How much to feed my starving Tang??

[winnham]

I bought a yellow tang for our 90g (first fish in this tank). He is very skinny and eating like a big pig -- poor guy is starving! He doesn't even hide when I come into the room -- he plows over to my face at the glass and just looks at me like "what the %*!! ya waiting for...FEED ME!" I hope I am not over feeding him, but I have given him Formula II 4 times today. He consumes everything in about 3 minutes (tops). My question is, how much is too much when they are eating everything you are giving them. If he weren't so skinny, I'd just pass him off as a pig and feed him like I feed the rest of my fish (different tank), but this little guy needs some meat on his bones. Any advice is appreciated!

[Mariner]

Well, the tang heaven folks claim that a tang will not overeat. I don't know that to be fact though. But if he's in the shape you are describing, I doubt that three of four feedings per day would be too much. You will have to pay closer attention to your water quality however. More feeding = more fish waste = more ammonia = :hmm4:
FWIW,
Mariner

[SeaView]

Tangs are active fish and will pretty much eat whenever food is available. What you don't want to do is pollute your tank by overfeeding. You shuld try to supplement with some macro algaes or romain or other green lettuce.

[OrionN]

Get some Nori, rolled it up, or folded it up and put on a clip. Put enough in a tank for him to eat all days. This is how I get my tangs to be fat. They won't over eat. Here is a picture of my fat tang. He was emaciated when I got him. Three months and he was a picture of health.
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/788PBT.JPG

[atzak]

You can get nori, which is a dried sea weed used for sushi, at a health food store, attach a piece to a rock with a rubberband, and the tang can graze all day like it would on the reef. I do this every other day and my 2 tangs, yellow and powder blue, are thick healthy fish

[winnham]

Oh my GOSH! I had to call my husband in to see your picture of that Tang!! He is so FAT!!! We were both laughing so hard -- he even looks like he is begging for more food! It is nice to see such a healthy (and obviously happy) Tang!

[winnham]

Get some Nori, rolled it up, or folded it up and put on a clip. Put enough in a tank for him to eat all days

One more thing, do you soak the nori in anything or do you just put in the tank as is?

[OrionN]

I don't soak the Nori with anything. If you do, the nori just fall apart when you try to roll it up. If you add after you roll up the nori, it will just disolve into the water. The way I fold it, the nori will stay togather unless the fish eat it. I do put this clip in a low flow area of my tank.
I do make home make food, and I add Nori and Selcon and Clildre liquid vitamins into it when I make them.
Do you want to see how I fold these up? If you want to see how I do it, I can tank pictures of each steps and post them fro you to see. If you don't do it "correctly" the nori will get blow all over the tank in an hour or two.
Minh

[Mariner]

Minh,
I'd like to see how you do it. When I feed nori on a clip, either the cleaner shrimp tears it apart and it floats all over the tank -- or if the shrimp leaves it alone, it floats off by itself after awhile.
As long as we're sharing pics, here's my young (but very fat) Regal Tang
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/519/24125regaltang.jpg
Mariner

[OrionN]

Here is how I fold my Nori. I find that it will last all day in my tank until the tangs eat it.
http://www.maast.org/albums/Minh-Nguyen/Nori_1.jpg


[img]http://www.maast.org/albums/Minh-Nguyen/Nori_2.jpg


[img]http://www.maast.org/albums/Minh-Nguyen/Nori_3.sized.jpg

http://www.maast.org/albums/Minh-Nguyen/Nori_4.sized.jpg

http://www.maast.org/albums/Minh-Nguyen/Nori_5.jpg

http://www.maast.org/albums/Minh-Nguyen/Nori_6.jpg

http://www.maast.org/albums/Minh-Nguyen/Nori_7.jpg

http://www.maast.org/albums/Minh-Nguyen/Nori_8.jpg

http://www.maast.org/albums/Minh-Nguyen/Nori_9.jpg

[scorcho]

What a great illustration, thanks for taking the time! I'm gonna give it a try.

[reefkeeper1]

Wow, this is what makes the Internet and this board so great. I've fed Nori before, but as mentioned above, it can just break apart in a few minutes. I'm going to try the "Minh Nguyen" roll method tonight.

