Yellow Tang Food Advice

[revhtree]

Hey all!!

I came home and My Brother-in-Law had bought us a Yellow Tang, it's about 3 inches long. It seems to be in good health, nice color and all. My question is this:

The lfs gave him what he called strips of dried algae that we should clip inside the tank.

Is this ok?
How much should be clipped in at a time?
How long should it be left in? (always?)

He said the lfs store told him that this is what they were feeding the fish.

Thanks for the help.

PS. I know all about checking out fish before you buy them, qt, and acclimation. Well not all about it! It was a gift....anyway about the food please.

 

[Anemoneman]

Put a 1 or 2 inch square in for a few hours. You don't want it to disintegrate and polute your tank. You can also feed frozen Formula 2, it's algae based and has meaty parts too. Your Tang will eat most anything when it's acclimated. It needs the algae for health though. It will eat the algae in your tank too. Do you have LR for it to graze on? I hope your tank is at least 4' long. They love to swim and do best in large tanks.

 

[revhtree]

Ya check out my signature. It needs to be updated with my new fish. Thanks for the concern, and for the quick response on my food question.

Thanks!

 

[quarryshark]

Mine eats everthing but my finger. A stated above, they love a variety.
Enjoy, great fish!!

 

[saltcreep1025]

you can also grow your own macroalgae to feed it... seems like the most natural to me. You would need a fuge though.

 

[Brisc0]

My purple tang is a wierdo. I feed my fish a slurry of Ocean Nut. Form 2, Spiru, Brine, Reef Plus, and Green Algae Strips. The tang really doesn't dig the Brine or Reef Plus, but it goes to town on the rest. However if I offer him some fresh home grown macro he doesn't go near it.

 

[kreach]

Our tangs and other herbivores seem to like Julian Sprung's Sea Veggies (green or purple) the best of all the dried seaweed sheets.

 

[BillyZ]

my yellow gets the meaty bits when i feed the rest of the tank, and other than that he continualy grazes on the algae on the glass, rock and plumbing in my tank. I occasionaly clip a piece of dried seaweed but he gets most of his veggies the natural way. If you don't have a lot of algae in your tank you should use the dried veggies more often. I have heard of other folks using baby spinach and brocolli as well. (be sure they're well rinsed and if possible organically grown)

 

[Guest]

I hope your tank is at least 4' long. They love to swim and do best in large tanks.

Actually they should hvae 6' tanks. I think a 75 is too small for long term.

 

[revhtree]

I've read a number of places tht a 50g was minimum for the yellow tang. Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Well there wrong, any one who has kept tangs for a long period of time will tell you. They need 6' tanks long term, but what would I know?

 

[saltcreep1025]

"they're"

 

[revhtree]

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=21&pCatId=392

A 50 gallon or larger aquarium is necessary to provide plenty of swimming room.

http://www.whozoo.org/Anlife99/loriwood/tang3.htm

The tang fish does not require a lot of space in which to live. But please take in mind when using the tang in an aquarium that it needs a constant flow of water. Not much but some, it helps the fish stay in shape and keeps the fish in good health.

http://www.marinedepotlive.com/754514.html

The Zebrasoma flavescens grows up to 8 inches. The Yellow Tang, Hawaii prefers a tank of at least 100 gallons with plenty of places to hide & swim.

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/marine/tangs/yellow.php

Minimum Tank Length/Size:
A minimum 50 gallon aquarium is recommended.

http://petsolutions.com/articles/140500.html

Notes: Tangs, also known as Surgeonfish, are ideal fish for the fish only or reef aquarium. Generally it is best to keep one tang per aquarium. If attempting to keep more a 75 gallon aquarium or larger aquarium is recommended as well as introducing tangs from different genus at the same time.

http://www.aquariacentral.com/fishinfo/marine/ytang.htm

Yellow Tangs may be found in shallow waters of the Pacific, particularly along the shores of Hawaii. They should be kept in an aquarium of at least 45 gallons, preferably 55 gallons

http://www.myfishtank.net/saltwaterprofiles.php?profile=29
At this particular link one person says 50g the other says 75g, the other says 100g.

http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/db.cgi?db=marine&uid=default&ID=0032&view_records=1

Yellow Tangs may be found in shallow waters of the Pacific, particularly along the shores of Hawaii. They should be kept in an aquarium of at least 55 gallons, preferably larger.

Enough of that. My point is that there are many different opinions as to what is the proper tank size for a yellow tang, and for everything else in this world for that matter.

Very Confusing Hobby. 8O

 

[Guest]

You can also keep a tang in a 10 gallon, or even a 5. All I am saying that it is recommended that all tangs have at least a 6' tank. You can do whatever you want ecspecially considering your an expert on the subject because online stores tell you a 50 gal is ok. I mean ask your LFS they know everything, they would never stear you in the wrong direction. I personally think a tang is fine in a 75, but when its full size I think it would need a bigger tank. Ive heard this from many sources.

 

[revhtree]

I understand your comcern Six-Line, and you have a great point. It seems to me that you know what your talking about. I am not disputing what you say. What I am saying is that a newb like me dont stand a chance!

If 20 people tell you one thing, and 20 tell you another, what do you do? Who do you trust?

How long does it take to get full grown?

I would like to go up to at least a 125g in about a year.

Thanks Six-Line.

 

[quarryshark]

Ah rev, that is the charming thing about this hobby. You will get multiple answer to the same question. I think you just have to find out what's best for you. One thing to consider though. Retailer are trying to sell fish. Their opinion on tank size may be on the smaller size, to capture a larger potential client base. If they say a Yellow needs at least 100 gallon, they lose many clients with smaller tanks. Then all their competition has to do is say they need a 75 gallon and they get the sales.
If you are going to a 125 within a year, you should be ok.
But thats just my opinion.

 

[Guest]

A 125 would be great long term for yellows. As far as growth that can depend on many things such as room, type and amount of food, and stress factors. I think your ok with your 75, but a 125 would be perfect. I keep 4 tangs in my 125 (3 yellows and a palani), and my yellows have just recently started to grow. I feed them fresh macro algae which I get alive off the coast. It seems to really spark their growth rates, and there very fat. Anyways best of luck with your tang

 

[revhtree]

Ya when I read your profile, I knew that you knew about the Y Tangs!

My Tang is really eating good now. It has eaten Brine Shrimp, Blood Worm, Algae Strips, and some flake. Not to mention the grazing it does.

The thing that sacres me the most in this hobby is fish diesease. Is it preety safe to say, that if your fish are eating they are probably fine? I am so paranode. I will se a little body defect that I had not noticed before, and freek out. Sometimes i'll see a white dot, and then it will be gone.
Is not eating the first sign, and a good sign that your fish are getting, or are sick?

This is bad but: Every morning I get up I thank God that one of my fish are not floating. Somebody tell me something to ease my worry.

Thanks!

 

[Guest]

Yea he sounds like hes happy. The most common diseases in tangs are ICH, and HLLE. Signs of ICH are white spots, and rubbing on the rocks. HLLE is caused from a bad diet, and bad water conditions. Plenty of algae is what will keep him healthy. Just make sure he eats more algae than anything else. What I do is feed them the macro algae a few hours before I feed the other fish. This way there pretty much full of algae before they eat the meaty foods. Relax, he will be fine 8)

 

[revhtree]

Thanks sixline! HLLE is what I'm afraid of. How do you feed micro algae? And what kind do you use?

Thanks.