Overly shy tang

[dianeww]

I have a small hippo tang who's been in my QT for a week now. The only time he ventures out from behind the one rock in there is to eat, and he is eating very well (frozen mysis, flake, and nori). But he grabs a few bites really quickly and then zooms back behind the rock . I thought that by the time a week passed, he'd be venturing out more. Will he be spending his life behind the rocks in my main tank too?

Parameters:
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrite 0.0
Nitrate >10
salinity 1.022
Temp 80

 

[Jimbo7]

How large is your QT? A lot of fish will act overly shy because the tank is smaller then what they are used to or because there is no sand and it doesnt seem natural. I would assume once you put him in your display he will get adjusted and venture out. They are usually fairly active tangs.

 

[melosu58]

In Time he will be OK. I`ve had a few tangs that took a week or two to get over being shy.

 

[dianeww]

Thanks, guys, I was hoping for opinions like yours. Jimbo...the QT is only a ten gallon, and in the lfs he was swimming in a 6-foot long tank with at least 20 other hippos and others. Quite the change, I guess maybe this has confused him a bit, poor thing.

Another note, do you all think I should QT him for 3 weeks or more? No sign of ick after this week, and (when I see him) he's fast and hungry.

 

[melosu58]

I would QT another week or two. Observation is a good thing. Try to feed him some dried seaweed to keep his immune system up.

 

[austinsdad]

I used to like to keep a chromis in my QT tank sometimes to bring the shy ones out.

 

[catmel]

Tangs are very nervous fish. A sudden movement or something they dont reconize can spook them, especially in a small QT tank. Once they get in your larger tank ,after a while they'll start to feel more comfortable and will most likely anticpate seeing you with food and come out pretty often.