Feeding a large tang

SAT

Premium Member
For the last 10 years I have feeding my Atlantic Blue primarily on ON Formula 2 frozen cubes. He has grown from 2" yellow to 10" blue in that time... I am sure he would be bigger if I didn't restrict the quantity. He now gets 4 cubes per day, plus small amounts of the mysis shrimp I feed the tank. Problem: the recipe for Formula 2 has changed so I can't use it. The new formula doesn't have enough gel to hold its shape when defrosted. The directions say not to defrost, but that doesn't work when feeding a 10" tang... I am worried he will swallow a big enough chunk of ice to hurt him.

So... I'm looking for alternatives to Formula 2. I prefer frozen on the grounds that the nutrition is better. Suggestions?
 
I suspect that once the cube hits the water that it will not be "ice" any longer. As long as the tang eats those cubes, I would not worry.
 
I doubt ice could hurt him, even if he did swallow a piece. It'd melt, I assume. I wouldn't feed him all the cubes at once, just to be sure, but a little bit of ice shouldn't do anything.
There are some majorly good pellet foods, I've heard.
 
The other problem is the cubes sort of disintegrate as he chews on them, dissipating into the tank instead of his belly. I was hoping to hear from other owners of large tangs about what they do.
 
Soak it for a brief minute, then feed it to him. It is still dissenegrates, then u know it won't hurt him cuz it melts too fast then
 
Maybe just buy cheapish seafood at the grocery store and dice it, feed him that instead? Shrimp, crabs, mussels, clams, small fish... anything like that. Should be pretty cheap. You can also get nori at most health food stores, so just add that in and you have a good diet for big fish.
 
That's just what formula 1 and 2 do. I stopped feeding it because of the mess it made and if you smash it up to mix with other food the smell stays on your hands for the rest of the day
 
Expand your horizons man ..... nori is great for tangs! New Era feeding rings are also good.
 
My tangs love LRS Fish Frenzy. LRS also makes a Herbivore Frenzy. Both of which are some of the best food I've ever used and my large tangs go nuts over the stuff. Best of all is how clean the food is. You don't need to rinse it and it doesn't cloud the water either. They are in the process of releasing a large chunk blend that would be a great option as well.

My tangs eat nearly a sheet of nori every day along with a mix of LRS food along with PE Mysis. I've got several large tangs too including a large Atlantic Blue, a larger Vlamingi, I Unicorn and a couple others. All are fat and happy fish. If you can find the LRS stuff in your area, I can pretty much guarantee that once you try it, you (and you fish) will absolutely love the stuff.
 
Agree on the LRS Fish Frenzy it is great food. Also try New Era feeding rings and New Life spectrum pellets Algae Max. My large tangs love all of these.
 
I feed my tangs and foxface a lot of homemade food with wide variety both for nutritional reason and to save $$. If you don't like the current formula II consistency you can obtain nori sheets from Asian grocery store soak them and blend them up with a variety of greens and vegetable along with sardine/smelt and uncooked shrimp, then add gelatin, freeze them in ice tray then you should only need to feed one cube a day for your 10" tang.
 
Add in romaine lettuce and nori. Just buy in bulk. you can buy the normal sushi roasted rolls for way cheaper than ones labeled for fish feeding.
 
Thanks all! I am new to LRS so will give it a try... If that doesn't work I guess it will be time to make my own.
 
Thanks all! I am new to LRS so will give it a try... If that doesn't work I guess it will be time to make my own.

You and your fish WILL love it! If you don't have many small fish, just give it to your fish frozen and let them bit off as big a chunks as they like. If LRS has the large chunk food available and you have mostly large fish, that may be a better option but my tangs love all the LRS stuff. I use Reef Frenzy, Nano Frenzy, Fish Frenzy and Herb Frenzy. I tend to mix it up choosing a different combo every day because I have lots of large and small fish along with a lot of soft corals that benefit from the feeding as well.
 
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