Naso tang

demetriusandmax · Sep 10, 2015

My naso never seems to get enough to eat he is constantly hunting. I have tied seaweed to a rock and I also placed two more strips using clips but he won't touch it. He loves mysis and does ok with spirulina brine shrimp. He refuses flakes and pellets. I also soak everything in garlic. I have two questions.

1. I does he look skinny/unhealthy?
2. What else can I add to diversify his diet?

(PS he is in a 200g tank with plenty of room)

StevenBell · Sep 10, 2015

Try a chlorella based flake.like the one from seachem.I had one where I would have to tear up the nori and do a flake type deal with it.Also got him started with red nori first

demetriusandmax · Sep 10, 2015

Got it thanks

4FordFamily · Sep 10, 2015

Live black worms. My blonde naso is called gray cow in my house. She's fat as a walrus and eats TONS of nori and black worms (and everything in sight)

Picky fish can almost always be won over with live blackworms, live brine, and red nori.

Transitioning from blackworms is easy - most will go to bloodworms pretty easily, and then other frozen foods. Live brine transition is east also, generally they'll tear up brine and mysis after a short while.

demetriusandmax · Sep 11, 2015

I will try those as well thanks!

ReefMadScientist · Sep 11, 2015

Your tang looks good but the non-eating of the greens is a little concerning.

Do you have any other tangs in the tank? If not, I would suggest adding one that eats seaweed. Tangs are very smart learners and mimic fish alike. If you feed your other tangs daily with seaweed, I have no doubts the Naso will start eating it too.

Eienna · Sep 11, 2015

Don't bother soaking the nori in garlic. That may be the issue...plus it sounds like you've got plenty of (bordering on excessive) garlic in the other foods.

Live lettuce algae (ulva species) is often happily accepted.

demetriusandmax · Sep 11, 2015

ReefMadScientist said:
Your tang looks good but the non-eating of the greens is a little concerning.

Do you have any other tangs in the tank? If not, I would suggest adding one that eats seaweed. Tangs are very smart learners and mimic fish alike. If you feed your other tangs daily with seaweed, I have no doubts the Naso will start eating it too.

The naso is my only tang, which is a good hardy seaweed eating tang that is unlikely to have aggression issues?

That's a great reason to tell my wife I need a new fish! Thanks

ReefMadScientist · Sep 11, 2015

demetriusandmax said:
The naso is my only tang, which is a good hardy seaweed eating tang that is unlikely to have aggression issues?

That's a great reason to tell my wife I need a new fish! Thanks

Try a blue hippo that is just around the same size of your Naso so you will not get any bullying.

demetriusandmax · Sep 11, 2015

Eienna said:
Don't bother soaking the nori in garlic. That may be the issue...plus it sounds like you've got plenty of (bordering on excessive) garlic in the other foods.

Live lettuce algae (ulva species) is often happily accepted.

Wow I thought I was supposed to add garlic to everything to supplement their immune system. If this is incorrect how much is too much? Also is there something else that I should be adding? Thanks is advance.

demetriusandmax · Sep 11, 2015

ReefMadScientist said:
Try a blue hippo that is just around the same size of your Naso so you will not get any bullying.

Thanks that's a beautiful fish as well. Is the blue hippo notorious for ich?

knap_123 · Sep 12, 2015

Our naso is a pig , but will only eat nori or flakes.

gaz · Sep 12, 2015

Hippos are prone to ich but its like anything else get a healthy specimen, drip acclimatise and feed some garlic enriched food like you already do and you should be ok

demetriusandmax · Sep 12, 2015

gaz said:
Hippos are prone to ich but its like anything else get a healthy specimen, drip acclimatise and feed some garlic enriched food like you already do and you should be ok

Thanks I will do just that.

Eienna · Sep 13, 2015

I must disagree. ALWAYS quarantine your new fish - and garlic is NOT an ich cure or preventative, though it may be helpful. One study I read suggests that long-term feeding of garlic to marine fish can actually cause some anemia. A little supplementation is fine, but I'd suggest restricting it to one or two food items. Definitely not the entire diet.

gaz · Sep 13, 2015

No you right and QT. Nothing of what I said is a cure only a prevention so feeding some garlic enriched food is just another step to put in place to help

demetriusandmax · Sep 13, 2015

Eienna said:
I must disagree. ALWAYS quarantine your new fish - and garlic is NOT an ich cure or preventative, though it may be helpful. One study I read suggests that long-term feeding of garlic to marine fish can actually cause some anemia. A little supplementation is fine, but I'd suggest restricting it to one or two food items. Definitely not the entire diet.

Got it, this may need a new thread but how do I setup a qt tank?

gaz · Sep 13, 2015

https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php...Quarantine-Fish;-A-Guide.153265/#post-1787049
You should QT even though I haven't done it in 3 years but it is a good thing to have I will be setting one up soon

demetriusandmax · Sep 13, 2015

Thanks

Eienna · Sep 14, 2015

I forgot to mention something. If you really want to supplement a fish's diet, a quality vitamin supplement such as Selcon or Boyd's Vita-Chem is a great idea.