Sponge content foods for Pomacanthidae?

[stunreefer]

Angel keepers, do you think we provide sufficient amounts of sponge content to our fish? Obviously they have varied diets but in nature some angels diest consists of a high percentage of sponge. This is mainly regarding my Apolemichthys arcuatus diet. When I first received her I just ensured that he was eating in general... over the past few months she's been accepting anything and everything I toss in there: PE Mysis, Hikari Mysis, NLS pellets, Rod's Food and O.N. Angel Formula. I've been feeding a lot more of the O.N. Angel Formula lately to try and increase the "sponge content" in her diet, but how much sponge does this stuff really have in it? Is it worth it? Is there something else we can feed to increase the sponge content intake?

I have several species of sponges growing on the rocks in my tank, but she only eats one of them, the rest are left alone.

 

[tcmfish]

I don't think the sponge content in frozen foods will compare to the percent of their wild diet that is made up of sponge, the only way to do that would be to have a constant supply of a sponge they like to eat. I think the real question IMO is: is there something nutritionally in the sponge that the other foods can't provide that would require constant sponge in their diet? I don't know the answer though.

 

[stunreefer]

I agree Tim, and I highly doubt there's much in these "angel formulas".

Regards to the real question, that's where my fear lies of feeding something like Mysis everyday leading to eventual liver issues from feeding foods with such high fat content. I'm a big fan of NLS pellets and like to think of them as an all around food like the foods we feed cats and dogs.

I keep some rubble in my sump where the sponges that she does eat grow well, and toss some in the display from time to time. Of course, they're picked clean over night and it takes weeks to grow that amount.

 

[tcmfish]

As far as NLS, I never understood how they are so good with the ingredient list they have. The ingredients don't seem that good to me, but many fish do like them. For freshwater fish, and I know they make saltwater food too I have just never tried it, I like omega one because of the ingredients they put in the food. They have different kinds of fish and inverts listed instead of fish meal or something not even fish related. Whether or not its better I don't really know.

I don't think mysis is too fatty, but if you are worried about fatty liver disease, just grate some fresh shrimp, or buy fresh shrimp and freeze it in a cup so you can easily grate it with a cheese grater. Things like squid, clams, scallops, etc. are more fatty, but are still good for fish, if used here and there and not as a staple.