what do you think??

[GaryL]

my powder brown tang just started eating foods other than nori...it would only eat nori or calurpa. so since PB&j (as we lovingly call it) is eating prepaired food, do you think that he/she picked it up from watching the sailfin (big mama) who eats everything?

 

what are your thoughts? and what have you guys seen in your experiences?

[guppychao]

how long have you had the powder brown?

 

it may have just gotten comfortable with his surroundings, but i do believe watching the other fish eat helped a bit

[davelin315]

They are primarily algae grazers so it's OK for it to eat other foods as long as they are in moderation. Its digestive system is designed to use algae, not meats for the most part, so nori alone is a fairly good diet, although additional foods will help to balance out the nutrition that it's missing out on from having only one type of algae to graze on.

[Coral Hind]

Gary,

I think it is some what of a learn behavior and an acquired taste. I got a yellow eyed kole tang and for over three months it would only eat the algae on the rocks and glass as well as what I pulled from the sump to feed it. It didn't touch the nori or any of the frozen foods I offered the fish. During feeding time he would just sit and watch the others eat. He is twice the size of the next biggest fish, a hippo tang, so it wasn't a fear thing. Then one day I saw him take a try at some prepared food, he wasn't that interested but he ate a piece and went back to picking on the rocks. Over the next few days he began to eat a few more bites during each feeding. Now he is a real pig. So I think he saw the hippo tang and others going into a frenzy over dinner so he decided to try it. Still plenty of algae in the tank so it wasn't lack of food either.

[GaryL]

how long have you had the powder brown?

 

a few weeks, so far so good

 

They are primarily algae grazers so it's OK for it to eat other foods as long as they are in moderation. Its digestive system is designed to use algae, not meats for the most part, so nori alone is a fairly good diet, although additional foods will help to balance out the nutrition that it's missing out on from having only one type of algae to graze on.

 

that would sum up their diet.... sometimes i give the nori a shot of selcon and garlic too. what have you seen in your setup as far as behavior in any fish with feeding?

 

Gary,

I think it is some what of a learn behavior and an acquired taste. I got a yellow eyed kole tang and for over three months it would only eat the algae on the rocks and glass as well as what I pulled from the sump to feed it. It didn't touch the nori or any of the frozen foods I offered the fish. During feeding time he would just sit and watch the others eat. He is twice the size of the next biggest fish, a hippo tang, so it wasn't a fear thing. Then one day I saw him take a try at some prepared food, he wasn't that interested but he ate a piece and went back to picking on the rocks. Over the next few days he began to eat a few more bites during each feeding. Now he is a real pig. So I think he saw the hippo tang and others going into a frenzy over dinner so he decided to try it. Still plenty of algae in the tank so it wasn't lack of food either.

 

i've seen some fish try it and spit it out. but thius was the first time i had seen one totally ignore food then just eat it like it has always loved it.

 

its the red sea food that i had one at the frag fest. ran out of spiralina flake so tried this stuff.

[davelin315]

Mine eat a ton of pellets (I use a combination of different pellets mixed together), nori, mysis, prepared foods, essentially whatever I add to the water. I primarily feed pellets, though, and nori, because I don't want them to get too much mysis or other meaty food as I know that they can't handle it and the pellets have things mixed in. There was a thread awhile back that referenced an article regarding foods that fish should not eat. It was primarily directed at not feeding freshwater origin foods to marine life, but the gist was that you need to mimic as accurately as possible the natural diet.