Blue tang sleeping habits

[laeru]

the other day i bought a blue tang from my LFS. the first day he was a little shy but he ate a lot. the next day i turn on my lights and see him sleeping in the corner of my tank watching me but not really moving. he sat there for a while till i put food in. he ate then went straight back to his spot. next day same thing happened but he found a new spot. are tang really heavy sleepers, is it because its still a little guy, stressed out, what can/should i do if anything. thank you.

 

[curtismaximus]

My hippo likes to sleep behind the rocks at night. How big is the tank and how big is the tang. How much rock do you have in the tank. If you have a lot of rock in the tank your fish will feel safer.

 

[laeru]

It's a 60 gallon tank with about 40 pounds of rock not including the sump rock, but there are plenty of hiding spaces

 

[bluespot]

Mine sleeps wedged in a nook inside a rock with his tail sticking out. If he gets spooked he darts back in to hide for a bit. Usually he is swimming again within a few minutes. Sounds like he is still acclimating to the scenery change and being skittish. Give him time and maybe try opening the rock work a little to make more hiding places if it is a solid mass.

 

[heathlindner25]

Tangs act claustrophobic in my opinon in small tanks, they really need room to swim.

 

[tdvs72198@att_net]

I have a 125 and my tang did the exact same thing the first 2weeks or so, I think they like making us stress. He's great now, just needed to get used to the atmosphere I guess.

 

[curtismaximus]

Tdvs72198@att.net;879757 wrote: I have a 125 and my tang did the exact same thing the first 2weeks or so, I think they like making us stress. He's great now, just needed to get used to the atmosphere I guess.

+1 Mine was pretty skittish at first but was more comfortable after a week or so.

Hippo tangs are very smart and have very good eye sight. Mine can see me walking down the hall and darts behind the rocks. He will peak out to make sure everything is ok and will come out after that. I think being skittish is in their nature. Also a 60 is going to be small for any tang of any size. The hippo will out grow it pretty quickly. Hippos are recommended to be in at least a 5' long tank.