Hey everyone, I'm new to the forums thing and message boards, but I have a few questions for you more experienced fish guys.

Here is a little about what I have. I have 3 tanks. I have a 12-gallon aqua pod invert tank, a 29-gallon reef tank (w/ HOB refurgium, and protein skimmer) and a 65-gallon aggressive fish tank (fish inside: Humu Humu Trigger, Fiji Puffer, and a luner wrasse.

I have always heard that a baby hippo tang is difficult to keep, I am wanting to see if I can raise one in a tank of its own until it is big enough to put in one of my other tanks. He/She will be the only on in the tank, so I can fully tend to it.

I already done some research, but been having trouble finding a good website.

Just wondering if someone(s) could give me some pointers, tricks, or website to check out.

They need BIG tanks!!! with plenty of swimming space!!! even the little ones! Both of your smaller tanks would be too small for a hippo tang.

maybe others will chime is as to whether the hippo can go along with your aggressive fish.

By the way, welcome to TR!!!

Even the hippo's that are tiny, like an inch or smaller need big tanks??

How big of a tank?

Well, what's the purpose of having a baby fish that you want to raise, but it won't fit into any of your tanks?

You're probably right - a tiny 1" fish doesn't need as much room as an adult version, but it would be a shame to raise a fish only to find out that you can't keep it in any of your tanks.
Again, I hope that someone else joins the discussion in terms of keeping the hippo in your aggressive fish tank - I'm not sure about that. :)

Well what I am hoping to do is.........(tell me what u think)

Get a tiny baby in a tank of its own, get him/her eating really good, and get pretty healthy, then put him/her in my 29 for a while until he grows out of it then put him in my 65.

I have read on here..... that if I remove the more aggressive fish and change the rock around, let the hippo settle then put my other fish back in. then I am hoping to have a bigger tank to put him/her in before he grows outta the 65.

Dose that make sense????

Let's hope some others respond. I can imagine that Amphibious will have something to say later tonight!

Also, hippo tangs are susceptible to ich and lateral line disease, so you want to make sure that your water parameters are top notch. I've also read that they're not so compatible with triggers, but as with many things in this hobby, it probably depends on .........

From what I've read, they need at least 90 gallons!


Here (http://www.wetwebmedia.com/paracant.htm) is an interesting article.

Yeah I know about the ich issue. I have a few ideas on how to try to keep it under control. One is keep copper in the tank, and get a cleaner shrimp.

Like I said its just an idea for now. I still have a lot of research and tank prep. If I pull it off you gotta admit it would pretty freakin cool!!! :cool!:

I hate to give you bad news but I agree with reefbaby none of your tanks are big enough for any tang. Bo the the puffer and the trigger are pretty aggressive so probably not a good Idea. And a 65 is to small for them also. Don't think of it as a bummer just think of it as an opportunity to get a bigger tank. hippos will outgrow a 29 really quick hope this helps

Also you can only use copper in a tank with no rock and sand, or it will get absorbed and kill the bacteria. Puffers are also ich magnets

i agree with Christi too, none of your tanks are big enough for any size tang. they need alot of swimming room, even the small ones, IMHO. they cover many many many miles every day in the ocean, grazing on algae. the stress of the fish being in a small tank will probably cause some serious health issues in the fish,as stated, ... ICH and MHLLE are both caused by stress, IMO.

I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND THAT MY TANKS ARE TOO SMALL RIGHT NOW.

I'm getting a 90 gallon bowfront in the next few months. He shouldn't grow out of all my tanks before i get it. I just planning on that i could just kept transfering him from tank to tank as he grows, until i get my new big tank.

I really want to get a tiny 1" or so hippo and raise him. so i know that he is really nice and healthy and eating good in his own tank, before i put him in with my other fish.

I am going to set up kinda like refurgium tank cuz i know how they like algea beds and colder water. i'm gonna keep him in there until i see it is nice and healthy and eating good them put him in my 29 gallon for a little bit then i should have my 90 by then to put him in.

I would like advise/recommendations on which algea is best for baby hippo.

Thanks Everyone for your help!!!

Hi Jenn4183, I want to personally welcome you to TR with a big warmhttp://www.theculturedreef.com/01F0B5~1.GIF because so far everyone is shooting down your idea about the baby Blue Hippo Tang. I want to make you feel more comfortable about us. When you ask for advise it's because you lack experience in an area. That's a good idea. In this case you've laid out what, at first glance to you, is a sound plan. You have a 12 gal tank for the initial phase of the hippos stay, then transfer him to the 29 until he's big enough for the 65 gal and then into the eventual "bigger" 90 gal tank. To one, with only a little experience, that is a logical plan. To those that have responded before me it is a plan with a disastrous end for the Hippo. Unfortunately, I have to concur with my peers. Even the 90 gal isn't adequate for an adult Hippo Tang. By the way, I've not known them to like, "colder water". That is an ICH situation if I ever heard one. I don't know where you are getting your advice on the Hippo but, I'd seriously advise you to look elsewhere.

