Salifin Tang Owners, I have a question.

[Reef264]

I have a question as stated above.I have currently a 4-5" Sailfin tang that has been with me now for 3 months.It seems healthy and very Beautiful compared to other Sailfins I have seen.Here is what I am puzzled by...It only eats Algae.Nothing else will it touch.It will race to the food when I put it in the tank, but when it gets there it turns around and goes the other way.I feed Larry's Reef Spectrum frozen food (LRS), New life spectrum Thera-A+ pellets, Nutramar Ova, and Rods Nori.It will only eat the Rods Nori.Along with the other various algae's on the rocks.

Should I really be concerned here if it is healthy?Every other tang I have owned are more meaty foods than Algae.

What is your experience with your sailfin?

 

[TruReef]

mine was a pig and ate everything I put in the tank, algae, pellets, or meat...maybe yours is just finicky... If it's healthy, I wouldn't worry.

 

[Holsteiner]

Not a sailfin, but my Achilles would eat only nori for over a year. I tried everything all the time, even the purple tang would eat everything but not the Achilles. I gave him a constant supply of nori and soaked it in selcon. After a year he finally started eating NLS pellets, and I'm still working on the mysis. I've had him 2 years now and he's the fattest fish I've ever seen...you've probably seen my girth picture of him on here ;-)

 

[ca1ore]

Fish are individuals too - some eat one thing, others another. If the fish looks healthy I wouldn't worry. I've got a red sea sailfin that used to eat everything except nori. After a few weeks in the display with other Tangs, now it also eats nori. I have a similar issue with an Achilles in QT, eats brine, some Mysis, angel food and ocean plankton, but not nori. Go figure!

 

[cloak]

mine was a pig and ate everything I put in the tank, algae, pellets, or meat...maybe yours is just finicky... If it's healthy, I wouldn't worry.

+1.

Maybe add a few more different foods to your stock. Variety is key.

 

[triggreef]

Thats how mine was. Now he eats nori and everything else. Try some live black worms. Mine loves them more than anything.

 

[Reef264]

Wow guys, thanks for the help!

I will try some different foods, which do y'all recommend?Ive never had to buy for a finicky Tang before. :smile:

It has plenty if Algae to graze from when I am gone and can't feed it nori, I am not home as much I would like to be, between College and Work.

 

[jlawson382]

I think the thing that got mine eating was that I mixed Nori into my homemade frozen mix. After it started getting a taste of "other" food, it didn't take long until it would eat anything that I fed it.

 

[xanthurum]

I just got my Red Sea sailfin and it is the smallest sailfin I have ever seen. I ordered an extra small and if he measures 2 inches i would be surprised. Anyway he loves brine shrimp and grazing on the rocks in the QT but wont touch the nori yet, tried formula 2 but not a big fan of that either. I think variety is the most important factor for their health and in my experience eventually they come around and eat anything and everything some just take longer than others.

 

[dppitone]

The larger they are when they're taken from the reef, the more apt they'll be to sticking with what they've grown up eating. So many larger ones will only eat nori at first. Get him eating the nori and then pull back on it for 4 or 5 days till he gets pretty hungry. At that point he should start going for flakes. After that pellets also. Then mix the nori back in. This has been my experience with Desjardins.

 

[Reef264]

Makes sense that he would stick to what he knows.I will try weaning him off of nori for a few days, and then see how the flakes go, then from there.


Thanks.

 

[jthao]

If they're healthy, don't feed them for a couple days and you can get them to eat almost anything. I've got pufferfishes, wrasses, and clowns to eat noir off a clip. I've also got tangs, filefish, butterflies, and anthias to eat pellets and flake. They'll usually tend to be less picky when they're hungry.