Feeding new tang?

[bpeitzke]

We got two new fish for our 36-gal FOWLR tank a few weeks ago - a yellow tang and a lovely mandarin dragonet. (Sadly the puffer got the mandarin, so we've given up on bottom fish as long as we have him.) The tang is very active and seems healthy, and is eating the marine flake food as well as the seaweed I've been loading on a veggie clip every other day. My concern is how often I should replenish the seaweed. I want to find the right balance between his (her?) nutritional needs and bio-overload in the tank.

Please no flames re mandarin's sacrifice - the LFS guy advised us this one would be safe with puffer b/c it has a slime coating that discourages predators. Apparently puffer is exceptionally indiscriminate. We were very sad about mandarin, and I think our family has finally learned the lesson that we just can't introduce certain kinds of fish while we have puffer.

[Florida8]

Hi! Sorry about the Mandarin... the LFS sometimes really stink ... our LFS sold my hubby a 4 in. spotted grouper for my bday to go in my 55g reef and I came home to a nightmare... He lived in teh sump over night and back he went in the am.

When I had tangs I clipped Nori - only a small amount - on the clip every morning and if there was any left that afternoon I threw it away. Over time I learned what the "Perfect" amount was and no longer had to worry with waste.

HTH,
Kimberly

[bpeitzke]

Yeah, I've heard that groupers are even more voracious than puffers. We got our puffer when he was small, but he's grown ~ 2" and even more in body volume, quite fat now. He's killed at least four other fish (

Trouble is, my wife & daughter love him. He's the sole survivor of a past tank bioload out-of-control episode that was caused by overfeeding. We've since learned, now feed less and have fewer fish & lots more LR. But his survival endeared him to the family. We can't have crabs or shrimp nor any reef inverts AFAIK while we have him. The legacy of fish selections by novices - we've been learning the hard way.

On the bright side, our tank is lovely now, with lots of LR & dead coral pieces creating a pleasant & interesting maze for the fish, who are thriving.

Thanks for the feedback on tang feeding.

) Bob

[quarryshark]

Bob,
Not flaming, just advising so don't take it to heart.
All the fish you mention are going to outgrow you current tank at some point. I would suggest that your investigate their tank size requirements. You can start here.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/SWCompatibility.php
I fear that your bioload problems may resurface at some point, unless you are considering a tank upgrade in the future.
Regards,
QS

[bpeitzke]

I hear ya, QS. I've been wanting to upsize to a bigger tank, but don't have the time to deal with it now. I've calculated the biggest I could go in our current area would be 90-gal. If we moved it to a diff area we could go with a corner shape & sky's the limit, but that would require changing TV to a flat panel we can't afford yet.

Think we were unrealistic getting even this tang for our small tank? How long would you think he'd be OK in it?

Thanks for the advice.

Regards,

- Bob

[quarryshark]

Some disagree (usually its folks with tangs in small tanks ), but I believe at least a 75 gallon is needed for an active fish like a tang. If you could eventually go to a 90, you would be golden. Would open the door for many other fish too.