feeding fish

[matt819]

I have a yellow tang...clown sweetlips...and two blue green chromis in my 55gal tank. First of all, I realize now that the sweetlips shouldn't be in a tank my size at all...the people at the LFS said he'd be perfect...and even said he ate flake food very well...and that he's a good community fish...turns out he's carnivorous and eats other fish. My fiancee loved him so we took him home and I ended up gettin hosed. Unfortunately, the store has no return policy on saltwater fish but I talked to my friends at my other store and they said they would take him if he gets too big. I now am determined to keep him alive and as happy as possible. Anyways...back to the question at hand: I have a big can of the formula 1 flakes that I feed them...and the sweetlips has been eating the clear live feeder shrimp(he ate 6 just today)...I believe called glass shrimp...and some freeze dried shrimp as well. My question is: How much should the tang and sweetlips be consuming in a day to keep them healthy...I feed usually twice a day. First I would crush flake and just put enough in so that the chromis wouldn't get it all and some would fall to the bottom for the tang...now I just put in some large flakes that the chromis won't eat and they sink down. Should I just feed the tang as many of those as he can eat in a few minutes...or? These are prolly 1"x1" flakes...I'm also aware they can be feed the algae sheets as well. The tang seems to have cleaned up any longer hairs of algae that were on anything...the tang and sweetlips have been in the tank for approx 48hrs. Both seem great and are eating good. Would love to hear your suggestions and scrutiny....believe it or not! :thinking:

 

[matt819]

I've looked around on here at any thread having to do with feeding and there's never any replies! Is this a touchy subject, too broad, or what...let's put a stop to this...seems rather strange almost.

 

[murph145]

hmm
well lets see... your sweetlips whic ive never owned should be fine eating meaty foods like the frozen shrimp if feed some mysid shrimp too since they are vitamin fortified to help fish grow and retain their vibrant colors.... your chromis should eat the regualr brine shrimp also....
as for the tang i would keep some dried seaweed on a clip stuck to your glass for him to munch on as he is hungry... tangs need a varied diet mostly consuming of algae matters...
i feed my blue hippo tang a mixture of brine shrimp, mysid shrimp, frozen formula one and two.... formula one is good since it contains garlic and formula two is supposed to be good for there color.... both are made of algae matters and all of my fish eat some of everything.... i also add some extra liquid vitamins to the food.... i usually feed everyday since i have about 10 fish in my tank.... one day i will do the meaty foods then the next day one of the frozen cubes ill let thaw out then smush it up in the tank with my fingers so that it will break apart.... i also feed corals and anemones but thats a different feeding schedule :joy:
but if i miss a day of feeding i dont stress either...
the only problem i see that u may have is with you sweetlips beeing too agressive of an eater and eating all of the food before your tank can get some.... tangs are more reserved and shy ... your chromis should be fine but id keep an eye on the tangs eating and if u have to take the sweet lips back.... believe me i have taken many a fish back in the beggining due to bad advice from the LFS you live and learn and move on and get the fish that are right for your tank it will help....

 

[aufishman]

Originally Posted by Matt819
I have a yellow tang...clown sweetlips...and two blue green chromis in my 55gal tank. First of all, I realize now that the sweetlips shouldn't be in a tank my size at all...the people at the LFS said he'd be perfect...and even said he ate flake food very well...and that he's a good community fish...turns out he's carnivorous and eats other fish. My fiancee loved him so we took him home and I ended up gettin hosed. Unfortunately, the store has no return policy on saltwater fish but I talked to my friends at my other store and they said they would take him if he gets too big. I now am determined to keep him alive and as happy as possible. Anyways...back to the question at hand: I have a big can of the formula 1 flakes that I feed them...and the sweetlips has been eating the clear live feeder shrimp(he ate 6 just today)...I believe called glass shrimp...and some freeze dried shrimp as well. My question is: How much should the tang and sweetlips be consuming in a day to keep them healthy...I feed usually twice a day. First I would crush flake and just put enough in so that the chromis wouldn't get it all and some would fall to the bottom for the tang...now I just put in some large flakes that the chromis won't eat and they sink down. Should I just feed the tang as many of those as he can eat in a few minutes...or? These are prolly 1"x1" flakes...I'm also aware they can be feed the algae sheets as well. The tang seems to have cleaned up any longer hairs of algae that were on anything...the tang and sweetlips have been in the tank for approx 48hrs. Both seem great and are eating good. Would love to hear your suggestions and scrutiny....believe it or not! :thinking:
I'd recommend feeding a quality pelletized prepared feed. Flake food isn't the best choice. Key nutrients leach out quickly as soon as it hits the water (and some are lost due to the manner in which the food is made). Regardless of what anyone may tell you (and in direct disagreement to what you are going to read in any fish hobby mag), if your fish is eating a nutritionally complete prepared food you don't need to feed them anything else. I've been feeding my fish new life Spectrum (you can buy it on this website under the dry goods section) for a while, and it's great. I've got a yellow tang in one of my tanks that loves the stuff. I've had it for over a year, and the fish is very healthy and the color is spectacular (as with all of my fish). I know the guy who makes the stuff, and he is able to keep fish that I've not seen anyone else keep healthy long-term (he has one tank full of moorish idols that are all fat and happy, and their color is just stunning). You could probably have just as much success with any of the reputable brands you would find at your lfs. As far as how much to feed them, it doesn't take a lot. 3-5% of the weight of total fish biomass/day is plenty. I guess you understand how big that sweetlips is gonna get, but it will grow fast. You might want to see if you can trade it for something more appropriate for your tank.

 

[matt819]

I'd take him back but the store won't take him back...they don't have a return policy w/ saltwater fish they said. He's not the problem...getting him to eat is the toughest. How often does he need to eat these live shrimp (because that's all I've seen him eat so far, this morning I found the freeze dried shrimp stuck to an intake). It's the little chromis who hover at the top of the water waiting for food...and they can eat a lot of it. Where would I get this seaweed at...and the frozen cubes?

 

[matt819]

Thanks a lot AUFishman...that's the kinda advice I'm looking for...tried and true.