first 5 days. I thought for sure he was a gonner. Than on day 6 he was swimming around like he owned the place.

thor109 · 05/06/2012, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reeferstace

Thor, you need to slow WAY down. I am afraid you are in for more of the same if you keep adding livestock like that.

Glad to hear you are going to quarantine from this point. Unfortunately, however, you have likely already contaminated your DT with nasties.

I put a lot of thought into this. When I go to local fish store I see fish in the tanks all the time that look bad. There have 7 seperate systems. The bulk of them are 4 wall units with 12 20 gallon tanks in each unit. Anyway I would never put anything from there in my tank. I ordered my fish from a company that says they quarantine the fish before selling. I'm not saying its fool proof and I don't know for sure what they do. I do feel if you sell fish with ich you are not going to be in business very long. It's a chance I took on a new tank. I don't have $5000 worth of live stock to lose if something does go wrong. I wanted to put the tangs in at the same time to avoid conflicts later. That is what is recommended.
I have an ammonia indicator alarm in the sump and I'm doing testing for nitrates and nitrites. I have two 40 gallon tanks on standby as well as running 75 gallon if needed. In my opinion I feel it is better to put fish in with your live rock to feed the bacteria that is in it.

thor109 · 05/07/2012, 05:41 PM

Testing tonight. First pic is ammonia meter second seachem nitrites 3rd is sea Chen nitrate. Maybe slight color on nitrites like .001. 100% happy fish

00Warpig00 · 05/08/2012, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by f3honda4me

7 fish at once plus no QT. you have an expensive lesson in your future. :/

^--- +$100's

As for Blue Tangs hiding. This is totally normal. I have a Yellow Belly Blue tang in my QT right now. He has been there for 4 complete weeks so far and still hides, wedging himself between a PVC Elbow and the bottom glass whenever I am near the tank. He is good enough at hiding that even in a bare bottom QT tank with a couple pieces of PVC in it he hid well enough one time that I thought he was missing. He's a scaredy cat. The only reason I know he is out swimming around all day while I'm not around is because my webcam on my QT tank shows me so.

As for your outlook on LFS's selling fish with nasties on them being out of business... If all LFS's were out of business that sold fish with nasties... there would be NO LFS's. Like you I use what I see at LFS's to try to not make a bad purchase, but I do not assume a fish IS healthy because it looks healthy. I trust NOBODY when it comes to QT. When I watch a fish with my own eyes for a minimum of 4 weeks in my QT tank and am reasonably sure they are not going to pass some nasties on to my other fish in my DT is the ONLY ASSURANCE I will rely on. I would not even put a fish directly from Divers Den into my DT.

Nick

thor109 · 05/09/2012, 08:26 PM

Thanks nick. I have a new blue tang coming tomorrow. I was lucky with my initial stocking but this one is going to be quarantined. Part of me thinks its better on a fish to go into a large tank with lots of places to hide and plenty of food and live rock to graze on vs a small tank with a few pvc fittings. Anyway poor blue tang will spend more time in a bad environment after being plucked from the ocean and put in one tank or bag after another because everyone thinks its best , not including me.........If I was a fish I think I would be happier being thrown in a 240 than a quarantine tank

05/05/2012, 05:50 PM	#1
thor109 Registered Member. Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Plainfield, Indiana Posts: 822	Do blue tangs hide? I received a order of fish yesterday. All 7 or doing ok except today I can't find blue hippo tang. When I put it in yesterday it was swimming around but staying in one area behind a rock. This morning he was out and about but I noticed the back part of his upper fins didn't look so good. I thought to myself they will heal. Anyway since 2 pm I have not seen it. I just feed tank and no appearance. I've looked for him but no luck. I've had fish hide for several days. Do blue tangs do that? I need a pic of dead body for credit if its dead.

