Suggestion for getting orange shoulder tang fat

[psilentchild]

I have about a foot long orange shoulder tang.He eats but he is not an aggressive eater he is a peaceful eater.I dont think he is getting enough food because of the other fish.I feed several times a day of frozen food.My other fish are aggressive eaters they eat and they eat most of the food and he is just too peaceful.I feed nori and the other fish will just take it out of his mouth.I think he is to big for the small pieces of frozen food.I was thinking about adding either pellets or flakes.Which one would be better?

 

[thor32766]

I have tons of tangs and had unbelieveable success with them. I loved nori, but also had fantastic results with romaine lettuce. Some people say that people food is not good for fish, but I had a naso that only ate romaine. He went from 3 inches to over 14" in a short time only eating it.

 

[snorvich]

Try PE mysis. Fattens fish very well.

 

[anbosu]

NLS pellets work well too.

 

[The Reef Expert]

- Nutramar ogo algae
- Green, red, brown nori sheets
- Hikari Marine A
- Ocean nutrition formula B
- Ocean Nutrition formula A
- Spirulina
-- Market fresh prawns
-- Squid
-- = Minnesota zoo uses to feed their tank^ - also shreds of many different algae

- Remember algae algae algae! Lettuce sounds good too.

 

[psilentchild]

I already feed him san fransico bay frozen mysis but I'm going to sub sanfransico bay frozen mysis for pe frozen mysis.I'm also going to try either flakes or pellets I have decided on which on yet.Has anybody tried to grow ogo algae I bought this stuff from bluezoo and my fish loved it?
http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/productDetail.asp?did=3&pid=1487&cid=284

 

[SDguy]

I like pellets and/or flakes for fattening up tangs. Lots of calories without the water "space" of frozen foods.

 

[psilentchild]

I just need to figure out away to stop my hawaiian trigger from eating most of the food.

 

[klepto]

2+ for PE mysis.. (slow thawed in cold tank water is the way to go)
Also, you should pick up some fresh table shrimp, squid, fish etc. and dice it up into a variety of sizes. Try to feed some fresh seafood at least once a week and you will see the results. Perhaps feeding your trigger heavily first and then targeting the tang would help. Also, you could use two separate basters to distract the trigger on one end of the tank and give the tang a chance to eat on the other.

How are you feeding the nori? it sounds like you are chopping it up and 'broadcast' feeding it to the whole tank.. If so, try using a piece of LR and with a rubberband to attach a half sheet (or so) of nori to it. That way your animals will be able to graze on it over a longer time period rather than having the dominant fish steal all of the food immediately.

Since it hasn't been recommended, soaking your food in a vitamin is not a bad idea. (selcon, vitachem etc)

San Francisco Bay's mysis are pathetic compared to PE. (nutritionally and visually) You will be glad you made the switch.

My vote would go to pellets over flake. Flake is messy and much of it ends up getting wasted. NLS (new life spectrum) make very popular pellets and they have a great ingredient list. I have been using Formula 2 (ocean nutrition) with good results too.

 

[psilentchild]

I soak my food in selcon and vitachem.As for as the nori go I try putting several peices in there.I have tried feeding on one side and then putting a nori clip on the other side of the tank since my tank is 10 feet long.That doesnt work because my fish follows me where ever I go.I went to one of my lfs yesterday and they dont sell pr mysis.The only one that sells it is an hour away and I didnt have time to go out that way.So I will have to order from dr foster and smith ot make that drive later.

 

[Floowid]

I feed nori by pulling the mag float away from the glass a little and letting a sheet get sandwiched between the glass cleaner and the glass. Then I can move it wherever I want. I usually just place it down near the sand front and center, and my yellow tang can graze on it at his leisure.

 

[klepto]

I soak my food in selcon and vitachem.As for as the nori go I try putting several peices in there.I have tried feeding on one side and then putting a nori clip on the other side of the tank since my tank is 10 feet long.That doesnt work because my fish follows me where ever I go.I went to one of my lfs yesterday and they dont sell pr mysis.The only one that sells it is an hour away and I didnt have time to go out that way.So I will have to order from dr foster and smith ot make that drive later.

Good stuff! :thumbsup: Have you tried the dual feeding stations with two people? PE can be a tad tricky to get a hold of, but so many reef fishes (and LPS too) will eat it and it has a great nutritional value. Plus it is so rich, that a small amount will last most people a while.

I feed nori by pulling the mag float away from the glass a little and letting a sheet get sandwiched between the glass cleaner and the glass. Then I can move it wherever I want. I usually just place it down near the sand front and center, and my yellow tang can graze on it at his leisure.

This is also a good method. Its nice because you can easily move or remove the nori as Floowid mentions. Again, I think rubbberbands are useful at keeping the nori from straying out into the water column unnecessarily. (don't forget that nori has a decent amount of phosphate in it- so any large uneaten stuff should be siphoned out of the tank). I prefer to use smaller amounts of nori and just reattach it throughout the day. Otherwise it can really start to foul the tank.