Training tangs to eat

[Spartan081]

I just got three little tangs and they won't eat and getting skinny. I tried feeding them nori but they're not eating much. Is there any trick get them to eat more? How do you train them to eat flakes or pellets?

 

[dymaxiun]

How long have you had them? Have you tried different foods to see if they aren't just picky?

 

[Spartan081]

Tried to feed them store bought nori on a clip and also shreaded through a powerhead. Also tried to feed them pellets. Frozen brine don't work either. I'm gonna go to the store today to buy some flake food.

 

[Spartan081]

Had them for about a week. The yellow tang is especially skinny with its stomach looking concave.

 

[codybug]

Try Formula One and Formula Two frozen cubes.

 

[Spartan081]

Thanks, I'll get those today to see if they'll eat it.

 

[Bebo77]

do you have any other fish you can put in with them that do eat.. I have a 300 gallon tank and a small 30 i keep all new fish in for a few months to make sure they are eating.. I put an old(2-3 years) maited pair of clown fish in with the new fish in the 30 and overnight all my fish started to eat. follow the leader..

i have a school of green chromis that are eating seaweed off the clip now.. has worked great....

 

[smoney]

My tangs eat everything, mostly frozen food like, mysis shrimp, brime shrimp, squid pieces, chaeto macro, macro in general, and blood worms.

 

[Spartan081]

Yeah I thought about quarantining them but I figured they would appreciate the extra room. I only have two clowns in there right now so I don't think ich would be too much of a problem. The clowns eat everything I throw in there but the tangs seems really shy.

I wonder if they're sick or infected with some kind of disease that affects their stomach.

 

[Orochimaru]

try sushi roes. My powder won't eat anything for weeks until I gave it roes..the tiny ones. The main thing you want to do is to fatten him up first with whichever food and then switch later.

 

[codybug]

also - try garlic extract. Like Garlic Extreme from Kent. It is supposed to stimulate their appetite. I mix a few drops with my fish food everytime I feed. I also put some on my bait when I go freshwater fishing. lol

 

[salt lick]

When I introduced one of my tangs he would not eat from the clip. I had to rubberband the nori to a small rock and place it on the bottom. I think he was a little stressed by his own reflection in the glass. Once he started eating off the rock (2 weeks) he started eating off the clip. After exclusively eating nori for 10 months, he followed the lead of the other fish and tang and eats pellets also.

 

[smoney]

Hey Spartan, are the tangs eating yet?

 

[Spartan081]

I got formula one pellet and formula two flakes for them. The yellow tang is starting to eat the formula two. The powder blue tang refuses to eat the flake but will eat nori. I had to put the nori pieces in hot water to soften them up before feeding. The naso tang who was the fattest of the three never ate and died on friday. So sad. Hopefully the yellow and powder blue will continue to eat and fatten up.

 

[Porkibear]

Try the Garlic Extreme by Kent....my kole tang wasn't eating very much in the beginning, but I soaked the frozen formula 1 & 2 and a small sheet of nori on a clip in a cup with the garlic extract in there. The tang started going NUTS on the food when I put it in the tank. It really helps tangs with their lack of appetite.

Sorry to hear about your naso tang.

 

[dymaxiun]

I second the Garlic. My sailfin has been refusing to eat the last week. Thought maybe he was just grazing, but after watching his behavior, along with feeding different types of food he still didn't eat. Tried mysis soaked in galic, and is starting to eat again.

the fish must be waek from lack of nutrition, but we'll see how the diet goes.

 

[dangle]

Don't mean to take over this thread but I have a question concerning feeding tangs.

I just got a new powder brown/white cheek tang yesterday. It is eating nori tied to a rock already, so that is good. I was wondering though, I have a lot of cheato macro algae growing in my sump and was wondering if this would be a good thing to feed a tang. Can I pull out a little bit at a time and give it to him or is cheato just worthless and I should stick with the nori.

thanks.