Missing Blue Hippo Tang

[Perpetual Novice]

I have had a tiny hippo tang just under 2 inches for about 7 months now. She got ich and pulled through in the first couple weeks and has been clean since. Occasionally I've seen her pick up some cuts and scratches that heal and I thought nothing of it. Recently she had several of them and her fins looked maybe a little tattered but she seemed to be doing fine despite looking a little bit weathered. She has never been a shy fish. She is living in a small tank at the moment until she grows enough to move in with the bigger tangs in my larger system. The only fish larger than her right now is my melanurus wrasse so she's always been out and about hoping for food whenever I walk past.

Yesterday I added a small Kole tang to the tank (roughly 2.5 inches) and as I was observing the new tang adjusting I noticed that I couldn't find the hippo tang anywhere. The hippo tang has been kept with other tangs larger than herself several times before and was never hesitant to introduce herself and resume her normal activities so this seemed strange. Then I fed the tank and she still didn't appear which is very strange. This morning she didn't appear either. There is enough live rock that I wasn't able to completely rule out every nook and cranny but if she is hiding she is doing a very good job of it. The tank has a tight lid and all the other fish are acting healthy and happy.

I've never seen my hippo tang disappear like this before. Has anyone seen one of these tangs disappear for extended periods before? if so, how long should I wait to panic? Besides being attached to this little tang she is also a model citizen and has proven to be very hardy and confident until now. I'll do anything not to lose her. I've been racking my brain to think if it's possible that she escaped the tank somehow and my cats got her. but my lid is very secure. Help...?

 

[LAReefer4Life]

Hippo tangs definitely have some strange behavioral traits so I wouldn't say hiding out for a couple days is completely out of the norm but it really just depends on the individual fish.

How large is your aquarium? Test your ammonia levels and see if you have a spike. That is a good identifier if she passed.

 

[Saltyreef]

They like to lay flat and stick to weird surfaces. It took me like 10 mins to find one in a 10 gallon quarantine tank with 5 pieces of big pvc without digging my hand around in there. It was dawning its nightime camoflauge which happens to be white spots so it made it very hard to see with a bare bottom too.

 

[LAReefer4Life]

I have had a tiny hippo tang just under 2 inches for about 7 months now. She got ich and pulled through in the first couple weeks and has been clean since. Occasionally I've seen her pick up some cuts and scratches that heal and I thought nothing of it. Recently she had several of them and her fins looked maybe a little tattered but she seemed to be doing fine despite looking a little bit weathered. She has never been a shy fish. She is living in a small tank at the moment until she grows enough to move in with the bigger tangs in my larger system. The only fish larger than her right now is my melanurus wrasse so she's always been out and about hoping for food whenever I walk past.

Yesterday I added a small Kole tang to the tank (roughly 2.5 inches) and as I was observing the new tang adjusting I noticed that I couldn't find the hippo tang anywhere. The hippo tang has been kept with other tangs larger than herself several times before and was never hesitant to introduce herself and resume her normal activities so this seemed strange. Then I fed the tank and she still didn't appear which is very strange. This morning she didn't appear either. There is enough live rock that I wasn't able to completely rule out every nook and cranny but if she is hiding she is doing a very good job of it. The tank has a tight lid and all the other fish are acting healthy and happy.

I've never seen my hippo tang disappear like this before. Has anyone seen one of these tangs disappear for extended periods before? if so, how long should I wait to panic? Besides being attached to this little tang she is also a model citizen and has proven to be very hardy and confident until now. I'll do anything not to lose her. I've been racking my brain to think if it's possible that she escaped the tank somehow and my cats got her. but my lid is very secure. Help...?

Whats the word? Have you found him?

 

[Eva Rose]

Look for him after lights go out to see if he is hiding from new addition. As others said hippos can squeeze into narrowest crevice sideways. Another time to check is hour or so before lights come on. Sometimes they slip out at these times to avoid new fish.

 

[Perpetual Novice]

Whats the word? Have you found him?

yes. I eventually found the nook he was hiding in. It took another 24 hours before I saw it again. So I quickly took the opportunity to feed the tank. There’s no aggression or stress in the tank at all. I’m not sure why it decided to hide for so long. But now it’s acting as if nothing happened.