Jenn, I am an old man with 61 years in aquariums. I have seen and done much. I have tried most everything and failed many times. All our failures cost the lives of beautiful fish and our hard earned money. I've had people tell me, the money doesn't matter. That's OK. The needless death of the fish does matter, at least to me. We deal in living things and living things will die. But to purposely go in a direction that guarantees the death of a critter, I can't condone. It seems to me that is where this is heading.

It sometimes hurts to hear the truth. We all want success for you. You are being very wise coming to us for help. I hope you are wise enough to follow our direction. There is one thing about the future we cannot predict, that it will ever happen. Many of my best plans "for the future" never came to fruition. I've learned to live in the now. It's a wise thing to do.

Jenn, our members tend to love one another like family, we hope this advice doesn't deter you from becoming "family".

Dick

Yeah! What ^^^he^^^ says! :D

Thank you Amphibious!!!!!!!

I'm glad you broke it down for me like you did. Thats why I chose to come on here and ask what other thought of my idea.
I'm not out to harm any fish or anything else in the process of my newbie ideas.

I do want to say thanks to everyone else to commented and help

i wish i could word things like Dick does !! for some reason my posts come off as harsh, i dont understand it. i went back and read a few ... i need to work on that. sorry if i came off that way ... it was not my intention.

Thank you Amphibious!!!!!!!

I'm glad you broke it down for me like you did. Thats why I chose to come on here and ask what other thought of my idea.
I'm not out to harm any fish or anything else in the process of my newbie ideas.

I do want to say thanks to everyone else to commented and help
I thank you, Jenn, for not taking my/our criticism as anything but constructive. We are passionate about our reef hobby and each of us must learn the "right" way to achieve our desired goals. As stated above, I have made most of the mistakes you newer people are going to make. Not only am I passionate about the hobby, I'm emotional about it in every way. I care deeply about the critters we keep. Many newer reefers are not aware that the collection of reef inhabitants is increased by demand. Demand is influenced by at least two things. One, do to the expansion of the marine aquarium hobby around the world. The expansion of the hobby is fueled by the ability of the average person to keep a reef in captivity. That wasn't true 20 years ago. Second, every fish, coral or other marine critter that dies in our care creates more demand because we generally will go out and replace it with a like specimen or something different. There is not an infinite supply of reef fish and critters for us to collect. Countries, world wide are placing more reefs off limits to collection because of the higher demand. So, it becomes a matter of conservation for us to do the right thing when we keep our reef tanks.

I am far from being an "expert" but, through my extensive experience I do my best to teach those that ask questions. Please keep asking questions, Jenn.

It is my sincere belief that you are going to become a valuable member of this family. Thank you for responding. :love!:

Dick

BTW ... it is great to have you here Jenn.

:cheers:

I am very thankful for all you guys on here. No hard feelings towards anyone :up:

I will get some new pics of all my tanks so you guys can check them out and tell me what you think.

Where is a good place to post them so you guys can check them out??

start a members tank journal of your own. it will also be a helpful thing for you to go back and look at if you run into a problem. not to mention that you can use old pics to compare with new pics to see growth in your reef.

for example ...

day 1

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n75/lReef_lKeeper/AHyacinthus2-1.jpg

3 months later ...

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n75/lReef_lKeeper/Updated%20Pics/AHyacinthus-2.jpg

I am uploading pics now on here. so check them out in about 30 mins i should be done. Comments welcome :fish:

Hi Jenn and :welcome: to TR!

Just wanted to say THANKS to everyone for sharing you knowledge with me. :mrgreen:

And to let you all know I have decided not to try it. It jut wouldn't be fair to the little hippo.

I'm very proud of my new student, Jenn. You made the right decision, :love: !!!

Good job Jenn! Some day you'll have the capacity for this fish, and you'll enjoy it all the more! :D

^^^ what she said ^^^

Yeah one day i will get one. They are my favorite tang

I just have to throw this in. I had a dream last night about panicking to save a fish , it is only comming back to me now, I think there was abroken tank involved, it wasnt mine, but I managed to rescue the hippo tang in a paper cup. I was panicking to get it to the water, and when finally released, it looked just like a baby hippo swimming away! Weird. I know it had to do with reading threads about hippo tangs and broken glass on tanks!! (OK, is this what I am to expect now? I must be obsessed, dreaming about saving fish!)

yeah one day i will have my hippo!!

Laura, what a hoot!

Hoot, maybe
nut, definatly!!:rotfl:

lol thats nothing..i had a dream that i FOUND a 2' yellow tang in a broken bag with very little water in it laying on the sidewalk... it was huuuuuge! and fat! lol i brought it home and put it in my tank...and then i woke up...haha

oh...and for some reason i gave all of my fish to walmart to hold on to while i did tank maintenance..... dont ask why....idk...but they said they wouldnt sell them..but they did... and one died...

..stoopid walmart. shouldnt even sell fish...worst idea ever...

wow, i really, Really hope that was part of the dream too. please tell me it was. hahaha:rotfl: