Who is eating all the Nori?

[New&no clue]

Every day I put in two small sheets of Nori on a "clip", all day my fish pick at it and by the time I go to bed it is maybe half eaten. I use to just leave it in and the next day they would finished the second half. The last couple nights when I get up in the morning it is completely gone. Who is eating it all night long?

Current residents:
(2)clown fish
bicolor blenny
fire fish
yellow tang
coral beauty

mix of 20-30 snails
20ish hermit crabs
peppermint shrimp
cleaner shrimp
tuxedo urchin

Are my fish having a midnight snack, is my urchin eating the leftovers, is it coming off and getting sucked into the sump? I'm mostly worried that I am overfeeding if its the fish. Or if its the urchin I want him to take care of the algae first before he eats the Nori, but I don't want to pull it out each night if he is hungry... he does an awesome job of keeping the rocks clean.

 

[Crabs McJones]

My guess would be either the urchin or getting sucked into the sump, are you running filter socks? Check in the socks for chunks of the strips.

 

[New&no clue]

My guess would be either the urchin or getting sucked into the sump, are you running filter socks? Check in the socks for chunks of the strips.

I've checked my filter socks and haven't seen anything, I've also looked all around the rocks and in the back to see if it got stuck some place.

Is it okay for a urchin to eat basically a small sheet of Nori every day or is that to much for him?

 

[Fishurama]

What is a "small" piece? 3x3 inches? If so the Tang will be picking at it all day/night long as they are grazers, though some will try to eat it all right away, imo they are pigs and just graze all day. My blenny competes with/scares my large sailfin for sheets, mine comes off the clip since my sailfin is strong enough, so they can also be pigs. I feed about 9-12 inches in total a day. If it gets stuck on your overflow,rock(s), powerhead,etc the snails/Urchin will eat it. Could also be in your sock as mentioned.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Suspects:
CUC
Angel
Tang
Butterflies
Urchin

best recourse. Go lights out and an hr later appear with flashlight. You will quickly know at least at night who it is

 

[siggy]

the cheap stuff can disintegrate qwickly

 

[Dragon52]

The only fish in my tank that don't eat it is my Wheelers Gobies, PJ Cardinals & Yellowhead Jawfish . Even my BT trigger & wrasses tear it up & is usually gone in minutes. I cut a sheet into 3 pcs & fold it when adding to clip.

 

[New&no clue]

What is a "small" piece? 3x3 inches?

I would say closer to a 2x2. The tang picks all day I see him over there grazing and when I go to bed there is about half left. last week when I would get up there was still about half on the clip and then would eat that through the day, this weekend though it all of a sudden was disappearing each night. I am worried about overfeeding, I'm worried about underfeeding, and I'm worried about it not getting eaten and dirtying up the tank

 

[Crabs McJones]

Suspects:
CUC
Angel
Tang
Butterflies
Urchin

best recourse. Go lights out and an hr later appear with flashlight. You will quickly know at least at night who it is

^^Yup! Check out the tank an hour or two after lights out, and you'll likely get your culprit

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

My Mexican turbo snails that are basically the size of sea cows work on the nori after the lights go off and the tangs go away

I take that back...they're more like underwater bulldozers. haha

 

[New&no clue]

Should I put more in?

I'm really cautious of overfeeding... but if it is getting eaten then do they need more?

 

[Fishurama]

I would say closer to a 2x2. The tang picks all day I see him over there grazing and when I go to bed there is about half left. last week when I would get up there was still about half on the clip and then would eat that through the day, this weekend though it all of a sudden was disappearing each night. I am worried about overfeeding, I'm worried about underfeeding, and I'm worried about it not getting eaten and dirtying up the tank

With how you are explaining it, it might be as simple as they are feeding before you are waking up(since the tang is a grazer and depending when your lights come on/the fishes own time schedule could be eating the rest. Your snails and urchin would be the other likely culprit coming out at night to feed on whats left. If they aren't eating it all within 12 hours id say you are feeding enough. I do two 3x3 sheets in the morning and 1-2 at night when i feed the entire tank. IMO its kind of hard to overfeed nori/seaweed unless you are just throwing full sheets in and leaving it for a day(s) at least with medium to larger size tanks. Try a 3x3 sheet and see how it goes, alternate between 2x2 and see if you have left overs

 

[siggy]

My clown tears it up

 

[Sailingeric]

I use there small pellets of nori I get at the LFS called Seaweed Extreme. It sinks to the bottom so everyone can have some and it won't get sucked down in the sump.

 

[hllb]

I’d bet urchin. I give mine a square of about 1.5x1,5 and he eats it in 4 to 5 hours. I do that maybe twice a week. If it’s him eating it he must be hungry.