Macro Algae for Tangs - Grown in the Refugium

[leebca]

What macro algae do you feed your herbivores (Tangs, Rabbitfishes, etc.) and omnivores (Anemonefishes, Angels, Butterflyfishes, etc.?

I've kept the fishes that eat vegetables over the last 35+ years now. From my refugium I feed them:
Caulerpa prolifera
Gracilaria and
Halimedia opuntia

Some others you may have tried:

Varieties of Caulerpa sp. (Especially Caulerpa mexicana). Not all Tangs like all plant species of Caulerpa AND not all Tangs within the Tang species will like the same macro algae to the same degree. They will eat C. prolifera once they get used to it. Fish wholesalers grow large quantities of the red Gracilaria sp. to tempt newly acquired Tangs to eat.

Halimedia opuntia is often nice to have around. It is a calcareous algae, but some Tangs nibble on it. It helps keep Tangs 'regular' and digesting properly. In fact, tiny gravel has been found in the stomachs of Tangs. It’s believed that Tangs (like parrots) take in some gravel to help with the grinding of their tough vegetable diet.

Then, there's the sea lettuce! Ulva sp. Many fish like that. It grows slowly (compared to most the Caulerpa sp.) and takes weeks (at least for me!) to settle in and 'get a grip' on rocks/substrate.

Dried Ulva sp. is now commercially available as well as many other algae we use from companies that package it for our fishes.

I have not known herbivores to eat much in the way of Chaetomorpha (that thin stringy algae particularly useful in removing nutrients from water without releasing them back in). Some aquarists claim their fish will eat it, though. Maybe other herbivores?

There are those that claim you shouldn't feed herbivores macro algae from the refugium. The concern is that the algae has removed nutrients from the aquarium system, so feeding it to the fishes would be putting those nutrients back into the system. It is true; that is exactly what is/will happen.

But what do those people think is in the packaged algae they feed their herbivores? It's the same nutrients that the macro algae in the refugium took out. So, there is no loss or gain in nutrient content so long as the macro algae is healthy. One BIG gain is to be able to feed your herbivores with greens that are 'fresh' and alive.

I put a bowling-ball size clump of mixed algae from my 100g refugium in my 300g aquarium and the fish chew it down in about 3 days.

I would urge all those who keep herbivores NOT to buy Nori for their fishes. Nori is a macroalgae for human consumption that has no stardards for how it is processed or what kinds of algae it contains. It has been known to have additives for flavoring and preservation. It’s not worth the risk, even if the price is attractive. Some Nori is baked rather than ‘raw.’ It can be dry, but it shouldn’t be cooked, and it is hard to tell the difference. Not a concern for humans, but not the best thing to feed fish. By-pass this algae.

For those who purchase their algae, packaged for marine herbivore fishes, try to get a variety. Green is the usual and staple one to provide. But every third feeding should include one of the other colors. Large/full sized Angelfish should like the red algae. The purple is readily accepted. I have yet to get much enthusiasm from my fishes when I try to feed them brown algae, but they do and will accept yellows.

What kind of macro algae does your herbivores eat? Do you feed it often? If you raise your own, do you still throw some or all of it away?

 

[Damsel13]

I have two kinds of Chaetomorphia in my mini fuge. One is very green and tightly woven into a ball. The other type is a more yellow green and hangs loosely together. My yellow Tang loves the latter however I can't grow it fast enough so I am using Two Little Fishes purple seaweed (porphyra umbilicalis). I used to feed nori but switched to this however it falls apart really fast. I am not sure how to get more into my fish and less in the skimmer! The good thing about the nori is that it would hold together all day so my Tang had all day to pick and wrestle with it.

 

[leebca]

If you ever get a scientific name for that yellow-green kind, please let me know. What kind of lighting does it get?

 

[Damsel13]

very old floor stand Halogen light for a room :/. I wish I could get a name for it. I got it from Jeff's Exotic Fish in Costa Mesa about 8 mo. ago but now that Jeff has made that his one brick and mortar he doesn't even have any chaeto and the macro he has he isn't selling.
I am going to the reef-a-palooza if you will be there I could part with a little. As it is I only have a softball size amount. Perhaps you would be more successful at growing it than I am. My Tang just loves the stuff but I just don't want to run out so he hasn't been getting any for awhile.

 

[leebca]

I'll be at the event all day. I am volunteering so I don't know what I may be doing. It would be great to have a bit of it.

 

[morgan]

some pics would help

 

[leebca]

I'm 'computer challenged' when it comes to posting photos. Besides, I could never compete with the large number of photos available on the Internet. Since I can't just use some of them (copyright issues), it's best to do a search for any algae by scientific name. Usually this will turn up several photos. Good luck!

 

[Ricko]

Just out of curiosity, what problems can be caused from "baked" nori?? (and is there scientific proof or is it proof from experience?) Also, if the ingredients on a pack of nori ONLY state seaweed, then i'm assuming (pretty sure) there are no other ingredients, including seasoning? It seems everywhere i go people feed nori 99:1 to people that don't with no ill effects.

On another note, how does feeding macro from a refuge put nutrients back in the system when surely the nutrients are utilized and not absorbed(please correct me if i am wrong)? Plus what difference would it make anyway when if you don't use you macro for feeding, there is no other reason why you take it out of your refuge(again,please correct me if i am wrong), so those apparent nutrients are still in the system anyway!

 

[returnofsid]

Ricko, I believe that the nutrients re-entering the system would be in the form of fish waste. Also, most people do remove macro from their system on a regular basis, as a way of removing the nitrates that it has absorbed. Regular pruning is how the nitrates are exported from the system.

 

[leebca]

Our ornamental marine fishes eat nothing 'cooked.' Have never witnessed any BBQs in the reefs yet, in all my encounters there.

Cooking anything changes the chemistry. The fish digestive system is geared toward the raw foods, not foods that have been altered by a processing (such as cooking).

There is nothing wrong with using macro algae grown in the system, to feed the fish. I don't recall ever having advised against their use. Nutrients make a full circle and whether or not you put macro algae into the tank to feed herbivores or use refugium grown algae, the nutrients still enter the system.

The waste products release the nutrients needed to grow the algae -- phosphate, nitrates and proteins. These are taken up by the growing algae and fed back to the fishes, which in turn make waste products that feed more algae. As mentioned above, the nutrients make a complete circle. For the most part, there isn't enough macro algae grown to feed more than one herbivore or omnivore. So, some extra algae comes in from external sources.

 

[Ricko]

Thanks Sid and Lee, understood.

 

[leebca]

You're welcome.

One thing to keep in mind is that the fishes are removing somethings from the cycle. One such are the micro elements. They need to be replenished into the system growing macro algae. They also take up and keep a lot of the iron (used for hemoglobin, etc.). So iron has to be put back into the system, that grows macro algae.

 

[Ricko]

While we are on the subject, what is the best way to prune it? I have started growing caulerpa (don't know what type, not taxifolia but looks similar) and a few leaves were white, assuming they are dead. Is it true this macro can crash and destroy my system?

 

[leebca]

Many of the macro algae do and can crash and essentially can take with them many fish and other organisms in the system. This is why many of them are really not considered very good 'captive' macro algae.

When the algae leaf begins to pale and turn translucent, it is a sign the algae may be heading toward reproduction and/or failure. The best thing to do to prevent this is regular pruning and constant lighting.

Don't 'rip' the algae out. Instead, it should be cut (scissors) when pruning it back. Do this weekly to slow down or prevent its tendency for going into its reproductive mode.