Naso Tang/Naso Feeding 12/3/10
Hey guys:
<Brendan>
I will start off by saying thank you for all the help since I have been in the hobby. I really feel that I owe the success of my tank to you guys.
Thank you for the help over the years.
<You're welcome.>
Now for the troubles unfortunately.
For the past ten months I have fed Spectrum solely to my tank. (I have had more and more people in amazement, asking what I feed my fish. They are happy, healthy, large, and disease free)
<Is a good nutritional food.>
The week of Thanksgiving, I introduced a Swallowtail Angel, and a Fairy Wrasse. (While in QT, I could only get him to eat plankton, spinach, and raw uncooked shrimp that I would rinse and peel under hot water.) I do want to say that these fish are fine. There are no markings on them, fungus, etc.
On the weekend of Thanksgiving, I fed spinach, and raw shrimp to the main tank while trying to get the newbies to switch over to the Spectrum. The entire tank including the Naso Tang and the Purple Tang went nuts over it. (Both of these fish are about a year old and measure about 6 to 8 inches from head to tail. I had them since they were the size of a silver dollar)
After (I know too much) shrimp and spinach, I noticed that my Purple Tang and Naso Tang are not eating as of Tuesday. They are not showing signs of sickness or anything like that, but they will not go for any food. I even went back to the basics tonight with Nori, Plankton, Spectrum, and Brine shrimp. They will show interest in it, but will not eat.)
The shrimp I fed was the frozen uncooked shrimp. I ran it under hot water to thaw it out while peeling it. I then broke it into small pieces and fed it to the tank.
Except for the eating, their behavior has not changed. They still flare up when food enters and do their occasional tail batting when someone enters their territory.
I will admit that I most likely overfed the frozen uncooked shrimp and spinach. When I saw how nuts everybody went over it, I gave them more than I should over the weekend. The rest of the tank is currently doing fine and eating normally.
Koran Angel
Wrasses
Yellow Tang
Blue Hippo
Midnight Angel
Damsels
I did a full water test today. My phosphates were somewhat high. I did a 30% water change and brought them down to the .25 to .5 mark. All other parameters are fine.
Please help me guys. I have raised them since they were small. They are big, fat, and of course my two favorite fish. I would be beside myself if I lost them.
<The fish may be constipated. Spinach in its raw state is difficult to digest and draw nutrition from due to
its cellulose make up. Blanching, freezing, and/or boiling before feeding will help break down the cellulose.
Personally, I think you would be better off just feeding Nori. Given a few days, their appetite should be back to normal. Bob may have some input here as well.> <<Skip the terrestrial greens period. Problematical and not generally nutritious to marines. RMF>>
Thank you in advance.
<You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)>
Cordially:
Brendan