herbivorous fish feeding questions

[|Tom the Bomb|]

I have a 220ish gal system, pretty new maybe almost 2 months old, with 4 fish, a volitans lion, purple tang, blue-eye tang and a foxface which was recently added.

The purple tang isn't being aggressive towards the blue-eye at all. Anyways, I'm feeding the tank small sheets of nori twice daily, the purple tang loves it but the blue-eye has taken 0 interest in it at all, all it does is pick at the rocks all the time and yes its doing a good job, there's some algae (not a lot) o the rocks and glass and I see teeth marks on them too, however I'm worried that this isn't enough for the tang and that its not getting the proper nutrition, Recently I decided to try brine shrimp and he loved it, I was happy that he decided to at least eat something, but brine def isnt very nutritious either, tried mysis, he did not like it, in fact none of the fish liked it.
I also got this dried algae grazer thing, purple liked, foxface liked, again bristletooth took a look but did not touch it, and continued to graze on the minimal algae on the sand. I tried sprinkling the nori as flakes, foxface went absolutely nuts for them, bristletooth tried it but ehhh overall didn't really like it. The foxface was picky at first but now is slowly adjusting to eat the same as the purple, it's not eating a lot but I think it's fine.

So anyways what do you guys think I should try to get the bristletooth to eat something more nutritious? currently all it eats is brine and the things in the tank... which isnt a lot.

I am feeding it the spirulina enriched ones from hikari but that doesnt seem much better.

it also may be showing some minimal signs of hlle which Im worried is caused by this
All the fish are very active though

 

[KC's CNC Creations]

my fish aren't picky eaters, altho i do have a blue regal who refuses to eat nori, i feed live brine shrimp and frozen mix in the morning and throughout the day, i'll feed a flake blend i made of brine shrimp flake (53.3% protein), a cool mysis flake (49.3%) and a algae blend flake (48.36%), everyone in the tanks go crazy for it.

 

[Sidvicious]

New Life Spectrum AlgaeMax shall be your best friend for the herbivores out there. I feed NLS exclusively and can't be happier with the results. Colors and health of the fish are simply the best!

 

[AlgaeBarn]

I have a 220ish gal system, pretty new maybe almost 2 months old, with 4 fish, a volitans lion, purple tang, blue-eye tang and a foxface which was recently added.

The purple tang isn't being aggressive towards the blue-eye at all. Anyways, I'm feeding the tank small sheets of nori twice daily, the purple tang loves it but the blue-eye has taken 0 interest in it at all, all it does is pick at the rocks all the time and yes its doing a good job, there's some algae (not a lot) o the rocks and glass and I see teeth marks on them too, however I'm worried that this isn't enough for the tang and that its not getting the proper nutrition, Recently I decided to try brine shrimp and he loved it, I was happy that he decided to at least eat something, but brine def isnt very nutritious either, tried mysis, he did not like it, in fact none of the fish liked it.
I also got this dried algae grazer thing, purple liked, foxface liked, again bristletooth took a look but did not touch it, and continued to graze on the minimal algae on the sand. I tried sprinkling the nori as flakes, foxface went absolutely nuts for them, bristletooth tried it but ehhh overall didn't really like it. The foxface was picky at first but now is slowly adjusting to eat the same as the purple, it's not eating a lot but I think it's fine.

So anyways what do you guys think I should try to get the bristletooth to eat something more nutritious? currently all it eats is brine and the things in the tank... which isnt a lot.

I am feeding it the spirulina enriched ones from hikari but that doesnt seem much better.

it also may be showing some minimal signs of hlle which Im worried is caused by this
All the fish are very active though

If you have a refugium you can try to grow sea lettuce or red ogo and have that as a free food source for the herbivores when you go to prune it back

 

[|Tom the Bomb|]

If you have a refugium you can try to grow sea lettuce or red ogo and have that as a free food source for the herbivores when you go to prune it back

ah yes Im planning on starting a fuge soon, I ordered my light (neptune gro) but it isn't here yet, im planning on doing sea lettuce, hopefully theyll eat that!

 

[|Tom the Bomb|]

New Life Spectrum AlgaeMax shall be your best friend for the herbivores out there. I feed NLS exclusively and can't be happier with the results. Colors and health of the fish are simply the best!

those are pellets?, well I went to my lfs today and they didnt have that, I bought some vitachem supplements, they did not have selcon but they said to try this, anyone have experience with this? how well does it work?
Im planning on mixing that with brine for the tang...

