Feeding terrestrial greens to tangs

[Jerry W]

Is anyone who successfully keeps tangs (specifically zebrasoma sp) feeding them greens like lettuce, zucchini, broccoli, etc?
I picked up a small healthy little YT today and while it has a good appetite am wondering if these alternative greens should be offered.
TIA

 

[IFbettas]

When I got my first yellow tang I was really dumb and didn't know about nori, so I fed it romaine lettuce. I froze the lettuce for atleast a day so it would soften up and be easier for the tang to digest. I kept him for about a year on this stuff before someone suggested using nori. So it can be done, but I wouldn't reccomend it. Especially with all of the pesticides/herbicides in use these days.

 

[mdrc]

for my sailfin yellow and purple i use hydroponic romain lettuce (my other tangs like it too) at first i heard it wasnt good and not to do it bnut then somebody pointed out that david saxby does it and so i thought why not. but i mix it in with nori and sea veggies

 

[darb85]

the problem is, lettuse, iceburg mostly and similar leaf structures, has little to no nutritional value being that its 80% water...

 

[jjk_reef00]

I would just use nori and soem vitamin supplements like vitachem.

 

[jda]

We used to feed romaine back 15 years ago. Now, nori is so available and inexpensive, not to mention easy since it is freeze dried, that I don't bother with anything else.

My local Chinese Market has 100 sheet packs of nori for about $100.

 

[Jerry W]

I always have nori on hand and my angels/butterflies love it as well. The tang ate nori today, so I was wondering if other greens were essential or if nori was enough. Thanks for the replies.

 

[baldwinaquaman]

The best advice I can give is to switch up the types of nori, for example red one week, purple the next, brown the next, green the next. Another good thing to do for herbivores is use formula 2 flakes or pellets. Oh and also try to get the seaweed with garlic added, the fish love it so much more, and it's def. healthier for them.

 

[Eric the half-bee]

We used to feed romaine back 15 years ago. Now, nori is so available and inexpensive, not to mention easy since it is freeze dried, that I don't bother with anything else.

My local Chinese Market has 100 sheet packs of nori for about $100.

That sounds pricey. I bought 50 sheet packs of Ocean Nutrition from marine depot for $20/ pack

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Look on ebay. I got 150 HUGE sheets for $40.

 

[jda]

My bad, I paid $10 for 100 sheets, not $100.

 

[Eric the half-bee]

My bad, I paid $10 for 100 sheets, not $100.

Now that's a good deal. I looked at a local "natl food" store and the nori was more than the pet store. I need to check the Asian food store.

 

[jda]

Yeah, the health food store is crazy high around here. At this Asian market where I go, you can get live fiddlers (good for when I had eels) for 10 for a $10, lots of other live stuff and lots of dead stuff. You can get an whole octopus there the size of a basketball for about $12-15 - you can feed a lot of fish with that if you want to cut it up. I bought a squid once and cut it up - my fish loved it.

Make sure that you get toasted or dried nori. Some of it has sugar or oil in it - which is not as good for fish. I had to ask for help since the ingredients were not in English.

 

[MrTuskfish]

You can get nori online very cheaply, 100 sheets under $50, 10sheets about $6. the only problem I have with the stuff is that its so fragile. Lots of non-herbivores love it too and, at least with larger fish, the sheet is gone in seconds. I raised a lot of herbivores before nori, romaine was the staple. Now I supplement with turnip greens, well washed and frozen to soften. Great food for tangs, angels, and it will stay on a clip ,IMO & IME.

 

[Creetin]

Someone told me to blanch the greens (Very quick dip in boiling water) to soften them up and not lose any vitamins. Anybody else do this?

 

[MrTuskfish]

Someone told me to blanch the greens (Very quick dip in boiling water) to soften them up and not lose any vitamins. Anybody else do this?

I've done this in the microwave. But I think freezing is easier and it does the same thing. Spread a lot of stems on a cookie sheet, freeze, then store in a plastic bag. They won't stick together. I defrost in a glass of hot water and my herbivores love it. (sounds like a "hints from Heloise" column.)

 

[seafansar]

Someone told me to blanch the greens (Very quick dip in boiling water) to soften them up and not lose any vitamins. Anybody else do this?

I've done this with broccoli. I've read broccoli is supposed to have some good vitamins for tangs. Funny thing is my tang thought the broccoli was a threat at first and just kept hitting it with his tail spine. :lmao: Eventually he realized it was food.

 

[MrTuskfish]

I've done this with broccoli. I've read broccoli is supposed to have some good vitamins for tangs. Funny thing is my tang thought the broccoli was a threat at first and just kept hitting it with his tail spine. :lmao: Eventually he realized it was food.

Broccoli is still a great herbivore food, IMO. Since more marine herbivore foods came to be, lots of folks think non-marine products are inferior. But, isn't most commercial spirulina algae grown in FW? Much of the prime mysis is also a FW product.

 

[jda]

What herbivores are you guys talking about? I am struggling to think of a single marine herbivore that I have ever owned. Sorry... had to get that off of my chest - tangs, as well as most other fish, are omnivores.

 

[MrTuskfish]

What herbivores are you guys talking about? I am struggling to think of a single marine herbivore that I have ever owned. Sorry... had to get that off of my chest - tangs, as well as most other fish, are omnivores.

Very true. In fact, I think a lot of folks have trouble acclimating fish that eat a lot of greens because that is all the food they offer. Almost all fish, IMO & IME, will eat meaty foods first---and that includes tangs, juvi angels, etc. Lots of online dealers, and other sources, refer to fish like tangs & rabbitfishes, etc., as "herbivores." I use the term "herbivore" (technically improperly) as an easy way to destinguish fish that do eat a lot of greens. Its easier than typing "fish that get a lot of their nourishment from vegatable matter" all the time.l