Powder Blue Eating Xenia????

[phishead]

Can it be true?

I almost fell down when I thought I saw my powder blue tang take a chomp out of the little pulsing xenia. I have not seen it since.

It was doing so well it had multiplied and all the branches were very long and pulsing. Now there seem to be few branches and a lot of the fingers are missing, less each day!

Has anybody seen ths happen?

I think I might try the strawberry basket trick and see if it recovers. Any Input?


I would post pictures, but my camera battery died and just plugged it in.


TIA

 

[fishfreek]

Sounds like maybe your tang is not getting enough food. Tangs by default are more vegitarians but mine will make a serious hurt on the frozen blender mush I add.

 

[lando]

I agree, it could be the tang. Have you caught it in action? Tangs are grazers so make sure you have nori in the tank for it to graze on during the day. This may help.

 

[kwan]

My yellow tang does that as well and my xenia has lost many fingers. He eats them when my wife forgets to feed him nori. I think is his way of protesting and reminding us to feed him :x

 

[phishead]

I realized this morning that I may have brought this on myself. I had been starting to feed him a bunch of different vegetables. including lettuce, spinach, and broccoli. Yes broccoli! To a fish with a brain the size of a watch battery, I'll bet that xenia looks awfully similar.

Do you guys always have grazing food in the tank. He will eat 24-7 and I would go through a head of lettuce a week. He like's nori, and eats that purple sea weed before I can get the clip on the tank. Makes me think it's like tang potato chips!

 

[MT79]

lettuce, spinach, and broccoli. Y

None of those are particularly nutritious. More like "treats". You should always provide some type of Seaweed for tangs to graze on. Think of lettuce, brocolli, etc. as potato chips for tangs, not the Nori .

 

[phishead]

Think of lettuce, brocolli, etc. as potato chips for tangs

Now, I've read exactly opposite that on this forum also. Many articles support feeding with many types of vegetables. Like the thread from when Qsharks purple tang died. I can't find it now to reference it.

Anyway the owner at my LFS simply states that if it isn't in the ocean it is not good for fish.

Of course she believes in bio-balls and leaving carbon in the tank for VERY long times.

She did give me some disc shaped Spirulina. I usually feed it in flake form. It sticks on the side of the glass and small chunks fall off of it.

Tang always eats the flakes and likes the chunks falling off, but does it contribute to poor water quality if he doesn't eat it all.

How do you guys keep the dried seaweed from getting dumped down the overflow. My tang rips it out of the clip in about 22 seconds, and then it free floats until it goes over the edge.

 

[fishfreek]

I recall NO articles or posts in the SW section supporting feeding non SW plants to SW fish. You can get food grade nori on many websites or at your asian food store for much cheaper than the LFS's versions. I feed my tang an 8 X 11" sheet every few days.

 

[phishead]

Sorry, it was Lando's Purple tang.

http://aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=39881&highlight=purple

That, plus I had never though of broccoli until I was at an aquarium when they were feeding the reef tank. They dropped in 2 huge heads of broccoli and I was amazed at how the tangs and some angels attacked it.

 

[phishead]

huh? no response?

 

[Verbalkint]

I recall NO articles or posts in the SW section supporting feeding non SW plants to SW fish. You can get food grade nori on many websites or at your asian food store for much cheaper than the LFS's versions. I feed my tang an 8 X 11" sheet every few days.

8 By 11???? Every few days???? Good LORD. That's a LOT.

We WERE Thinking of getting a Tang, but if they eat THAT much, i dunno.. ;-/

 

[revhtree]

Tangs are natural grazers. Kinda like cows just alot nicer to lo0k at.

The 8x11 sheets of nori is not that bad at all. I feed mine about half of a sheet every couple days. The nori cost abot $3 to $4 a pack and comes with 40 sheets. Nothing that is going to breal the bank. It last me a long time..

 

[phishead]

I think that mine is more like a pig than a cow. He eats everything all day long and when I put in seaweed strips, he rips them off the clip. No grazing, it is his mission to eat that seaweed asap!

I could see a sheet every couple of days, that is why I have tried to mix it up with other foods. He loves formula 2 flake, which I have in the auto feeder. I usually give lettuce, spinach and dried seaweed in the clip. I have only recently done the broccoli. He doesn't really care though. He still keeps the rocks clean and I hope he will stay away from the Xenia. If only I couyld get him to try the bubble Algea