Vegetables for tangs???

[Erwan E]

I wonder why some people would feed their tangs vegetables in addition to seaweed or in place of. Are they any health benefits that I am not aware of? My feelings are that tangs are stressed already due to the confinement of our tanks and their mates. Why not offer them food that is as close as possible to what they would eat in the ocean? Please don’t tell me that it is a financial reason because if one can not feed a tang for that reason , perhaps that hobby is the wrong one.

Your thoughts?

 

[Kyl]

I haven't seen anyone locally doing that, though I know it's big in FW for plecos and other catfish (with romaine lettuce). I guess the appeal would be "fresh" versus something picked / cooked and processed half a year ago.

 

[Maggie321]

I have not looked into this but my thought would be seaweed is their natural diet. A tang would not normally eat green beans or zuchinni.

 

[AnakinReefWalker]

I know some people feed lettuce, broccoli, or Bok Choy, but I would stick to Nori.

 

[eatbreakfast]

In the wild, tangs would eat a variety of algaes, not just the three commonly available nori colors. So feeding just nori will not hit all the nutrition/vitamins/minerals/amino acids that tangs would consume. So even though broccoli or other veggies aren't something they would naturally encounter, they wilp hel fill in some of the missing nutrients from nori.

 

[mfinn]

In the late 80's and early 90's there really weren't the selection of dried algaes that are available now and it was common practice to use human type veggies.
The tangs I had for years grew fat and were healthy.

 

[Cerberusfish]

In the wild, tangs would eat a variety of algaes, not just the three commonly available nori colors. So feeding just nori will not hit all the nutrition/vitamins/minerals/amino acids that tangs would consume. So even though broccoli or other veggies aren't something they would naturally encounter, they wilp hel fill in some of the missing nutrients from nori.

You could say something similar about all animals. Working in the pet industry one thing I've learned is that theres 2 primary important things about nutrition. #1 is the nutrient present and #2 is it in a usable form. We need iron, but we cant just eat iron filaments to get it properly. But it doesn't matter where it comes from as long as its present, and absorbable, and that the source doesn't have other things that make it dangerous or toxic.

 

[Spare time]

It is probably much cheaper in bulk. My local aquarium feeds chopped lettuce to their tangs

 

[ichthyogeek]

Took me a bit, but here's a little something from Coral's Jan/Feb 2015 edition (paraphrased): of 28 studied species of algae, nutrition content varied from between 4.35 and 13.97 kiloJoules energy per gram (kJ/g) algae species. In comparison, lettuce is ~0.48 kJ/g, dandelion leaves at 2.45, and spinach at .64 kJ/g. Nori is around 12.27 kJ/g dry. Note: this doesn't take into account carb/protein/lipid/vitamin distributions.

When I was 10 or so, I got my first yellow tang. At the time, it was highly recommended that lettuce and other leafy greens (but not iceberg) be offered to tangs in order to provide extra grazing opportunities aside from the spirulina flakes I was told to buy for it. 13 (wow, it's been a while) years later, I don't think I'd ever go for a monodiet of lettuce ever again, and instead would just switch between multiple different types of dried algae when possible. Conversely, I know that lots of public aquariums feed their sea turtles non-iceberg lettuce; I believe that's a function more of the fact that they graze on seagrass which has a different nutritional profile than the algaes that tangs graze on.

 

[tresguey]

I fed my tangs spinach, kale and romain lettuce in the 90’s. I was told it was good for them. Didn’t know any better.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Romaine lettuce , smashed fresh peas and the florets from broccoli

 

[Lovefish77]

I get kelp from Amazon for really cheap - 6oz is like $14. You cannot beat that and the tangs love it.

 

[aedds2]

Romaine lettuce. Mine love it once they try it

 

[Lovefish77]

best and cheapest nori i feed to tangs

 

[Lovefish77]

 

[Lovefish77]

best and cheapest nori i feed to tangs

sorry tried to attach a url from Amazon but i guess it is not allowed

 

[vetteguy53081]

Smashed peas, broccoli florets and romaine But freeze roamaine sheets before feeding to allow cellulose film to separate to allow fish to eat it easier.

 

[revenant]

Smashed peas, broccoli florets and romaine But freeze roamaine sheets before feeding to allow cellulose film to separate to allow fish to eat it easier.

So I assume this is all raw? How do you feed the smashed peas? How is this prepared? Apologies noob here for making my own tang food. My new kole won’t touch any of the frozen foods I have so seeking alternatives...it grazes my rocks with so much energy... never seen a fish so crazy about grazing..

 

[vetteguy53081]

So I assume this is all raw? How do you feed the smashed peas? How is this prepared? Apologies noob here for making my own tang food. My new kole won’t touch any of the frozen foods I have so seeking alternatives...it grazes my rocks with so much energy... never seen a fish so crazy about grazing..

I recommend to get rid of skin and take the inner and make frozen cubes or mold together so its easier to eat and less runny mess

 

[revenant]

I recommend to get rid of skin and take the inner and make frozen cubes or mold together so its easier to eat and less runny mess

Got it.. runny mess? so are the peas cooked?