Desjardini diet schedule

[Lucky Lefty]

I've been doing a lot of reading trying to figure out when or how often to feed my desjardini tang.
he's about 4 inches long from nose to tail.
Before I got him, all of my nuisance algae amd cyano was 90% or more gone. Back wall was looking great.
His first week home, he wasn't eating much of anything so I was trying a ton of different foods to get him to eat. That first week I certainly overloaded the tank with food, trying brine, mysis, nori, formula 2 pellets, Julian Sprung red seaweed, squid, and I think 2 other kinds of pellets.
at the end of week 1, he was devouring the nori and going crazy on the formula 2 pellets.
the problem, is now my back wall has a TON of long green hair algae and my rocks began to grow red hair algae again, after a couple weeks ago they were near pristine.
As most know, he eats A LOT. He will eat the whole bag of nori if I put it on the clip, and he loves the formula 2, so it's hard to gauge what enough food for 1 day is.
I also would like him to exhibit some natural behavior and eat the hair algae of the walls and rocks, so I don't want to spoil him with nori on clips and all that.
So my question is, how often should I feed the nori, how often should I feed the formula 2 pellets, and how can I get him to graze on the algae in the tank without starving him.
I was thinking of scraping a chunk of the hair algae of the back wall and putting it on a clip, maybe if he eats it off the clip and likes it, he'll go for it on the wall.

I think im going to change my username to LongwindedLefty

 

[Dmorty217]

Feed the nori 3-4 times a week. Formula 2 everyday. As far as getting him to eat the algae that will take starving him more than likely. I fed my Desjaradini 4-6 times a day when he was small and 2-4 times a day when he hit 6" or so but I fed the nori everyday

 

[ca1ore]

Big eaters, Sailfins! Can be picky too. I have to feed mine nori daily to keep a healthy weight on (failing with one of them too). Neither of mine are particularly enamored with frozen fare, though they go bonkers for flake food and pellets ..... Go figure. None of the Sailfins I've ever had, whether Desjardini or regular, were particularly good at picking algae off the rocks. My best performers have traditionally been yellows or bristletooth. My current convict is really good too.

 

[Lucky Lefty]

Today all I gave was a pinch of formula 2 pellets, did not give any nori.
he devoured the pellets, and was constantly check the clip for seaweed, but that may have be a reflex of seeing my by the tank.
I did notice him pecking at the rocks though while I sat and watched the tank for a while.
I think im going to do a healthy serving of nori every other day, and on off days I'll drop in some formula 2 and maybe some squid

 

[Lucky Lefty]

I'm thinking I'm going to do daily nori amd formula 2 every other day..
it just doesn't seem like he's getting enough without the nori. I don't think the pellets are enough for the whole day.
Anyone with a sailfin want to share their regimen?

 

[Stevenliu9]

Have you tried the New Era mini marine grazer? Absolutely the best food I have tried on any vegetarian fish. I have a desjardini, a yellow tang a blue tang, and a fox face and they LOVE this thing. They spend their whole time just nibbling it away slowly. with the four fish a disk lasts about an hour. If your desjardini is the only vegetarian in your tank it can literally last all day

 

[Compliance]

My desjardini will only pick at the new growth on the rocks, not established hair algae.

Best bet (besides reducing nitrates/phosphates to inhibit growth) is to manually remove the longer pieces.

 

[Lucky Lefty]

Thanks for replies, I'll check into that grazer disc and maybe give that a shot.

Yesterday I actually did scrape of about 90% of the long hair algae, I just couldn't take seeing it any longer.

 

[Stevenliu9]

If it's hair algae you are trying to battle, my recommendation is a foxface rabbitfish- seriously ever since I have had this baby I have not seen a single "weed", and my foxface is model citizen never touch corals or clams.

 

[Lucky Lefty]

I have seriously been considering the magnificent fox face, such a beautiful fish.
I have kind of talked myself out of it because they seem to get pretty big, and I don't want to have to many large fish. I'm already pushing it with the porcupine puffer and the sailfin in the 150.
that, and the extremely venomous spines scare the hell out of me.

 

[Lucky Lefty]

On another note.. am I the only one who thinks a fox face should be called a horse face? It's head looks so much lime a horse

 

[hkgar]

If it's hair algae you are trying to battle, my recommendation is a foxface rabbitfish- seriously ever since I have had this baby I have not seen a single "weed", and my foxface is model citizen never touch corals or clams.

Which foxface do you have?