Fish food question.

[jimmy40741]

Do fish get used to a certain type/brand of food and will only eat that? I have always fed my fish Wardley Sprectramax on the advise of a LFS, but this weekend while at a different store I picked up some Omega One Marine Flakes with Garlic because I have a yellow tang that not eating well. I thought I'd try something different for him, but he won't eat it, as a matter of fact none of the fish in that tank nor in my other tank will touch it. The only fish that will eat it is the new sebea clown I bought when I bought the food.

 

[calaxa]

Certain fish will be more finicky. What other fish do you have in the tank? When you fed the omega one, did you try mixing it with your spectramax so that the fish would acclimate to it? It's best to feed them a varied diet. Live would be the best, but of course that is not always possible. Next best is frozen, then freeze dried, then pellet, and last would be flake.
How long have you had the yellow tang? It could still be adjusting. They will usually come around. Remember, this fish is more of a grazer and needs a good supply of greens. It took awhile for mine to get used to nori on a clip. Now he is grabbing it from my hand before I can even put it on the clip. Try garlic soaked or spirulina enriched brine. Not many fish will refuse this.
Omega one is ok as flake goes but I think spectramax is the better choice.

 

[mcbdz]

Best not to use flakes. ou will get a build up of nutrients and your phosphates are going to cause you issues soon. Try pellets, frozen and fresh. Your tang needs greens daily.

Pattie

 

[jimmy40741]

In that tank I have a hippo, yellow, scopas, naso, and lavender tang. No, I didn't mix it with the spectra max, I just tried it alone, then when none would eat it I fed some spectra max and spirulina flake (that's what I normally do for my tang tank) and everyone ate as they normally do. The yellow has gotten finiky in that he'll rush out of the rocks like he wants to eat, but he'll get right up to a flake and say 'I don't want to eat that' and turn away. Unfortunately live food is not a possibility for me, I live in a small rural town and can't buy any live food. I really can't feed them freeze dried or pellet because they float, and the food gets sucked into my HOB overflow before the fish ever get a chance to get to it. I do feed a variety of frozen foods as a 'treat' about once a week, and the yellow tang will eat frozen brine and mysis shrimp. He's just pretty much quit eating the flake.
I've had this fish for about 8 months, and up until about 2 weeks ago he's done great, so it's not a question of adjusting. He'd always gobbled down the flake, seaweed sheets from the clip, or anything else that hits the tank.

 

[jimmy40741]

Originally Posted by mcbdz
http:///forum/post/2823749
Best not to use flakes. ou will get a build up of nutrients and your phosphates are going to cause you issues soon. Try pellets, frozen and fresh. Your tang needs greens daily.

Pattie
I don't overfeed, and do not have a problem with phosphates (I test for them regularly). I only feed enough that can and is consumed in about 1 minute. And my tangs get greens daily in the form of spirulina flake. I also feed them seaweed sheets about once a week. But thanks for the advise anyway.

 

[m0nk]

There is no single food that's best to feed all the time, you should change up what you feed each time. The best options, though, are usually to get some quality frozen foods (like Formula 1 & 2, Emerald Entree, Marine Cuisine, etc), make your own food, and get some Cyclopeeze and feed on rotation. Certain fish will like certain foods more, but it's also for a balanced nutrition. Also, with tangs, you really should supplement with algae sheets too.
As for making your own food, it's pretty easy; I use raw shrimp, clams, squid, and scallops from the supermarket seafood counter, and chop it up finely in a blender with an algae sheet or two, some cyclopeeze, and mysis shrimp. Then freeze. You can freeze it in a "flat-pack" style, or press it into a piece of egg-crate so it's easier to supply a cube.

 

[calaxa]

It sounds like you are feeding fine and that this yellow tang just decided he doesn't like the flake anymore. It happens sometimes. Observe him a little more and see if he's getting enough just grazing off your rock. It sounds like he's just holding out for the good stuff. My yellow tang doesn't eat as much mysis and brine as he used to, mostly because the hippo goes into a frenzy and pushes everyone else away. The yellow is still the primary eater of the nori i n my tank, that is until the hippo rips it apart and sends it all into the powerheads for snail food.