[smithad]

Hello all,

I would like to start off by saying I have read every thread on this forum (that could be a little exaggeration) and it has been very informative. I just started this hobby in Oct 04 and since then have not found anything as useful as this sight. I am here for the long hall because I like the atmosphere and everyone seems to be friends. Thanks to you all. and thanks to Samper for turning me on to this forum.

Now to what I need help with...

My new yellow tang has been in my 150gl for three days now and has not touched a single piece of vegetation (except for the normal grazing of the lr). I hung a piece of nori for a day and then hung a piece of broccoli for a day. I came home from work today and hung a piece of zucchini...he wont touch any of it. He will swim all around the clip and not even stop to investigate what it is. With that said, he goes into a feeding frenzy when I put the carnivorous mix in my tank for all of my little friends to eat.
I am not asking this because he is looking or acting sick or weak in any way as a matter of fact he looks to be very healthy. I had the lfs feed him before purchasing him and all they fed was Mysis shrimp (he ate like a champ).

Should I be concerned that he is not getting enough vegetation or is it still to soon to know? Or do you think he is getting enough from the lr.

Does anyone have a technique to entice a yellow tang to eat the green stuff?

My tank set up
150 gallon display
Acrylic overflow with a 1" bulkhead
40 gallon sump
Euro Reef Es 5-2 skimmer
Mag 9.5 return to 2 spray bars
2 mj 1200's in display
2 massive heaters but I don't know the brand
1 240w pc fixture with 2 10k and 2 actinic and another strip light with a coral life 50/50

100 lbs of Fiji LR
a very fine particle aragonite live sandbed with a varying depth of 4-7 inches.

params
SG 1.025
Temp 80.5 degrees
NH3 0
NO2 0
No3 0


Inhabitants
small cleanup crew consisting of some Turbo fluctuosus and various hermits
1 Gramma loreto
1 Valenciennea strigata
4 Chromis viridis
1 lysmata bebelius
1 Pterapogon kauderni
1 Amphiprion percula
1 Centropyge bispinosa
1 Zebrasoma flavescens

Corals
1 Caulestrea spp. with a couple of polyps, one is about to split
1 small rock containing a few Corallimorpharians.
1 Rock with 2 Ricordea
1 Xenia spp.
1 Euphyllia divisa with three branches


Thank you
Adam

[Reefland]

Hi Adam,

First let me thank you for the kind words about the site and secondly, for posting so much detail with your query, very helpful!

If they tang is eating well, I would not be overly concerned that it is not accepting "greenery" you are adding to the tank. I suspect that this is some algae in the tank that it is feeding from as indicated by it's picking at the LR. That is not to say that I would stop trying. Keep putting the greenery in the tank for a couple of weeks and maybe it will begin to investigate.

On top of what you have already tried you can use Romain Lettuce too. Keep trying a mix of what you already have and see if it goes for it.

[Peterock]

I had the same problem with my yellow tang he would not eat any greenry but loved the frozen stuff I put in. After 3 days I stop putting greenry in and he now is a lawnmower on the LR that in the tank my LFS said that if he is grazing then he is happy its when he is not interested in the LR that you need to worry. So I have not added any greenry in a week and all the additional stuff he eats is from the Marine Variety pack that has (squid, shrimp, vegies, and something else i cant remember) but he loves that stuff.

[zhenya]

Hi Adam, Welcome to Reefland!

First, let me echo the words of appreciation for the kind words about our site.

Secondly, I want to add my experiences with the yellow tang that I have for just about seven years now. It took me well over a couple of weeks to get my yellow tang to accept something that was stuck to the glass, even when other fish was going nuts on the Nori it would stay away. What I did is I start leaving my magnet cleaner on the glass all the time and it got used to it hanging there and would even come and graze on the algae that begun to form there. I then started to wedge a small piece of Nori wedged between the two halves and would leave it there, it started to eat it after couple of days. The point I am trying to make is that persistance will win.
After three days in your tank the fish is still getting used to the new environment and like Scott said, you shouldn't worry much if he accepts other foods.

[Samper]

Adam, that clip is a bright green too...I think Zhenya has the right idea about leaving it in there so he can get used to it. I know he was swimming close but maybe the intense color is making him shy away.

[Poseidon]

WOW!! Now that is a good post! Thanks for the details, and the kind words, I like this place too....

I think you got the answers you needed, FWIW my yellow doesn't much care for Nori either, he'll eat it, but he REALLY loves the spwctrum pellets... My Naso is the same way...and they are both FAT!!!





See?

[Reefland]

I think your Naso could actually go on a weight program Mike.

[Poseidon]

Originally Posted by Reefland

I think your Naso could actually go on a weight program Mike.

LOL!!! i think that fish is almost 3/4" thick!!!

[kevinpo]

Welcome to Reefland Adam!
If you add garlic to your food mix you can get almost any fish to eat anything that hits the water. I have a Copperbanded Butterfly (C. rostratus) that eats dried seaweed. Certain species of tangs prefer certain algae types over others. Yellow tangs prefer green to red or brown. This doesn't mean you can't get them to eat other kinds or that they are not good for them, just that they tend to eat certain types when first introduced from the wild. Tangs can take up to 6 months to settle in depending on the personality of the individual.

Regards,
Kevin

[Peterock]

Waht type of garlic supplement whould you say is the best to get to eat. I also have on my yellow tang 1 small white spot on his fin the LFS said to add garlic to their diet because after there body has a garlic fill diet then parasites cant live then right

[Samper]

I mince up a clove of Garlic in my seafood mix...drives em nuts.

[kevinpo]

Garlic helps the fish’s immune system and helps to repel the parasites by irritating them. Here is the garlic I use because it is easy to store and handle. Garlic also initiates a very strong feeding response after the fish learn to connect the smell with food.

Regards,
Kevin

[Peterock]

Awsome I am all over that, What amount to give them because I have been feeding them the frozen marine cuizen that has 4 different foods in it but they will not touch the squid, I normall give a about 1/4 of a cube just so some will hit the bottom and feed the crabs. Going to get the garlic today

[Spick]

Good to know they like to eat garlic too? So if we are to feed them garlic it "should" be mixed with frozen goods, or can it be fed in small doses on its own? Is minced garlic okay or is it better if its fresh cloves? thnx

[smithad]

Originally Posted by Spick

Good to know they like to eat garlic too? So if we are to feed them garlic it "should" be mixed with frozen goods, or can it be fed in small doses on its own? Is minced garlic okay or is it better if its fresh cloves? thnx

Hi all,

I would have been on here earlier to thank ya'll for the great info but I got caught up trying to figure out my new camera. I wanted to post some pictures of my yellow tang but he seems to be a little camera shy.

I will post some pictures when I can get the focusing thing down (don't want to embarrass myself with "out of focus" shots).

Spick,
I am new to this but from what I am hearing from the others, any way you can get garlic into their system in the right way. I know that a garlic extract product from Kent reccomends that you dose the tank with a couple of drops per 50gl every couple of days but personally I don't want to dose my tank with anything more than necessary. I mince up a clove of garlic with my seafood mixture (just like Samper showed me) and hope that they are getting enough in their system to do what it is that garlic is supposed to.

I researched the different types of garlic products in the grocery stores and the lfs and found that there is alot of additives in these products. I would list them out but I can't even remember the scientific names of the occupants of my tank. I had second thoughts about introducing that stuff into my aquarium. What do ya'll think?

Just to update ya'll, my yellow tang has been pecking at the "greenery" and my Percula has been all over it.

Adam