Hippo tang wont eat

[princess]

well i got a hippo tang last thursday and he still wont eat he is the only fish in the tank he just sits in the rocks and hides i have tried feeding him nori and also romain lettuce soaked in garlic and not soaked in garlic he wont touch anything anybody have any ideas

 

[EmilyB]

Can you get any live brine ? That usually gets most reluctant eaters going. You could try OSI sprirulina flake, very well excepted, get tiny bits of flakes floating about in the water.

 

[NoriMuncher]

Yeah, try live brine. If he won't eat that, its probably hopeless.

 

[suckair]

I have a hippo tang that hid wedged between the rocks for a week before he came out and got a bite to eat! I thought he was a goner for sure but his resparation was normal so I just kept trying. He finaly came out a little and within a few days after he was in front of the tank just swimming around.

They are very timmid fish!

Randall

 

[danmhippo]

Hippo tang is actually a omnivore grazer. It typically picks up more plantonic food than nori sheet in home aquaria. I typically soak flake food in selcon first, then place the soaked food in the path of the return pump to be grind up into tiny small pieces. This way, I feed both non-photosynthesis corals and the mid water grazers like the hippo tangs.

Watch your hippo. If his stomach is not caved-in, maybe he is getting something to eat without your presence already.

 

[fishfarmer]

My hippo was equally skittish when I added it to a new home. It still hides when I put nori in the tank, but sneaks out after I step back. Try blasting some food with a turkey baster near it, mine ate like that for the first few days until it got used to it's surroundings.

 

[JennM]

Did you see it eat in the store before you bought it?

Is it nipping at algae during the day, when you aren't standing close to the tank?

Many fish can be ok without feeding for a day or two here and there, and many will "graze" throughout the day, on whatever you have growing in your tank.

If you have some caulerpa, try that. Most tangs can't resist it!

Jenn

 

[JohnD]

Live brine shrimp are fine, but if you can't specically get that, try anything else that is live - blood worms, mosquito larva. Once when he/she starts to eat, you are out of the woods.

From there, feed a varied diet of both vegetable matter - Seaweed selects, nori, Formula 2; as well as meaty foods - Formula 1, Prime Reef.

My hippo, Leroy, has been with me for 10+ years. He was eating in the LFS and hasn't stopped! Seeing a specimen eat is key!

Best wishes for your hippo.

 

[princess]

thanks for the replies everyone i put some flake food in the intake for my return pump where it would be sprayed out of the returns into the tank and it worked as soon as my hippo saw the flake food flying everywhere he took off after it and he ate like a pig i just fed him the same way again and he ate again i think he was afraid of the lettuce clip i was using before it was one of the ones that looked like a clown fish so i stopped using it now he looks very happy and is swimming all over and not hiding anymore

[ October 09, 2001: Message edited by: Ebee ]

 

[canadawest]

Good news Ebee. My Hippo tang eats like a pig when it's feeding time, and is often grazing during the other parts of the day. Mine goes crazy for both flake foods and frozen seafoods. Definitely the most aggressive feeder in my tank. (And I have 10 different species of fish in my tank)

Caulerpa is also a favorite. If you can find some grape caulerpa, he will go to town on it.

I've tried romaine lettuce on a clip several times and he wouldn't bother with it at all.

I don't bother with seaweed or nori because there is always algae somewhere in the tank to graze on, and like danmhippo said, they are omnivores anyway and show be fed more meaty foods over plant based anyway.

 

[danmhippo]

Ebee, Its a great news. Now that you got the hippo to show and eat, you should stop grinding up the flake from now on, and just feed him the normal way. You don't want to overfeed your tank! Also, you need to increase the nutritional value of the flake you are using by soaking in high fatty content liquid booster (such as Selcon or Selco) to make sure your hippo is in healthy shape. HTH