Connor May 23, 2007 Share May 23, 2007 Yesterday night I got a baby blue hippo tang that is about 2 inches and ive been noticing that its been doing a lot of laying down on its side i know tang are known to occasionaly play dead but is this a bad sign Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawns May 23, 2007 Share May 23, 2007 assuming that all of your parameters are okay, has he been eating? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Connor May 23, 2007 Author Share May 23, 2007 i just checked all of my water parameters and every thing is fine my salinity is fine and ive seen him been nibbling on some algae but ive had him less than 24 hours and he barly seems to be moving Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASaleem91 May 23, 2007 Share May 23, 2007 Are there any fish in the tank that are maybe attacking him or stressing him out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Connor May 23, 2007 Author Share May 23, 2007 (edited) no he's the only one currently. Then a few minutes ago when i was looking at the tank i saw that he hadn't moved for strilla wabout 15 minutes so i washed my arm and reached down into my tank to pull him out and i bumbed the rock he was under and he shot out from under it with what appeared to be hole lot of energy.im not sure but is it possible for fish to kind of sleep because i know he's probable pretty stressed out from being introduced to a new tank so could he have just been resting or something it also seems to me like he is looking for a place with low water flow where he doesnt have to work hard to stay still and lay down i just turned the light off and hes kind of laying against the tube that sucks water into my filter Edited May 23, 2007 by Connor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak May 23, 2007 Share May 23, 2007 How and for how long did you acclimate for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unninair May 23, 2007 Share May 23, 2007 I would suggest turning off bright lights for a day or so. Unni. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Connor May 23, 2007 Author Share May 23, 2007 while in the bag he sat in the water for 30 minutes then i used a dripper to aclimate him over an hour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 May 23, 2007 Share May 23, 2007 Hi Connor, if he's stuck to your filter there's something wrong. Pacific Blue Tangs will wedge themselves into cracks and spaces in the rock to hid while they are adjusting and also when frightened, but for it to lie on its side when there's no competition is not natural. When you say your water is "fine", what does that mean? Also, how old is the tank that this is the first fish in there? It would be a big help to list the parameters of your tank, for example, when you say your salinity is fine, does that mean that it's 1.026 or does that mean that it's salty? Not trying to be sarcastic, but details help out a lot and with a Pacific Blue, water quality is important. They are notoriously susceptible to ich and are prone to get infected easily when things are not optimal. When they are, they are pretty quick to fight things off. If it's the only thing in the tank, I don't know that I'd acclimate it with the lights off. This is more to soothe the other fish and make them feel like it's time to sleep or at least calm down versus for a single fish which needs to get used to coming out. If there's no competition, leave the normal light cycle on so that your fish can acclimate to the schedule and routine rather than hide more than it already is. You want to encourage it to swim, perhaps put some garlic and vitamin soaked nori in the tank for it to nibble on when it is hungry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hbh May 23, 2007 Share May 23, 2007 (edited) My tang prefers a cave to sleep in or dash into for a sense of safety. He also seems to "lock" himself with his dorsal spines into the rockwork at night so he doesn't have to work so hard at resting. Perhaps your is trying to wedge himself in for a sense of security. When mine gets really stressed out he plays "dead" by laying on his side or trying to wedge himself into a crevass. Hope this helps. Edited May 23, 2007 by hbh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Connor May 23, 2007 Author Share May 23, 2007 my salinity 1.0215 i cant really post the other chemical levels because i just use the color test strips. Thanks for help but he died sometime last night i found him laying on the sand under the filter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 May 24, 2007 Share May 24, 2007 Before getting another fish I'd problem solve. If he was kind of laying around and died just like that, perhaps there's something wrong with the water quality. Best to problem solve before adding a new fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grav May 24, 2007 Share May 24, 2007 Connor, I would not suggest a hippo, or any tang as a 1st fish nor in any tank less than 90 gallons. Where did you get the fish? It is possible he was not in great condition when you got him. My guess is you could test and test everything and never find an answer. My suggestion is to get major parms in line (SG, PH, Temp...) and get some hardy tank raised fish like clowns to start with. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lletellier May 24, 2007 Share May 24, 2007 a moment for our little blue friend... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Connor May 25, 2007 Author Share May 25, 2007 (edited) thanks for the help ive checked and rechecked everything about 3 times a day but still cant find anything wrong i also checked my phosphates and all those where find to i got my fish from a local pet store where i am friends with many of employes so im pretty sure it was healthy at least when they first got it i also know that they usually hand pick all of their livestock. In addition i have one more question and thats about bubble anemones do u think i could keep one in my reef tank ive heard they can sometimes kill some other corals but ive also seen great tanks with anemones in them where everything gets along great Edited May 25, 2007 by Connor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike & Michelle May 25, 2007 Share May 25, 2007 thanks for the help ive checked and rechecked everything about 3 times a day but still cant find anything wrong i also checked my phosphates and all those where find to i got my fish from a local pet store where i am friends with many of employes so im pretty sure it was healthy at least when they first got it i also know that they usually hand pick all of their livestock. In addition i have one more question and thats about bubble anemones do u think i could keep one in my reef tank ive heard they can sometimes kill some other corals but ive also seen great tanks with anemones in them where everything gets along great Just an FYI....I have had a Blue Hippo for six months and each night he goes into the back corner under the outflow pipe between the back glass and the one of the corner overflows to sleep. He allows the flow to pull him against the overflow. When I first noticed it I thought he was dead. I would knock on the glass and he was lifeless. I would even reach in and touch him and he wouldn't budge. Yet each and every morning he is there to pig out like tangs do. He is the deepest sleeping fish I have ever seen. I guess you never know!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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