[NicoleC]

You can also get the dried stuff that isn't in sushi sheets.

You can also try Formula VHP. It's fattened up an emaciated goby quite nicely.

[BryanJ]

Mihn

Your nori sure looks like seaweed selects. If it is I noticed the different colors which ones are you feeding?

[marius03]

i feed my yellow tang 2 sea weed strips a day. and hes been strong and alive for along time now

[gcvt]

You can also grow your own macros for the tang to eat, and it's very easy to do. I have a simple 10g setup to grow ulva & gracilaria - my tang goes absolutely nuts for the gracilaria...much more so than nori. The best part is you know exactly what he's getting in his food and you never have to pay for nori again http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/images/graemlins/icon_thumbs.gif

Check out: http://www.globaldialog.com/~jrice/algae_page/red_algae.htm

[OrionN]

Originally posted by BryanJ
Mihn

Your nori sure looks like seaweed selects. If it is I noticed the different colors which ones are you feeding?
These are Sushi sheets. I cut the Sushi sheet into 6 pieces resulting in the above size. The width is just right for my clips. A purple and a green sheet. I can also get seaweed that are not Sushi.
I attached it to a stick instead of use a suction cup to attach to the side of the tank becasue i don't want to put my hand into the tank every day just to feed the fish.

[BryanJ]

Thanks for the info. When I saw the perfs in the sheet it looked identical to the seaweed selects that I feed.

[OrionN]

Originally posted by BryanJ
Thanks for the info. When I saw the perfs in the sheet it looked identical to the seaweed selects that I feed.
I have seen seaweed select. I am sure that seaweed select are just cup up Nori sheet. One can order Nori in bulk and just remarket it. Get the Nori sheets, it is much cheaper.

[Mariner]

Minh,
Thank you VERY MUCH!
Mariner

[gregorfd]

Mihn;

can you repost your folding nori pics--they don't show in the post.

thanks!

[OrionN]

Sometime the server for MAAST.ORG may be down for a short time. It will come back. I can also keep these pictures here at Reefcentral but the allowed file size is really too small for good pictures, and I cannot link other BB to it, so I stop keeping pictures here.
Minh

[rhino]

Just a quick question , how do u get ur tang to graze all day on a piece of Nori ??? i put 2 sheets in my tank when i get home from work and my purple tang has finished it off in 2 minutes flat !!!!!

[OrionN]

Put in more. When he is full, then he eat slower. I have enough Nori there to last most of the day. My Powder Blue tang will eat the above two sheets in one day plus the algae in my refugium. I still keep him in the refugium at this time to get him use to cativity. I will release him into the main tank in about 1-2 months when he is comfortable with eating captivity food and have no problem.
Minh

[winnham]

Just an update...Tang took to the nori on a clip and is already noticably thicker and more yellow. He loves the stuff! Thanks again for the great tip!

[guitarfish]

Where do you guys buy the Nori? I have the Seaweed Selects. I have a 5" yellow tang for a month now, he needs to fatten up some. Are you guys saying if he at a 4x6" sheet in a day it wouldn't be unusual?

[OrionN]

You can buy these at a Oriental market or Japanese super-market (50 sheets 8X9 inches for <10 dollars in Houston). You can also get them Online (more expensive)
I use two different, the green and red. I also use not Nori dry seaweeds. These are cheaper. I just put all the different seaweed I can to the tank for my tangs.
Look for Nori,
Minh

[guitarfish]

Are they sheets?

[OrionN]

Yes. The nori sheet on line, you can get for about 50 c per sheet. Maybe you should go to ebay and look for Nori.

[OrionN]

Here is one. green nori
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2377760224&category=20759
Minh

[guitarfish]

Thank you !

[Shoestring Reefer]

I haven't checked out the local asian markets yet, but the supermarket only carried toasted nori. Is this OK tang food? I suspect not.

[guitarfish]

I'm not sure about the toasted nori. My tang is doing great, he eats the seaweed selects every day. I was going to buy some nori on eBay next.

[OrionN]

toasted Nori is fine. That is what I feed my tangs. They don't really cook it , just dryed it.
Minh

[ab5ebdxer]

I try to keep my yellow tangs clip full all the time. He always looks fat and happy.

Mike