Feeding info please

[Pv1191]

I have a Blue Tang, OC Perc, and 4 spotted cardinals. For the last 6-8 weeks their diet has consisted of Omega 3 enriched brine mixed with live phytoplankton. I let the mixture sit for about 20 minutes before I feed. They all eat well and seem to be doing great. After reading some I felt the addition of pellet food would be good. But, the fish won't touch it. The hermits and snails eat it up but the none of the fish will eat it. Do I keep trying?

[leebca]

I know this is a long read, but this long post is worth taking the time to read:
Feeding Marine Fish and Fish Nutrition

The fish you list are herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. You've got all three to satisfy and one food won't do. If the Tang is small, it will prefer a more omnivore diet rather than herbivore.

If you read the above link closely, you'll see that gut loaded brine shrimp is not a nutritious enough food for marine fishes to live healthy on. I would recommend rethinking your entire food offerings. The foods should be more varied and targeted towards the fish that need greens AND whole meaty organisms. You should be offering macro algae daily, too.

Regarding pellets, it's a good thing they don't like them. They are worse than gut load brine shrimp in some cases. Again, that is covered in the above post. If you continue to feed a single type of food, the fish will reject almost anything else because of habit. Getting them to eat the right foods is sometimes a challenge, but remember, you're the human and they are the pet -- get them to eat what is proper for them.

In general, you need to get used to reading ingredient labels and seeing just how matched the prepared food is, to the fishes in your care.

I'd suggest getting rid of your hermit crabs. They pose a mild threat to the snails and fishes. If you have a reef aquarium, they pose a mild threat to corals and other inverts.

[Pv1191]

Lee,

Thanks for the link! As for the hermits they are going to stay. I can't help it I love the little guys. So far they have only taken out a couple snails and they dont touch any of the corals I have. Zoo's, Hammer and elegance. I do have two emerald crabs that will be leaving shortly. I got them because of some hair algea. Now that is gone they must go. One took out a Perc Clown while it was sleeping. I also have an arrow crab that will be staying. She scavenges and keeps the bristle worms in check. Before I got her my tank was infested them. Now I only see very small ones every so often. It took about 4 weeks but she did a great job.