Lt. Tang & Food (2 nori sheets day)

[saf1]

Quick question although I'm assuming it is ok. I have a pretty young Lieutenant Tang (Acanthurus Tennenti) who was about 3" when I purchased it from LA a month ago. It pretty much eats everything in the tank but recently I started to feed sheets of Nori.

My question - is it wise to let it eat two sheets of nori a day? I mean it is growing at an incredible rate and eats it all. My lawnmower blenny doesn't touch it, nothing. Maybe my coral beauty once in a while - but as soon as I put it in the tank he is there ripping it apart literally eating it all. It is gone probably in about a hour or two.

Lots of girth to its body and it is growing. Figured maybe I should just add 1 sheet of nori maybe or feed every other day. The reason for two is that I have one of those blue square holders that you can fit a single sheet in. To get it to eat I used two sheets with a little bit of nori out on the side. Add Selcon and it goes crazy. Figured I would ask since it appears to not have a off switch.

Sort of like me with Cheetos... /boggle

 

[Half Vaped]

If you don't have any nutrient (NO3/PO4) or algae issues, I don't see anything wrong with feeding two sheets of Nori a day. Tangs should be eating more veggies than meats anyway.

At the same time, you can probably cut back to one sheet at a time and your Tang will still probably be fine. I feed my three Tangs just one sheet a day and it seems to be enough to keep them all happy.

 

[ca1ore]

Zoinks, that's a lot of nori for one tang. I feed two 4x8 sheets a day to my 7. BTW, am I the only one who, when reading Lieutenant Tang, hears Lieutenant Dan in Tom Hanks' voice in my head?

 

[Pericyte]

I feed four full sheets of nori per day for my 5 tangs. Lt. Tangs are fairly large so I would say feed as much as they will eat and your tank can support the nutrient load. I think it keeps them healthy/ large/ good colors/ cuts down on aggression.

 

[McPuff]

Zoinks, that's a lot of nori for one tang. I feed two 4x8 sheets a day to my 7. BTW, am I the only one who, when reading Lieutenant Tang, hears Lieutenant Dan in Tom Hanks' voice in my head?

Yes, every time in fact. :0)

My lieutenant tang is also a PIG. It will eat anything I throw in the tank and is always grazing otherwise. It's probably 7" long and at least 1.5" wide. Very cool fish in my opinion.

I have 4 tangs and a foxface and only feed one sheet per day. They seem to get enough and are fat and happy. The fish would certainly be fine either way. If you notice a lot of nori "shrapnel" in your filter sock then cut back to one sheet.

 

[saf1]

Thanks all, appreciate the feedback and suggestions. I don't see much left over stuff flying around - or shrapnel like noted above. That is a good way to describe it actually. At the moment I don't have much algae growing on the rocks and what is there the lawnmower blenny is at it first. He doesn't touch the nori for some reason. Just the tang.

Mine when LA sent it was easily 3" I guess not that I measured him. But if I size it up a month later it looks a lot larger all around. Maybe 4" now but I have no idea if it actually grew an inch that quickly. But yeah - he sure does like to eat. I will try one sheet today and see what it does. If it is consumed quickly then I'll go back to two and also watch for any shrapnel floating. I haven't seen it but maybe not paying full attention.

Thanks again! I like the guy a lot.

 

[McPuff]

Thanks all, appreciate the feedback and suggestions. I don't see much left over stuff flying around - or shrapnel like noted above. That is a good way to describe it actually. At the moment I don't have much algae growing on the rocks and what is there the lawnmower blenny is at it first. He doesn't touch the nori for some reason. Just the tang.

Mine when LA sent it was easily 3" I guess not that I measured him. But if I size it up a month later it looks a lot larger all around. Maybe 4" now but I have no idea if it actually grew an inch that quickly. But yeah - he sure does like to eat. I will try one sheet today and see what it does. If it is consumed quickly then I'll go back to two and also watch for any shrapnel floating. I haven't seen it but maybe not paying full attention.

Thanks again! I like the guy a lot.

You'll be pleased with its color as it gets larger too... especially when it decides to go "dark mode." :0)

It's possible that it grew that much. Mine went from ~3.5" to 7" in a little over a year. I'm sure it could have grown quicker if I fed it more. And I really can't get over how fat it is. Honestly looks like a tang in the wild (or public aquarium).

 

[Dmorty217]

Just so your water quality isn’t suffering I don’t see why you couldn’t... although I have 8 tangs and feed 2 sheets a day give or take.

 

[saf1]

Thanks again everyone. Appreciate the feedback. Now all I need to do is fatten up one of the smaller lyretail anthias and put the lawnmower blenny on a diet and I'll be set