Feeding Yellow Tangs

[Cheryl]

Hello again!

I need some help with caring for my Tang. Seems healthy, but I've had to make some changes due to high nitrates. I seem to be doing better, doing water changes and testing. But I also want to make sure the fish/coral are happy.

I have cut down feedings to half a cube Emerald Entree and DT Phyto every other day, but I am putting an approx 3"X2" sheet of Nori seaweed in the tank for the tang everyday. Is this enough? I think so....

It is a 75gal tank with 80 lbs LR, 1 yellow tang, 2 damsels, 2 small striped catfish, 1 lawnmower blenny, and several corals.

I have read and searched and read and searched....nothing specific. I know that Tangs are grazers and need constant grazing food but the seaweed is gone pretty quick. Any help would be appreciated, as always.

Also, any opinions on the Saltwater Master test kits or the Nutrifin Calcium test kits? I'm hoping I can depend on their accuracy due to living so far from the LFS.

Thanks in advance!!!
C

[Woodstock]

That sounds like enough feedings. I have read that the lawnmower blenny needs lots of algae or nori (if it will eat it) to survive. Keep up with the water changes and get the largest skimmer you can. Also, make sure you have 1 - 1.5 lbs rock per gallon of water... the porous rock's deep pores serve as an anaerobic nursery for bacteria to convert nitrAtes into harmles nitrogen gas. Keep the rocks blown off (few time per week) with a power head or turkey baster.

I use Salifert test kits and Aquarium Pharmaceuticals test kits... both are good. I've never used Nutrifin's.

[mps9506]

It's pretty easy to check to make sure your tang is full. Since they are flat verticalll it's quite easy to see when their stomach has food in it. Just make sure the area behind the pectoral fins is not pinched or sunken looking. It should always be even with the rest of the body if not full looking. If it starts looking sunken or pinched, then increase the mount of nori you are feeding. If it always looks full and you have nori leftover in the clip, then you can decrease the amount you feed in an effort to maintain water quality.
HTH

[Witfull]

bingo~mikey got it

[Cheryl]

Should have known...got all of my previous info from RS!!!

BTW, the Blenny LOVES the Nori!

I will continue...Thanks again!

[mps9506]

Originally Posted by Cheryl

BTW, the Blenny LOVES the Nori!

That's good, that means you don't need to depend on algae growth in your tank to feed your blenny. Some blennies will refuse to eat nori out of a clip.
He should stay fat and happy now.

[scuba22]

my Tangs won't eat the Nori! They have a discerning palate only for leaf lettuce or Romaine! Go figure!

[Cheryl]

Scuba22~

My Tang was finicky at first, but I kept trying and now my Tang HAS to have it! The Blenny and Damsels have grown to love it as well. She (?) likes spinach and blanched brocolli as well. I was feeding collard greens, her fav, and lettuce but I kept reading that it wasnt good for the fish or the tank? After my nitrAte spike, I quit! So Nori a la carte it is!

I am attempting to download a few pics to the gallery.... wish me luck! LOL

Cheryl

[Craig Manoukian]

Originally Posted by Cheryl

I am attempting to download a few pics to the gallery.... wish me luck! LOLCheryl

[scuba22]

Hey Cheryl...
I have a rough time w/ nitrates as well..perhaps it's the lettuce?
hmmm maybe I'll share some of the Nori with the fishes again...
last time I gave it to them they let it sit all day...the regal Tang even looked spooked from it!
(O wait everything except the brine-shrimp-syringe* spooks her, I forgot)

I feed the tube coral with a syringe and the fish are always looking for a taste! The regal tang even pecks at it!

did you get your posts up?

[Witfull]

hey Doni,,,a blue hippo!! wow you should get one~~

[Cheryl]

Originally Posted by scuba22

Hey Cheryl...
I have a rough time w/ nitrates as well..perhaps it's the lettuce?
hmmm maybe I'll share some of the Nori with the fishes again...

Did you get your posts up?

Hi Scuba22, I quit with putting lettuce in the tank, but if I do offer 'greens', I take it out after a while instead of leaving it in the tank til it disenagrates or overnight (at the advice of RS experts that is!!!)


I did download some pics of my tank. I just took it over so it will take some time to get it where I want it. Plus, I am new to this so I want all the knowledge I can get before diving into the hobby! LOL I hear that patience is the key to this hobby!

Cheryl

[Woodstock]

Originally Posted by Witfull

hey Doni,,,a blue hippo!! wow you should get one~~

Haven't you heard?... Ken *poofed* my pink regal into a blue one


....it's gonna take me forever to find another pink one!!

[Craig Manoukian]

Brine shrimp is very low in nutritional value compared to other meaty foods. Might be adding to nitrates as much goes uneaten.

[Cheryl]

Oh yea, I changed my feedings to half a cube of emerald entree every other day from one cube of brine shrimp every day and that made a diff in my trAtes!