Naso Tang

Jrod381 · Jun 19, 2020

Need some advice, have a naso tang, that I have had almost a week that I have not seen eat any type of food I add the most the tank. Now I have seen it nibble just a little on some green nori, and today I put some red but that I know if did not eat. I do see it picking at the rock and at the back glass. Should I be concern that he has not eaten or could it be that since he is in the dt he has not settled?

should I pull out treat with prazi and place in qt again?

BighohoReef · Jun 19, 2020

Is it active and moving around the tank? What type of behavior are you seeing from it?

It most likely is eating algae off the rocks, if you witnessed it eating some of the nori (seaweed) you should be okay. I wouldn't stress it out anymore by moving it to QT. If you think it should be eating more I would recommend trying some different foods, perhaps mixing it with spirulina... I've done that for our Kole when we was first introduced.

Big G · Jun 19, 2020

Sometimes shreading the nori and then rubberbanding to a rock can help too. Or finely shredding the nori and sticking it to a rock using Masstick can help them find it easier in a more natural presentation.

Feet4Fish · Jun 19, 2020

Big G said:
Sometimes shreading the nori and then rubberbanding to a rock can help too. Or finely shredding the nori and sticking it to a rock using Masstick can help them find it easier in a more natural presentation.

I have two Nasos in my tank a larger Litratus and smaller Elegans. The larger will ONLY eat Nori primarily green and purple. The Blonde will eat anything. Since in the ocean these fish spend their days grazing on algae I think that is the o my thing they recognize as food. Remember algae clips are a foreign thing to them as well so trying @Big G rock idea would be perfect!

Feet4Fish · Jun 19, 2020

Jrod381 · Jun 19, 2020

BighohoReef said:
Is it active and moving around the tank? What type of behavior are you seeing from it?

It most likely is eating algae off the rocks, if you witnessed it eating some of the nori (seaweed) you should be okay. I wouldn't stress it out anymore by moving it to QT. If you think it should be eating more I would recommend trying some different foods, perhaps mixing it with spirulina... I've done that for our Kole when we was first introduced.

Yes he is very active swimming about back and forth he will join the rest of the tang gang as well so there is no aggression that I can see.

najer · Jun 20, 2020

I feed macro algae to my gang that I grow out in my sump and elastic band it to a piece of rubble.
Caulerpa brachypus is their favourite, cheato is not very nutritious / digestible.

PilotOfSubmarines · Jun 20, 2020

my Blonde only eats green Nori on a clip. He will eat it 24/7. Will not even look at anything else.

Jrod381 · Jun 20, 2020

I tied some green nori to a piece of rubble and placed on the rocks he did not touch it at all. But as my wife and I were watching the tank we could see he wanted to but would shy away when the other gangs would come to eat as well. We did see him nibble twice on a piece floating and a couple of tiny pieces that he would consume as well.

I’m gonna go to TSA and buy some live brine shrimp and see if that will spark his interest

PilotOfSubmarines · Jun 20, 2020

Jrod381 said:
I tied some green nori to a piece of rubble and placed on the rocks he did not touch it at all. But as my wife and I were watching the tank we could see he wanted to but would shy away when the other gangs would come to eat as well. We did see him nibble twice on a piece floating and a couple of tiny pieces that he would consume as well.

I’m gonna go to TSA and buy some live brine shrimp and see if that will spark his interest

My Blonde was timid for about 2-3 weeks when first introduced. There was a Sailfin, Yellow, and Purple Tang already in the tank. He had stress spots for the entire first 3 weeks. He got comfortable and now OWNS the Nori on the clip. You're doing a fine job....keep trying and give it time.

sabor · Jun 20, 2020

Nasos are finicky. Took me awhile before mines came around. Good luck.

ca1ore · Jun 20, 2020

Jrod381 said:
Need some advice, have a naso tang, that I have had almost a week that I have not seen eat any type of food I add the most the tank. Now I have seen it nibble just a little on some green nori, and today I put some red but that I know if did not eat. I do see it picking at the rock and at the back glass. Should I be concern that he has not eaten or could it be that since he is in the dt he has not settled?

should I pull out treat with prazi and place in qt again?

I am not clear. The fish has been in the display for a week but was previously in QT? Did it eat in QT? Naso L. can be a difficult fish to get eating. A week isn’t a major problem if the fish was not already thin .... then it is a problem. Sometimes a fish just won’t eat no matter what you try.

najer · Jun 20, 2020

Jrod381 said:
I tied some green nori to a piece of rubble and placed on the rocks he did not touch it at all. But as my wife and I were watching the tank we could see he wanted to but would shy away when the other gangs would come to eat as well. We did see him nibble twice on a piece floating and a couple of tiny pieces that he would consume as well.

I’m gonna go to TSA and buy some live brine shrimp and see if that will spark his interest

Chop the nori and feed it like flake if you have seen it eat some.

Jrod381 · Jun 24, 2020

Just to update my Naso is doing well thus far. I tied nori to a rock and he would nibble on pieces that floated around. On Saturday I went to WWC and told them the issue I was having as I went to pick something up and they told me to buy San Francisco Bay seaweed delight and to drop a cube of that with a mixture of mysis and brine. That worked like a charm as he became very aggressive when I now drop it in the tank. He is now also eating from the nori clips as well. Also saw him nibbling on krill.

Squidward · Jun 25, 2020

My old Blonde Naso would eat everything like a pig. My current one only pays attention to Nori and frozen. He just avoids pellets and flakes.

vetteguy53081 · Jun 25, 2020

They are stubborn at first. Try live brine, continue nori and also try veggie flakes such as formula 2.
Adding garlic extract to the food may entice it to eat
What is your salinity at?

Robertellis30 · Jun 25, 2020

Had the same issue. Would have to rubber band nori to rock. Then would put the grazer clip where I would place the nori on the rock. Then slowly moved to placing the grazer on the glass. Also have had good luck with reef nutrition beta brine.