What will my yellow tang eat?

[dory36]

Having just lost my copperband butterfly fish, I don't want to make the same mistake with my new yellow tang. What do these guys eat? I've attached some seaweed to a veggie clip, but he doesn't seem too interested. I'm currently feeding mysis shrimp cubes and a tiny pinch of pellets. Will he eat any of that? :notsure:

 

[guineawhop]

he probably will eat the mysid shrimp but pellet maybe not. they love brine shrimp if you need to get him started eating. get the one with spirulina in it if you can. as for the veggies keep putting that clip up and put it where he usually stays in the tank down low.

 

[loopy]

target feeding mysis might be a good idea. How about algae pads...have you tried them? I use the clip and sea weed for another fish, it went ignored for a long time, but then suddenly he was eating like crazy. Think there is a fear factor with the clip...I dunno. Some attach it to a small rock with a rubber band. Give him time, maybe he'll take the sea weed eventually.
I had a yellow tang....was mislead by the lfs. they told me he would eat flake food. He didn't, he starved. My tank isn't big enough for a tang either.
Good Luck!

 

[jrisgr8]

My yellow tang ate the frozen seaweed you can buy at the LFS. It had seaweed, garlic, krill, shrimp, clams, letttuce, peas, and a bunch of other stuff. She seemed to love it. Unfortuantly she passed on...not from lack of eating though.

 

[dory36]

Thanks for all the suggestions! He's ignoring the pellets, ignoring the mysis shrimp, and is swimming over and under the veggie clip with the seaweed. I guess I'll visit the pet store tomorrow for some brine, algae pads, and frozen seaweed! Good thing they're having a sale----they're moving and the entire store is up to 75% off! :jumping: :cheer:

 

[unleashed]

I feed all my damsels ,foxface , silver scat and engeneer goby emerald entrese.its frozen cubes with mysis shrimp alge vitamins and a mixture of foods in one its for all omnivores the eat it up fast.daytime feeding I use omega one veggie flakes 3 times daily.frozen foods at nightime feeding only..I know alot of you might think im over feeding oii the nitrates but i limit the amount per feeding my foxfface has lost his lower jaw and can no longer graze so i have to flake feed him 3 to 4 times a day to compincate to entise finicky eater I put 2 drops of garlic extreme and 1 cp of fresh water in the thawing cup
every evening feeding ,even fish juct acclimated tend to feed the first day home..

 

[dory36]

Well, he's discovered the seaweed on the veggie clip! :jumping:
How does he look in this picture? His tummy doesn't seem as skinny as before.

 

[unleashed]

not to bad i say .another thing you can try is purchasing live micro alge and or kelp they are grazers and maybe some cyclopsez.

 

[loopy]

glad he/she decided to make friends with the clip....like I said, sometimes it just takes time. The tang looks beautiful, sure wish I could have one too!!!

 

[bjgwilliam]

Originally posted by Loopy
The tang looks beautiful, sure wish I could have one too!!!
Why wouldn't you be able to have a Tang? I have 6 in mine and they eat well

 

[ophiura]

While suitable for a short amount of time, such tangs should out grow a 4' tank...and definitely a 3' tank...within a year or so. Having more than 1, IMO, is a bad idea. They can become severely stressed. How long have you had yours?

 

[cayman isl]

Originally posted by Dory36
Having just lost my copperband butterfly fish
Hi Dory,
I'm curious as to how you think your copperband died. Name was Banana right?
Did he have enough to eat? Was he stressed?
I also have one who has mowed thru all the featherdusters and is munching aiptasia as well. He also eats brine shrimp but avoids flake and pellet.
So far so good!!! any insight you have to keep him that way would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Chris
This is Lincoln:

 

[dory36]

Hey, Chris! Lincoln looks really good! I'm pretty sure mine died from starvation.

His body was very thin and hollow. He ate all our feather dusters and the aiptasia and then just picked at our live rock. Since our tank was so new when we got him, there really wasn't much on our rock for him to eat. I was feeding mysis shrimp and he was out there right in the middle of the food---I assumed he was eating, but I never really paid too much attention.
I saw some butterfly food the other day (it looked like seaweed) that you put on a veggie clip. Have you tried or even seen that? Lincoln looks great, though. He must be eating something! How long have you had him?

 

[cayman isl]

Had him for 3 weeks... QTd for two, (I know, should be 3). Put him in the display and he strated grazing immediately. As I mentioned, he eats frozen brine and this morning did take a piece of formula flake (he promptly spit it out), but at least he is interested!!
I put nori on a clip for my coral beauty and Lincoln isn't interested.
My rock was well established in the 55 gallon before I moved it to this 90 so there is plenting for him to graze on.
I'll keep an eye on him..
Thanks for the insight...
Have a great day!!