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stoogeco
04/08/2015, 08:07 PM
I was sitting in front of my tank today watching when all of a sudden my beautiful hippo tang was sideways sucked up in the intake for the power head. I was able to reach in and free him. He would have been toast. There is some redness above his eye. Should I be alarmed?

acrohead500ppm
04/08/2015, 08:12 PM
My guess is something was wrong before he met the powerhead.

In the wild schools of Paracanthurus tangs spend alot of time in heavy surge zones on the reef crest to graze on turf algae.
They are not exactly weak swimmers, you didn't notice anything physically wrong with it before hand?

MoneyGone
04/08/2015, 08:12 PM
Yes, any healthy fish should be strong enough to not get caught by a powerhead. Something is wrong with the fish. What are your parameters?

tkeracer619
04/08/2015, 08:12 PM
Yes, healthy fish shouldn't get stuck to power heads. Next time unplug the power head instead of pulling the fish off.

I would keep an eye on the red spot.

stoogeco
04/08/2015, 08:26 PM
Thanks TKE. I didn't even think of that. He was just chasing food, and looked like he wasn't paying any attention to the power head. He's swimming around now like nothing ever happened. I just did a water change today, the parameters are good.http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/xx112/stoogeco/Mobile%20Uploads/20150408_215204.jpg?1428546206623&1428546214548

acrohead500ppm
04/08/2015, 10:00 PM
I am not an expert, but I would say your best bet is to feed it well and hope for the best.

rwb500
04/08/2015, 11:13 PM
My guess is something was wrong before he met the powerhead.


it shouldn't be a guess, more like an almost-certainty.

I am not an expert, but I would say your best bet is to feed it well and hope for the best.

the best bet would be to carefully observe the fish, try to come up with a diagnosis for what is wrong (surely something), and administer the appropriate treatment.

acrohead500ppm
04/08/2015, 11:29 PM
it shouldn't be a guess, more like an almost-certainty.



the best bet would be to carefully observe the fish, try to come up with a diagnosis for what is wrong (surely something), and administer the appropriate treatment.



I agree with you, but this is a fish in a reef tank. It obviously has an issue, but depending on the problem the best bet is to leave it be and offer it plenty of food.

Try and capture it for treatment? easier said than done and most likely will do more harm than good due to the stress on the fish involved.

Ill stick with feed heavy and hope for the best.

stoogeco
04/09/2015, 06:15 AM
Thanks for the info! It is greatly appreciated. He is eating very will this morning, again like nothing ever happened. He didn't even thank me for saving his life. I'm pretty amazed at how well the picture came out with my phone. Thanks again for the information!

hotelbravo
04/09/2015, 07:36 AM
What size tank do you have him in?

stoogeco
04/09/2015, 01:35 PM
46 Gal Bow

fizzlefish
04/09/2015, 01:41 PM
He looks to be a bit skinny in my opinion. Maybe it is only the angle though...

hotelbravo
04/09/2015, 02:32 PM
46 Gal Bow

I would hope that this is a temporary tank hippo tangs need a much larger tank than that. They would outgrow that size tank in less than a year

nuxx
04/09/2015, 04:36 PM
My guess is something was wrong before he met the powerhead.

Yeap...

Only fish I ever found on a powerhead **knock on wood** was a near death Purple Tang. The next day our tangs killed a Tomini Tang. Have a feeling the Purple got really beat up the night before. Just a weird cleaning of house about 6 months ago...

nuxx
04/09/2015, 04:37 PM
He looks to be a bit skinny in my opinion. Maybe it is only the angle though...

Yeah our Yellow Belly is about as wide as he is long... :hmm4:

acrohead500ppm
04/09/2015, 04:43 PM
Oh jeeze, its in a 46 bow? poor guy.
Also, like others said, looks skinny, what is your feeding regime?

Mishri
04/09/2015, 04:47 PM
If you are feeding him well and he is eating well with a pinched belly, perhaps parasites... might need to stick him in a QT tank and try prazipro.. possibly chlorquine phosphate, such as NLS-ich shield powder. I'd start with the prazi though... he should develop a belly if you are feeding it a good amount. my powder blue tang developed a belly quickly, within a couple of days.

My guess is he is in a weakened state from parasites which caused the initial incident.

stoogeco
04/10/2015, 05:45 AM
Thanks for all the info. I am relatively new at this reef tank. I started it in August of last year, and just got the tang a few weeks ago. I'm lucky the wife let me get this tank, a larger one is pretty much out of the question (unless I can somehow get it in while she's sleeping) so the tang might have to go when he grows up. How much should I be feeding, and what? Thanks again for the help. Great place to learn here!

hotelbravo
04/10/2015, 05:50 AM
Well the tangs gonna have to go alot quicker than you think, but I would feed a blend of meaty foods like mysis but he needs variety of seaweed he is mostly a herbivore and should have a sheet of seaweed in there on a clip so he can eat throughout the day