what to feed my tang ?

[new_world_disor]

well i got a regal blue tang. i feed the tank with flake food. and the 2 clowns and the cleaner shrimp ( lol ) eat it up str8 away. but the tang doesnt go for it so much. i also have sea veggies for him. but he doesnt seem to go for them either.
any advice on what to feed would be GREAT !!

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[BrokeColoReefer]

mine likes everything.... nori, mysis, brine, algae in the tank...

 

[Bcollins111900]

When you say sea veggies are you refering to NORI? If not you can get NORI in most grocery stores in the oriental foods section. you may have to put some kents garlic on the nori to entice him to eat. how long have you had him for?

 

[HPD Turbo]

How long with the fishy?
They usually eat everything, you have to give it a chance to adjust.
Ocean Formula 1 and 2 are great herbivore preparation for Tangs.

 

[JimKelly12203]

I would definitely leave him some sea weed on a clip 24-7. The other fish are not as likely to pick at it, but he will as time permits. My understanding is that tangs forrage all day long and probaby don't take well to scheduled feedings. They pretty much need to have the option of eating at their liesure.

 

[Bcollins111900]

Tangs do forrage all day long but my two hippos and yellow tang among a bunch of other fish respond very well to timed feeding. I have my large hippo (6") eating nori from my hand which i do nightly around 8p.m. I do agree though if he is not eating placing some in the clip and leaving it there. if he is hungry he will eat. I have also noticed that if they are forraging on the rocks there will be black on there lips sort of like lipstick. Hopefully that makes sense.

 

[Racing1]

I agree with Bcollins111900. Also, what are your tank specs and has anything changed? How recently did you add the tang? Answer these questions and we may be able to help more... Also if you could post a pic maybe we could see something...

 

[new_world_disor]

the only problem with leaving nori in there all day is that at the mo theres no protien skimmer as my one i ordered broke during shipment and has gone back.

ill leave some in overnight though

 

[yellowwatchmen]

Do you have this in your 30gal.

 

[woz9683]

Leaving the nori in there shouldn't really be a big deal. Put it in the tank in the morning and toss it before bed if there's anything left.

 

[new_world_disor]

yeh its i nthe 30g. according to ppl ive asked the tang wont grow to big for the tank in a year. and im getting a 6 foot tank in the summer. at the mo the tang is around 2"

 

[cd77]

My yellow eats just about everything -- I just got a nice variety shipment of food in (I like to give my fish a variety ) and it seemed to like everything except the krill. Mysis, Brine, Squid, Clam, Silversides.. seems to like everything. I add a little selcon and garlic to my crazy food mixtures. Make sure to give it Nori

 

[new_world_disor]

do u blend the stuff and freeze it ? or what. help me here

 

[cd77]

My tang is still young, and I'm still new to SW. I feed my yellow along with two clowns, a pygmy angel and a green chromis and the CUC. I can't tell you if this is the best or "proper" way to feed frozen food, but I start by determining how much the fish will eat of a particular food in 3-5 minutes. Once I've determined that I use it to lay out a variety of the foods on a cutting board and I mince it up small enough so the fish can eat them. I rinse all frozen food in RO/DI water then I fill ice cube trays with RO/DI water and add the divided food. I'll add some selcon and/or garlic as well. It gives them a nice variety and the ice cubes make feeding very convenient. Sometimes I'll float a small piece of Nori on top of the each cube (it floats) The tang doesn't seem to mind that it's been frozen, but I'll also occasionally give it some nori on a veggie clip or hand feed it. I divide the food to feed three times a day.

Fish have all been happy, healthy and disease free so far!

A friend of mine has a more aggressive tank (no tangs) but will use a small condiment dispenser (like a ketchup dispenser) and fill it with RO and food to last a few days. She places the food in the container and refrigerates it. The food will last a few days with no smell at all for 3 days no problem. I shake it pretty well just before I feed. I've done this as well and it's pretty cool because you have a lot of control over how much food the fish get -- they'll come right up to the plastic dispenser nozzle to get the food. It's nice in that you can keep your cleaners from stealing the food (as they often do when you float frozen cubes). I'll add a little DT's when I do this as well.

Again -- I'm sure someone can find something wrong with what I do, but it seems to work very well for me (also works for FW fish) and it gives me enjoyment in creating the cocktails and feeding Guess that makes me a fish geek!