Hippo or Kole

$35 to $40 here in Washington

Tangs generally accept frozen, live, dry and algae. Anything you throw at them. At least mine does (a yellow tang). You must give them greens. If they get a strict meat diet, they will starve. Give them algae to nibble on, or some frozen food that has algae in it. I have yet to try this, but I just bought some broccoli and I hear they like that. I am going to tie off a piece and see what my fish do.

 

I am aware of Tangs needs for greens, and I always keep a live macroalgae culture in my tank that my yellow tang and coral beauty LOVE. My thought was prepared food like flake to get spirulina into their diet. I bought a nice little yellow eyed kole today, only 3-4 inches with a very nice deep color. I'll get pics up soon. Im lucky in that my LFS believe it or not pre quarantines all of their disease prone fish (I.E. tangs) and treats them for disease they have, which is why he's in the display if your wondering when I put a picture up.

 

The Kole and Yellow tang have similar body shapes, which may mean a little bit of fighting, FYI.

 

We had a yellow eye Kole and found he loved brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, algae strips and just about anything else we put in the tank as food. He was very active - in fact quite a "spaz", and very territorial. He claimed a cave in the tank and wasn't very open to sharing until we bought a couple of cleaner shrimp (ick issues) and they turned it into a cleaning station. He then proceeded to chase everyone else out of their territory until he decided where he wanted to hang out. He had a love/hate relationship with our sailfin tang, who was a real sweetheart. It was like an ongoing soap opera in the tank. . .

 

Actually, since he went in, hes been swimming next to my yellow tang a lot of the time and there hasn't been any aggression. The coral beauty tried to assert itself once but the kole fought back and there has been no aggression since. So far so good. I picked him up for 50$.

 

Good choice going for the Kole Tang. They are a lot hardier than Hippo Tangs.

 

I just found a blue hippo that im getting tuesday and am excited but I think either way you go they are both cool fish

 

I know Kole tangs diets are made up of microalgae for the most part, but will it ever take some macro?

 

I've got a Kole, and it's my favorite fish. I don't really see too many of them in the fish store, but i would recommend one, as they are beautiful fish. Not aggressive at all.

 

To me, the key to keeping any Tang, is a cleaner Wrasse. The trick is finding one that eats regular food. I've had mine for like 6mos,which is awesome! Cool looking fish, too.