Nori

[pipermurphy]

First off Happy Memorial Day to all.

I have a scooter blenny and a juvenile hippo tang as part of my tank inhabitants. I have read that they like to eat seaweed (nori). I put a piece about 2x2 in a clip on the side of my tank away from the rocks for them to eat and my snails were on it in minutes. So I tried again and neither fish tried to eat it again.

Do I keep on putting it in the tank in the hopes that the fish will eventually try and learn to eat it ?

Is it okay to feed the snails like this?

Will it hurt the tank in any way to have this nori in the tank?

 

[BrianH]

As long as you don't keep the nori in for more than 24 hrs. you should be ok. The only drawback thai I know of is that it can cause quicker algae growth.

Brian

 

[fishfreek]

The tang will eventlly find the nori. it might not understand its supposed to be eating this but once it gets a taste for it then you wont be able to keep it in the clip.

 

[pipermurphy]

So how do I stop the snails from getting to it first?

I mean it is a matter of 10-15 mins and the snails are on it. Should I get a 2nd clip? and what about the scooter?

 

[fishfreek]

There is nothign wrong with the snals eating this. Now you could always gently remove the snails from the area prior to adding it to the tank but I would say if they are jumping on it like that then they themselves are probably hungery. Do you have alot of snails and very little acutal algae growth?

 

[pipermurphy]

The tank was doing good, but when I changed lighting to 2 - 175W MH lights I experienced an algae bloom. So, I upped my snails to 10 & they did their job.Now the tank has stablized, so there is really nothing for the snails, scooter and hippo to eat algae wise. That is why I added the seaweed.
Am I on the right track here or not?

 

[HoopsGuru]

I think you should keep on feeding. If the snails are on it, I agree that they are hungry too!! When I used to feed nori, I rubberbanded some to pieces of liverock so the different animals could pick at it just like it was on liverock in the wild. Either do this or add multiple clips as you mentioned. I would think that as long as it gets eaten (or removed), there isn't a problem with how much you put in.

 

[hbright]

The first few times I tried nori, my tang wouldn't touch it, but now that he has learned what it is, he will swim around the clip looking at until I give him more. Maybe you should attach a few smaller pieces to opposite sides of the tank to let the fish and snails all have an opportunity to eat.

 

[spencerx]

hmm maybe you could try and suspend it in mid-water so the snails cant get to it? attach the clip to a piece of string and then thumbtack it to the inside of your canopy. ive never tried it, just thought of it, and maybe it would move in the current and look more natural. FWIW HTH