So I fed the other two algaes to the tank on Thursday. I took the stuff that I think is some sort of unrefined kelp and ran it under water to rinse anything that might be on it off and soften it up some. It was in big sheets and I tossed a piece in maybe 6x6 inches. To my surprise the fish seemed quite afraid of it and paid it very little attention as it sank to the bottom. A few picked at it a little bit but basically ignored it. I left the sheets in over night and when they were in basically the same place the next day I removed them. I took another piece and ripped off smaller pieces from it, some long and thin, others about 1"x1" and although the feeding response wasn't very aggressive like it is for Nori, they did eat it.
I tried the other stuff that I thought was cut into thin strips. I soaked them in water for a minute or two then tossed them into the tank. They were greated by near instant feeding response from the tangs but they didn't eat much, just picked at it. I soon found out why. The algae was not cut into strips, but rather it was very very dried seaweed that went from 1/4 inch dried strips to 2-3 inch wide blades of seaweed but took 10 minutes or so in the tank before it was fully hydrated and expanded. I also regretted putting in a handful of the strips since a handful turned into a LOT of seaweed. When I came in the next day to pull out the kelp I also found a few strings of the other stuff that I pulled out, but I think a lot of it got eaten. I will be feeding this stuff to the tank again, I will just let it soak a lot longer and not feed nearly as much and I expect it will get eaten pretty quickly.
The nori was of course eaten up quickly. I wouldn't bother with the kelp stuff again but I think the dried stringy stuff could be a good treat for tanks, and at like $3 for a bag that will probably last my big tank for months I would give it a good thumbs up.
No sense in adding phosphates we don't have to. Do the PO4 preservatives have to be listed in the ingredients?
