Yellow Tang ate what?!

I bought a yellow tang a couple days ago, and before I did I witnessed every tang in that tank eating live bloodworms. Also, I saw the tang I ended up with eating some romaine lettuce they had clipped in the tank (he was the only one so I got him specifically). Well I bought the bloodworms and some organic romaine lettuce. The weird thing is, he's only going after the lettuce and the algae on my rocks. He seems interested in the bloodworms but never takes a bite. As long as he's eating I'm not concerned, but puzzled as to why suddenly the bloodworms are not a food of choice anymore. Do they just prefer veggies if they are available?

 

Similar thing with my Royal Gramma, everyone in the tank at the LFS was eating brine shrimp and other food, but when I fed him Live brine shrimp...he look at it and seem like scare of it and swim away. Funny scene really, but all he eat now is formula 1 pellets. Guess all fish have their own taste...more picky than us human.

 

My yellow tang was happy eating anything in the tank when we got him, but he started to lose colour on his dorsal fin. We then put "Seaweed selects" algae in a clip on the side of the tank, and he eats that all day now. His colour has come back, and he still eats the other food we put in aswell, greedy git.

 

Yellow Tangs are Vegetarian but will eat just about anything. It is important to get some seaweed high in nutrients. romaine lettuce has little to no nutritional value and they will eat it but it's like candy. Too much and they will get sick

J

 

Tangs are herbivores by nature, when his natural food of choice is made available, he will drop all other stuff and go for the gold. I think it's just a survival mode they go in at the LFS, that's why they resort to eating whatever they feed them. Of course, there are some tangs that will refuse anything but algae.

 

That's good to know Jason.

Upto now my sailfin has been eating natural dried seaweed (macroalgae) and mysis shrimp in the daily diet and she's looking nice and full-like. Very healthy tummy area.

I once tried the lettuce thing and she couldn't be bothered.

"If it ain't broke I ain't fixin it."

 

My yellow tang won't touch lettuce or seaweed on the clip. I have tried tying the seaweed to a rock, no go. I tried tying broccolli to the same rock and I did catch him nibbling at it. I see him nibble at the live rock day in and day out. He eats ravenously when I feed the tank, formula one and two flake, mysis, brine all soaked in selcon and garlic. He is fat and growing but just wont eat the seaweed. I think I will try another flavour maybe?

 

What The &%$#!!??!?!?!

Ok so after my tang kindly rejected the same bloodworms he was witnessed eating at my LFS, I was feeding my other fish the bloodworms this morning, and lo and behold! The tang decided he likes them after all! Actually, he was sort of a pig about it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not compaining, but I wonder if the algea and romaine lettuce he has been eating just isn't filling him up? Well I'm on my way to the LFS now to get some seaweed salad or something for him anyways. Sheesh these fish can be picky! Who says fish have a memory span of 3 seconds? Pah!

 

Tangs will eat shrimp, clam, squid etc. However, they must have veggie matter(seaweed, algae etc.)in order to survive. They are grazers, so feeding them alittle every few hours is best. There are many kinds of Dried seaweed to try if one isn't working. Vegetable frozen and flake foods are another alternative. Formula 1, and brine shrimp with spirulina are suggestions.

 

i have had tangs for some time and they are picky eaters some time but they will pig out on something that tastes good like mysis shrimp thats like popcorn now it also depends on how often you feed to if he knows you feed everyday mysis he will wait til that point in the day if you go every other day and put just seaweed in their first for like 30 minutes they will eat that first then put food in for the rest done feed them all at the same time and also portions are a big BIG thing!