New Hippo Tang - Scratching?!

[Bill S]

It's running at the recommended flow.

[erikharrison]

Odd, maybe UV is like online ordering, not for you! LOL!

[Bill S]

LOL. Online ordering works fine for me, it's group orders...

BTW, the bulb is new. I think it's that the hippo "sleeps" on the bottom of the tank - and the parisites move from the rockwork and sand, up to the fish.

[jrnannery]

Agreed, bstreep. That seems the most likely, from what I have read.

My hippo had a very bad bout with ich, but after a two week qt, she was fine, and has not exhibited spots, flashing, or anything. It has been a while, thank goodness.

[briancarlile]

One thing to remember is that UV sterilizers can only sterilize what they come in contact with, which is the water. Parasites can lye dormant in the substrate or on a fish for long periods of time until stress suppress a fishes slime coat layer. Even with a huge UV running, the source of stress has to be eliminated for the ick to go away. Sometimes very frequent, large feedings can help boost a fish's immune system even when the stress source is still present.

[ClownReef®]

You may want to buy a UV sterilizer. If you see your regal coming down with ICH, turn it on. UV is the primo way to go when it comes to ICH.

Dont go ahead and buy an expensive UV sterilizer. Regals are notorious for being shy and getting ich easily. They are VERY hardy fish if given the proper living conditions (good water quality, non aggressive cohabitants..etc). I used to have 2 beautiful regals. During large water changes they would show a few spots of ich. Nothing to be worried about, it would be gone in a few hours. A UV is not required to beat ich.

Will adult tangs (yellow) attack a baby regal?

An adult yellow tang will rip a baby hippo to pieces.

I agree with Brian. A good UV only eliminates free swimming cysts.