Do Yellow Tangs Eat Seagrass?

[ThePurple12]

Hi. I put some shoal grass in my 125g tank and the yellow tang devoured them. Has this happened to anyone else? I want to know if I just have a "defective" tang and I can swap it out for a different one or if all yellows eat seagrass.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Wow, I haven't heard of that. I've read that seagrass is too fibrous to interest tangs. I had an Atlantic Blue Tang and it never touched my Manatee Grass. But I also had a ton of macros to choose from.

Was your shoal grass the only plant in the tank? Do you have any other plants to offer it, like macros? It would likely choose them over seagrass.

Now that it has a taste for it, you likely have to choose one or the other. The Ctenochaetus Tangs might be a better choice, since their mouths are designed to scrape detritus, and seagrass tends to collect detritus.

 

[ThePurple12]

Yeah, I thought they didn't eat it, I guess I just got a weirdo.

The only other macro I have in the tank is sargassum, and I put a fair amount of seaweed in the clip twice a day.

Thanks for the suggestion, I might try a Kole tang or a different yellow.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks for posting that. I have lots of shoal grass now, but no tangs, so I haven't seen that happen. I imagine it must be easier to eat than manatee or turtle grass.

One other thing to consider, is the order of adding the grass and a tang. For some reason, fish see stuff in the tank before them as just scenery. Stuff you put in AFTER them, they see as food, especially if the plants are in rough shape. Try getting your grass in and established BEFORE adding a tang.

I have a little bit of sargassum too. Is yours free-floating or attached? I have a couple of small plants growing from my live rock. They've never taken off, probably because they aren't in very bright light. I'm hoping they have a seasonal uptick in growth, so maybe this spring they'll get bigger.

 

[ThePurple12]

That might have something to do with it. I put the grass in after the tang.

My sargassum is attached. It was growing very quickly under low light in my other tank. I just fragged a piece and moved it to my high-light reef tank, so I'm excited to see how it grows.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

How's that sargassum weed doing in your reef? I would think it would like the high lighting. Though I'm not sure it will like the lower nutrients. Any luck with it?

 

[ThePurple12]

Whoops, didn't see this! Yes, it's doing fine, but keeping it attached can be a pain.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

That has been my experience with ALL macros. I've tried super glue, rubber bands and fishing line. The only thing that worked is sandwiching plants between two rocks, or just putting a rock on top of them.

I have two sargassum plants growing from live rocks, that have been in low light. They have remained stubby and compact. In recent fiddling, I've moved them into more light. One has shown new growth and I'm hoping it will grow to long length. This is one of the plants I was trying to encourage, by cutting back the red grapes and grasilaria. I'd love to have it grow all the way to the surface. We'll see!

 

[vlangel]

I love sargassum and hope to also add it someday.