05/05/2012, 05:55 PM	#2
Misled RC Mod Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Pittsburgh, Pa Posts: 11,440 Blog Entries: 11	Sometimes any fish can hide. Quarantining a fish, or 7 in your case, is the best way to insure a fish's health prior to putting it in the display tank. You don't have any tank info, but 7 fish is a lot to introduce to any system. __________________ Jesse I'm not saying I'm Batman. I'm just saying nobody has ever seen me and Batman in a room together.

05/05/2012, 06:20 PM	#4
drew2007 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 976	My hippo was scared for the first week or so. Now when i put the seaweed clip in there she cant get to it fast enough. She did hide a lil bit at first. __________________ 110g rimless, Elite Aquatics sump, JNS ConeS Co2, ATI Sunpower, Vortech, Digital Aquatics RKE

05/05/2012, 06:53 PM	#7
Anemone Cloning Around Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Valencia, California Posts: 25,267	Yes, hippo tangs hide in the rocks. Kevin __________________ Back in the pool, swimming with the sharks... Current Tank Info: Red Sea 425XL w/Kessil AP700, Vertex 180i Skimmer, 2 x Vortech MP40s

05/05/2012, 09:41 PM	#9
dzfish17 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Fresno,Ca. Posts: 2,545	Man, you are gutsy. Adding all those fish at once (even if they are small) to a new tank is asking for problems. You have to understand that a tanks "cycle" is ongoing and you may see an ammonia spike. Feed light for awhile and keep an eye on ammonia. __________________ 600g (96x36x46) FOWLR

05/05/2012, 06:07 PM	#3
cloak Moved On Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Stockton, CA Posts: 14,854	The blue tangs that I've had have always been real skittish at first. Eventually they've come around though. Just give it some time. If you think it might have died, just use a powerhead and start moving things around. It should pop up.

05/05/2012, 06:43 PM	#6
f3honda4me Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 1,218	7 fish at once plus no QT. you have an expensive lesson in your future. :/

05/05/2012, 07:40 PM	#8
LOMBO Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Coral Springs Posts: 80	Mine wedges into rocks at night

05/05/2012, 09:45 PM	#10
hollister Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 2,037	Adding 7 fish at one time not good. Fish stress easy and need time to ease in the new home. Turning lights out a day or 2 might help. And good water flow for oxygen levels.

05/06/2012, 01:22 PM	#12
freeswimmingfis Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Katy Tx Posts: 622	What size tank are you putting these fish into? How old is the tank? What are the other 6 fish? __________________ 60x24x24, 2-AI Hydra 26HD, PM R36+ sump, WB HY-5000 pump, 2 MP40 WES, BRS Duel reactor, LifeReef Skimmer, Red Sea 50 Ozone

05/06/2012, 04:32 PM	#14
reeferstace I'm a little people Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Over Yonder Posts: 1,392	Thor, you need to slow WAY down. I am afraid you are in for more of the same if you keep adding livestock like that. Glad to hear you are going to quarantine from this point. Unfortunately, however, you have likely already contaminated your DT with nasties. __________________ Stacy

05/06/2012, 05:14 PM	#15
Zobp Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: DFW Texas Posts: 307	Sucks to hear about your loss, but the blue hippo wedge themselves into rocks quite often. Mine sleeps on his side in between rocks.

05/06/2012, 05:49 PM	#16
thor109 Registered Member. Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Plainfield, Indiana Posts: 822	I had a indigo dottyback hide for the first 5 days. I thought for sure he was a gonner. Than on day 6 he was swimming around like he owned the place.

05/09/2012, 08:26 PM	#20
thor109 Registered Member. Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Plainfield, Indiana Posts: 822	Thanks nick. I have a new blue tang coming tomorrow. I was lucky with my initial stocking but this one is going to be quarantined. Part of me thinks its better on a fish to go into a large tank with lots of places to hide and plenty of food and live rock to graze on vs a small tank with a few pvc fittings. Anyway poor blue tang will spend more time in a bad environment after being plucked from the ocean and put in one tank or bag after another because everyone thinks its best , not including me.........If I was a fish I think I would be happier being thrown in a 240 than a quarantine tank