What to Feed a Blue Hippo Tang

The blue hippo tang is a saltwater fish. The blue hippo tang has many other names, including regal tang, pacific blue tang, yellow tail tang and palette surgeonfish. The blue hippo tang is a vibrantly colored fish that you can find in most aquariums worldwide.

  1. Features

    • The blue hippo tang grows to about 12 inches, is native to the Indo-Pacific region and lives around coral reefs. It's distinguished by its coloration and oval shape. The blue hippo tang's body is vibrant blue with a dark blue pattern and its back fins are bright yellow with a V-shaped design.

    Name Origin

    • The blue hippo tang belongs to the family Acanthuridae, meaning "thorn tail." The blue hippo tang has distinctly sharp spines on both sides of the base of the tail. Among other things, the word "tang" is the term for a slender, sharply extended tonguelike projection or strip at the base of an object, such as a chisel or knife. This definition originates from Middle English -- dating back to the 1300s.

    Herbivore vs. Omnivore

    • Depending on the expert you ask, the blue hippo tang is either an herbivore, which means a plant eater, or an omnivore, which means a plant and meat eater. However, all experts list zooplankton as a chief dietary preference of the blue hippo tang. Plankton consists of tiny aquatic organisms that live in saltwater and freshwater habitats. These organisms include plants, plantlike organisms and animals. Zooplankton refers to the hundreds of animal varieties of plankton, which includes some forms of crustaceans such as fairy shrimp and opossum shrimp. So depending on the expert, some will list the blue hippo tang as an herbivore since zooplankton is not conventionally viewed as meat. On the other hand, others will list the blue hippo tang as an omnivore, because they categorize zooplankton as a type of meat.

    Diet

    • Although you can feed the blue hippo tang algae, it thrives best when you give it other types of foods. Therefore, daily feed the blue hippo tang green plant material and animal substances that mimic zooplankton. Since the blue hippo tang eats zooplankton naturally in the wild, the blue hippo tang can consume "meats" such as brine shrimp; mysis, another type of crustacean; and grindal worms. Also provide pellet and flake foods, as well as frozen preparations geared for omnivores and herbivores.