feeding a large reef tank???

[cameltowing]

i have 300 gallon display and a 150 gallon sump/refug and i just got 12 4-6 inch tangs from a friend taking down his tank.. had 3 tangs before and would feed a pinch of flake every other day and a sheet of dori seaweed.. now they mow through the sheet of dori in seconds.. do you keep constant dori in the tank?

 

[cameltowing]

its a reef filled with live rock and 2in sandbed and capulera skimmer and sump filled with more rock

 

[flower]

Yep constant sheets if you don't have enough algae to satisfy the tangs hunger. In the ocean a tang feeds constantly, nipping at algae wherever they find it. A pinch of flake food every other day is starvation. You should feed your fish once a day at the very least, fish get real mean and nasty to each other when the food is insufficient.

 

[jay0705]

Agreed my tang and fox face plow threw algae sheets. I even get new lr every month or so to give them extra grazing. I got 12 snails for my tank. A few had long sea weed growing on there shells. My tang at that! Lol and I feed 2 daily. Frozen,pellet,flake,and alage sheets.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by jay0705 http:///t/396575/feeding-a-large-reef-tank#post_3533669
Agreed my tang and fox face plow threw algae sheets. I even get new lr every month or so to give them extra grazing. I got 12 snails for my tank. A few had long sea weed growing on there shells. My tang at that! Lol and I feed 2 daily. Frozen,pellet,flake,and alage sheets.

You have so many tangs, you might try some macroalgae...put it in a basket, the tangs can nibble on what grows outside the basket, but keep it safe to continue to grow inside of it.....but at best that's a long term down the road answer. LOL...you can buy stock in Nori sheets, it's going to be a constant need with that many algae eaters. You might try setting up a refugium, and when the macros grow out, you have some free food for them to nibble.

 

[edat]

I have 8 small 2-3" tangs in a 300 and I just added a 2nd nori clip because not all the tangs were able to get to just one.
I have some macro in my fuge but its not growing fast enough to harvest yet but I like the idea and I think that I might use what Flower suggested of macro in a "basket"
IMO with 12 large tangs your just going to keep burning through nori sheets and supplement with macro when available.

 

[edat]

....Also I get my Nori from the grocery store not my LFS. Just got 20 sheets for $1.97

 

[cameltowing]

way cool. thanks for the replys... when I was feeding once every other day I had 2 small clowns, 2 firefish a sailfin(1in) and a red fin tang? (2 in) but this was a too good to be true deal... 20 plus coarl colonies 8 or 9 tangs a porky puffer 4" some random emeralds.. ive had a reef tank now on and off for 10 years and always had lots of caral and not so much fish.. just don't wanna over feed and make corals not happy cause of the waste of food.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by cameltowing http:///t/396575/feeding-a-large-reef-tank#post_3533697
way cool. thanks for the replys... when I was feeding once every other day I had 2 small clowns, 2 firefish a sailfin(1in) and a red fin tang? (2 in) but this was a too good to be true deal... 20 plus coarl colonies 8 or 9 tangs a porky puffer 4" some random emeralds.. ive had a reef tank now on and off for 10 years and always had lots of caral and not so much fish.. just don't wanna over feed and make corals not happy cause of the waste of food.

I feed proportionate mounts, but always once a day. I see fish that are stunted in size from being starved during the young growing stages of their lives.