My tangs HATE vegies!

[Yodeling]

So I've had various tangs in the past. They would instantly devour anything plant-based I would put in the tank. But in my newest tank I have a Scopas and a Tomini that are "different". They won't touch nori. So a week ago I tried to attach a bunch of Red Gracilaria to a rock, and they won't touch that either! They will literally pick algae off the same rock, but they will not take a bite off the Gracilaria. Anyway, I do feed them pellet and frozen food so it's not like they are starving but I'm just baffled by their aversion to what would be their natural food in the wild. What gives?

 

[Gtinnel]

My tomini won't eat nori either. It does pick at the rocks and glass all day long though, and it eats anything else that I put in the tank.

 

[Idech]

I have the same problem with my new Kole tang. He won’t touch nori clipped on the glass. Tomorrow I’ll try putting it under a rock.

I guess some fish take time to adapt to new foods.

 

[muzikalmatt]

Your tangs sound like my 3 year old. Haha! I'll give her the same food she loves but in different presentations, and she will refuse to eat it.

Maybe try different feeders, or even use pelletized nori. Either way it sounds like they're getting the nutrition they need.

 

[Reef AquaCult]

Kole tangs and tomini have a unique mouth shape that isn’t really good for eating nori. Seems like they’re specialize to get the slime algae that forms on rocks and glass more than hair algae IME.

they can pick stuff from water Column. Try hikari seaweed extreme nori-based pellet

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Are you using Nori you buy from the supermarket? If so it could be "baked" and they don't like that.

 

[Auquanut]

I've noticed that as my tangs and foxface get older, they don't appreciate the nori like they used to. Sure, they'll nip at it, but they don't devour it like they used to. They still work the rocks and glass, but seem to want the frozen and pellets more than the nori these days. Has anyone else noticed this?

 

[Crabby48]

Even my wrasse pound nori. Tangs like lrs but wrasse don’t care

 

[Gtinnel]

Are you using Nori you buy from the supermarket? If so it could be "baked" and they don't like that.

I don't know about the OP but I use 2 little fishies brand nori.


I wondered if it was a bristletooth tang thing. Every other tang I've had in the past and currently eat it readily. My wrasse eats it as well.

 

[Rickybobby]

My yellow loves red and green nori. My hippo didn’t touch anything that was veggie

 

[HB AL]

I dont feed nori to my tangs (5 to 6 year olds in perfect health) they just graze the rocks and turn into carnivores when it's dinner time for everyone!

 

[nereefpat]

Friendly reminder that tomini, kole, or any other species of tangs in the genus Ctenochaetus don't eat that kid of algae in nature. They are detritus/slime algae eaters. Many will take nori, but some won't.

 

[ScottB]

Kole tangs and tomini have a unique mouth shape that isn’t really good for eating nori. Seems like they’re specialize to get the slime algae that forms on rocks and glass more than hair algae IME.

they can pick stuff from water Column. Try hikari seaweed extreme nori-based pellet

My experience exactly. At least in the beginning. After watching their tankmates for several months, both tangs came around to eating nori.

The kole would not eat anything I introduced. He was trying to get film algae, but I'd just come out of dinos and didn't have any. It was was touch and go there for a while. Now he is a very fat fish.