Dried Kelp for fish

[MrCaveman]

I went to the Tokyo market to look for a variety of nori if they had red or brown but I couldn't find any. Instead I found Dried Kelp, and decided to give it a try. Before I put in the tank to feed the tangs, I tried a small piece and was surprised how salty it was. I checked the ingredients and it's just dried kelp. Would the salt that I taste be the leftover salt from the drying process or do they cure/preserve the kelp in salt? Either way would that be unhealthy for the fish? Nori isn't salty so I wonder if this would have an effect. Thought I'd run the question before putting it in the tank; it's a pretty tough seaweed but I'm hoping the Naso will like it.

 

[ThRoewer]

I'm sure the saltiness comes from the drying and not from added salt.
Which kelp did you get - the thick straight Kombu sheets or something thinner?
If it's kombu you may need to slice it into strips so the fish can handle it. You may also want to soak it first as it gets quite slimy and could get your skimmer go crazy. I would actually make with it kombu dashi for soup first and then use the "de-slimed" cooked sheet for the fish. BTW it is very high in Iodine.
Here at Nijiya Market I found an algae mix for soup that had all kinds of dried algae in it, including dried branches of red algae. I actuall bought it for miso soup but may try how my fish like it
Another algae you may want to try is Wakame.
I feel whole and otherwise unprocessed dried algae are better for fish than the processed and often seasoned and roasted nori sheets.

 

[MrCaveman]

I'm sure the saltiness comes from the drying and not from added salt.
Which kelp did you get - the thick straight Kombu sheets or something thinner?
If it's kombu you may need to slice it into strips so the fish can handle it. You may also want to soak it first as it gets quite slimy and could get your skimmer go crazy. I would actually make with it kombu dashi for soup first and then use the "de-slimed" cooked sheet for the fish. BTW it is very high in Iodine.
Here at Nijiya Market I found an algae mix for soup that had all kinds of dried algae in it, including dried branches of red algae. I actuall bought it for miso soup but may try how my fish like it
Another algae you may want to try is Wakame.
I feel whole and otherwise unprocessed dried algae are better for fish than the processed and often seasoned and roasted nori sheets.

Thanks for the response! What I got is called Dashi Konbu. I think the packaging is miss spelled. So I should boil the small strips I cut off first before putting in the tank? Its just a fowlr so I'm not sure if iodine would be a problem; I read his stuff is great with people who have thyroid problems haha

 

[ThRoewer]

Iodine is nothing bad for the tank - it's rather likely that there is a deficit if you don't replenish it regularly.

I would soak a piece of kombu first (with RO water). When it's soft enough cut it into stripes. You can try at this stage if the fish take it.
If they don't like it, boil it and try again.
Kombu is pretty tough stuff, so try small pieces first to see how your fish like it.

 

[MrCaveman]

I just boiled up a few strips for about 10 min then put it in a little bit ago. So far all the tangs are interested; its a little tough for them to get bite sized pieces, hopefully it gets softer. The sailfin likes it the most as he'll eat anything, the naso likes it too. The Achilles and yellow tangs haven't taken much. My regal angel really likes it just keeps pecking at the edges. I think next time Ill let it soak for in RO for at least an hr and then boil it to make it softer. Its pretty cool it keeps them occupied since its so tough, if I were feeding regular nori they would have eaten half a sheet by now with a ton of mess.

 

[ThRoewer]

I may need to try it for my regal angels - they ignore nori but chew on Halimeda and Gracilaria.

I would also suggest to try Wakame - it's a green sea lettuce and quite soft.

 

[ca1ore]

FWIW, none of my fish will touch the stuff, neither boiled nor straight.

 

[Naraku]

Even with soaking/boiling, Kombu has a tendency to make your water brown. In fact leftover kombu from the first boiling stock is often used to make second stock soup (Niban Dashi).

Have you ever thought of wakame. Its also a dried seaweed that isn't as hard.
You can buy packs. It doesn't look like much but once you add water, it increases in volume. Its the seaweed in miso soup.