Blue Tang won't eat seaweed

S

sosgal721

AC Members
Jul 28, 2007
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Fort Mill, SC
My blue (hippo) tang won't eat the seaweed (the seaweed salad sheets) that I put in. It likes to hide in one place in the live rock so I even tried placing pieces of seaweed in it's cave and it just passes right over it, doesn't even look at it. I have tried the garlic method and it doesn't work. The only thing I can get it to sometimes eat is formula one pellets. Any suggestions on what to do? I have had it for about 2-3 weeks now.
The pictures are just for eye-candy:)

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My regal tang was the last of the bunch to find and eat off the nori seaweed. The yellow tang (after being in the tank an hour found it before she did). Occasionally I will see her at the vegi clip eating it. She will readily eat the flaked formula one and the daily meat entrees. I would just make it available in case it changes it's mind and you could try the formula one flakes.
 
Mine is the same way. She could care less about the nori until it breaks free from the clip and then she likes to chase it in the water. She never really goes after it to eat it, but will if there is a game involved. My sailfin loves the nori and the seaweed pellets (the ones with garlic).
 
There is actually good reasoning behind this. This species is not really a strong algal grazer, although they can easily adapt to be in an aquarium. They are actually mostly zooplanktivores (compare to vlamingii tangs as well), so foods like mysid shrimp, cyclopeeze, etc. are more ideal.
 
Amphiprion said:
There is actually good reasoning behind this. This species is not really a strong algal grazer, although they can easily adapt to be in an aquarium. They are actually mostly zooplanktivores (compare to vlamingii tangs as well), so foods like mysid shrimp, cyclopeeze, etc. are more ideal.
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Ditto ....

Also mine only started eating seaweed when he saw my Achilles Tang eating it. Fish learn sometimes by other fish behavior.
 
You could also try spirulina flakes to entice it . I know it's a fw food but, lots of s.w. fish seem to really like the taste. Try giving it a variety of foods as the others have suggested.
 
The hippo tang looks young, the younger they the harder they are to keep this may be your problem getting it to eat. I had one a little smaller then yours and it did not make it, had a very hard trying to get to eat. The next one was larger and was eating, he eats everything I put in there including sea veggies. Good luck keep us posted.
 
Max said:
You could also try spirulina flakes to entice it . I know it's a fw food but, lots of s.w. fish seem to really like the taste. Try giving it a variety of foods as the others have suggested.
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All of my fish go nuts when I feed spirulina.. I thought it was nuts when it was suggested to me but it got my clowns eating.
 
I have had my hippo tang for almost 6 months and she has never ate from the clip.She eats pieces that come off and eats anything I throw in the tank but wont touch the clip.She has more than doubled in size since I got her so I know she is eating and healthy..I have heard alot of people say there hippo's wont eat from the clip so what Amphiprion said makes sense to me.
 
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