Tang Care and Feeding Inquiry.

[Jasonanatal]

Hello everyone, I wanted to get some advice some as to what to feed my Powder Blue and Achilles Tangs. They are looking a bit on the thing side. I currently am feeding 1 cube of Prime Reef a day and I had some Red Ogo Algea that was in my refugium but it started to fowl the water with a bad smell so I'm guessing it died (I only have a 7 watt power compact light in my refugium) Also the Nori sheets seem to get ignored and the ogo was picked on at first until all the little growth was gone and only strands of the thick string. Any thoughts?



Photograph - Friday, December 19, 2008 - 1.5 lbs. of Red Ogo Gracilaria Algae in my refugium. Can't tell if it's dead?


Photograph - Friday, December 19, 2008 - What left of the Red Ogo Gracilaria Algae in my aquarium.

[rayme07]

Hi Jason have you tried adding garlic enhancement or fresh garlic to the nori to see if that would help entice them to eat.

[CarmieJo]

How about caulerpa?

[saltaddict]

Hi Jason,

I feed my tangs a variety of mysis, brine, herb flake food, nori and grape calerpa. All of their food is soaked in garlic and Zoe except the calerpa of course. Although tangs are herb babies they also need some meaty food in their diet. You could also buy some live brine from your LFS add some vitamins to the bag and then try that, they seem to know exactly what to do with the live brine. You need to take action quick because tangs must graze constantly to survive.
I would also buy a handful of calpera and rubber band it to a rock and put at the front bottom of the tank so you can see if they are eating, in the meantime I would feed several times a day in small amounts and turn off pumps and such so you can see if they are eating.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Rhonda

[Jasonanatal]

Hi Jason have you tried adding garlic enhancement or fresh garlic to the nori to see if that would help entice them to eat.

Rayme07, I personally tend to stear clear of Garlic since I have personally observed it in doing nothing to entice my fish. They must be finicky eaters such as myself.

[Jasonanatal]

How about caulerpa?

CarmieJo, I don't have any Caulerpa. The limited amount of retail locations near me don't sell it and I don't know any local reefers near that have any to spare.

[Jasonanatal]

Hi Jason,

I feed my tangs a variety of mysis, brine, herb flake food, nori and grape calerpa. All of their food is soaked in garlic and Zoe except the calerpa of course. Although tangs are herb babies they also need some meaty food in their diet. You could also buy some live brine from your LFS add some vitamins to the bag and then try that, they seem to know exactly what to do with the live brine. You need to take action quick because tangs must graze constantly to survive.
I would also buy a handful of calpera and rubber band it to a rock and put at the front bottom of the tank so you can see if they are eating, in the meantime I would feed several times a day in small amounts and turn off pumps and such so you can see if they are eating.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Rhonda

Saltaddict, thank you for the information. I will give it a try and keep everyone posted, just need to find some Caulerpa.

[Amphibious]

Keeping in mind that ALL Tangs are wild caught, it sometimes takes awhile to "train" them to eat what we feed in captivity. Everything we feed is foreign to them. They don't find Nori, Gracelaria, Brine Shrimp, Mysis or cubes of Prime Reef out on the reef. Then take into account their digestive tracts are out of whack due to not being fed and the trauma of being shipped around the world. Also, we take them from the vastness of the reef and house them in aquaria that are barely adequate in size, regardless what size that might be. By the way, what size aquarium do you have them in?

[CarmieJo]

Jason, my caulerpa got overran by my cheato or I'd send you some. But, you should be able to order it from Reef Cleaners.

[Sea/Ocean]

Hi Peoples,

I was fortunate enought to spend a week in Waileu Maui, Hawaii and observe first hand what tangs eat and some tricks of the trade. I met a really nice man In Maui that owns a Business that is currently trying to breed Saltwater tangs. I went Scuba diving with him and we collected 7 achilles tang and 5 bright yellow tangs for tagging and research. I studied and filmed the fish as he showed me the common misconceptions. He took a piece of shrimp and rubbed it into the rock and to my amazement the achilles tang started feeding. Looks to me like this is the best way to get them to feed. The most impressive thing was that he squeezed the eggs and sperm from the fish and is trying to breed tangs. Achilles tangs ate the eggs and sperm that were not contained. Before you feed them algae from the ocean be careful, they usually host parasites. You should treat them in a fresh water dip.

[rayme07]

Hi Sea/Ocean and Welcome to TR. Thanks for sharing the info about the tangs very interesting.

[CarmieJo]

Hi Sea/Ocean and to TR!

It sounds like you really had a fascinating experience. I think that aquaculture is the future of our hobby.