And I also bought some herbivore frenzy lrs, hopefully theyll like that

 

[blaxsun]

I find that all my herbivores go nuts for seaweed whenever I rubberband it around a small, flat rock. There's something primal in the form of ripping and tearing it to pieces that they never seem to tire of.

 

[Jubei2006]

I mix mysis (everybody loves), nyos herbivore pellets, ocean nutrition formula one, and Pyscine energetics calanus copepods. I broadcast feed everyone. At the beginning the fish picked and chose what they wanted, after a month or two of this, nothing hits the bottom. Mix of fish, Anthias, Tomini tang, Red sea sailfin tang, purple tang, blonde naso, midas blenny, bicolor blenny, lawnmower blenny, 5 different types of wrasses, and a Bangaii cardinalfish. Keep mixing and trying. My Tomini isnt crazy about nori sheets either (almost always an available sheet) but he's still gaining weight. Also tried some sea lettuce as well. All my tangs ate it, but I could tell it was like kids being forced veggies.

 

[Jubei2006]

Sorry dont know if my rambling made sense. If he's really only eating Brine....keep mixing it in with other stuff, and more than likely over time he'll start eating other items. You could also tie sea lettuce, red ogo, nori sheets, or something similar to a piece of live rock to trying a stimulate, simulate his normal grazing pattern.

 

[Sidvicious]

those are pellets?, well I went to my lfs today and they didnt have that, I bought some vitachem supplements, they did not have selcon but they said to try this, anyone have experience with this? how well does it work?
Im planning on mixing that with brine for the tang...

And I also bought some herbivore frenzy lrs, hopefully theyll like that

They are pellets and are available on Amazon if your LFS does not carry them. LRS is a fantastic company as well, top quality along with NLS. You'll want the AlgaeMax variety.

 

[CoralB]

2 months old tank and 4 fish ??? At least 3 are tangs !! . How did you cycle the tank so fast ?? . Well if that’s not a issue then in my experience I used nori and ocean direct medium size pellets . If you find one isn’t eating and he’s not being bullied I’d give him some time . I also had a issue where I had to use a different nori from a different company . But first keep watching him if neccesary use clips on both ends of the tank . Hope that helps

 

[vetteguy53081]

2 months old tank and 4 fish ??? At least 3 are tangs !! . How did you cycle the tank so fast ?? . Well if that’s not a issue then in my experience I used nori and ocean direct medium size pellets . If you find one isn’t eating and he’s not being bullied I’d give him some time . I also had a issue where I had to use a different nori from a different company . But first keep watching him if neccesary use clips on both ends of the tank . Hope that helps

Cycled fast ? That is about right. I moved and reset tang- 16 fish in 5 weeks although I used rock and sand from the pre-existing tank

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have a 220ish gal system, pretty new maybe almost 2 months old, with 4 fish, a volitans lion, purple tang, blue-eye tang and a foxface which was recently added.

The purple tang isn't being aggressive towards the blue-eye at all. Anyways, I'm feeding the tank small sheets of nori twice daily, the purple tang loves it but the blue-eye has taken 0 interest in it at all, all it does is pick at the rocks all the time and yes its doing a good job, there's some algae (not a lot) o the rocks and glass and I see teeth marks on them too, however I'm worried that this isn't enough for the tang and that its not getting the proper nutrition, Recently I decided to try brine shrimp and he loved it, I was happy that he decided to at least eat something, but brine def isnt very nutritious either, tried mysis, he did not like it, in fact none of the fish liked it.
I also got this dried algae grazer thing, purple liked, foxface liked, again bristletooth took a look but did not touch it, and continued to graze on the minimal algae on the sand. I tried sprinkling the nori as flakes, foxface went absolutely nuts for them, bristletooth tried it but ehhh overall didn't really like it. The foxface was picky at first but now is slowly adjusting to eat the same as the purple, it's not eating a lot but I think it's fine.

So anyways what do you guys think I should try to get the bristletooth to eat something more nutritious? currently all it eats is brine and the things in the tank... which isnt a lot.

I am feeding it the spirulina enriched ones from hikari but that doesnt seem much better.

it also may be showing some minimal signs of hlle which Im worried is caused by this
All the fish are very active though

Herbivores need a vast diet.
-Spirulina brine shrimp
- LRS Herbivore diet
- mysis shrimp
- small plankton
- Nori seaweed basted with garlic extract
- Hikari Marine cuisine
- Formula 2 flake and frozen
- Hikari veggie marine

Add selcon vitamins to the foods 2-3X per week and on alternating days, garlic extract for stamina and immunity health

 

[CoralB]

Cycled fast ? That is about right. I moved and reset tang- 16 fish in 5 weeks although I used rock and sand from the pre-existing tank

I’ve set up tanks using filters rock and sand from existing tanks before as well and experience shorter cycle time , since he didn’t state that I thought I’d throw that up for food for though in case he didnt .

 

[|Tom the Bomb|]

Well... in terms of the cycling thing, it was cycled in less than 2 weeks... not really sure how I did it but it did, maybe it was because used less ammonium to do so, I dosed microbacter xlm daily during the cycle, after it was done, I got the lionfish, it was pretty happy overall so I guess the biological filter kept up, during that time I dosed the leftover amounts of xlm daily and also dosed a bit of microbacter 7 which I also had laying around, and I fed him 1 piece of shrimp every other day, after like almost 2 weeks I went and got the bristletooth tang (now this was probably a mistake on my part), and 5 days after that, the purple, cus I didn't want the bristle to get too settled in (this was also a mistake, cus I didn't account for how shy the bristle would be and the purple got settled in right away, contrary to what I thought would happen), so yea I let those fish settle in, after a little over a week I got the foxface and that was probably rushed, I should've waited a bit longer but I couldnt help it

So currently 4 fish

They all are pretty active so Im not worrying too much,
the bristletooth is actually liking the algae grazer food from vitalis so thats an improvement!
Although the purple will sometimes charge in and try to snatch the food : (

 

[|Tom the Bomb|]

Herbivores need a vast diet.
-Spirulina brine shrimp
- LRS Herbivore diet
- mysis shrimp
- small plankton
- Nori seaweed basted with garlic extract
- Hikari Marine cuisine
- Formula 2 flake and frozen
- Hikari veggie marine

Add selcon vitamins to the foods 2-3X per week and on alternating days, garlic extract for stamina and immunity health

woah thats some vast diet alright, is that what you feed your tangs or just some suggestions

 

[CoralB]

Well... in terms of the cycling thing, it was cycled in less than 2 weeks... not really sure how I did it but it did, maybe it was because used less ammonium to do so, I dosed microbacter xlm daily during the cycle, after it was done, I got the lionfish, it was pretty happy overall so I guess the biological filter kept up, during that time I dosed the leftover amounts of xlm daily and also dosed a bit of microbacter 7 which I also had laying around, and I fed him 1 piece of shrimp every other day, after like almost 2 weeks I went and got the bristletooth tang (now this was probably a mistake on my part), and 5 days after that, the purple, cus I didn't want the bristle to get too settled in (this was also a mistake, cus I didn't account for how shy the bristle would be and the purple got settled in right away, contrary to what I thought would happen), so yea I let those fish settle in, after a little over a week I got the foxface and that was probably rushed, I should've waited a bit longer but I couldnt help it

So currently 4 fish

They all are pretty active so Im not worrying too much,
the bristletooth is actually liking the algae grazer food from vitalis so thats an improvement!
Although the purple will sometimes charge in and try to snatch the food : (

Did you use any seeded material from a existing tank to cycle it ??

 

[|Tom the Bomb|]

Did you use any seeded material from a existing tank to cycle it ??

see thats the weird part... I didnt

 

[CoralB]

I’m jealous lol!!, I wish I had your luck or skill . There must be something else your doing and just forgot to mention . I’ve set up more then my share of tanks in my lifetime . And I would be happy to cycle in 2 months let alone 2 weeks . If you remember something else please share as I’ll be setting up a 170 gallon in the near future and it would be incredible to save the cycle time . Thanks good luck with your new tank

 

[vetteguy53081]

woah thats some vast diet alright, is that what you feed your tangs or just some suggestions

That’s what I feed and provides complete diet, nutrition, aminos, fats and vitamins