Kole Tang Feeding

[ZBT3091]

My 75 is right now stocked with a pair of 1.5-2" Heniochus Diphreutes, a pair of occelaris clowns, mandarin, royal gramma, pair of cleaner shrimp, and tiger tail cucumber. I was wondering if I would be able to sustain the diet of a kole tang with a 24 gallon tank that has no sand or rock, a canister filter with chemi-pure and carbon, and a 24" PC Orbit Extreme 2x65 watt 1 Actinic 1 10,000K and the tank filled with gracilaria. I am looking to have about 1 lb altogether of gracilaria. 1/4 GReen, 1/2 Red, and 1/4 brown. If I completely spread them out across the tank and just left them there would the gracilaria grow fast enough to grow so that he will be fat on the trimmings without finishing the algae? The tank is just finishing its cycle where nitrites and ammonia are 0 but nitrates are still kind of high. I read somewhere that gracilaria's prime growing conditions are under water with slightly more organics such as nitrates and phosphates to consume. At some point i may plan on adding seahorses when the tank is cycled and more matured. Sorry for the question being so specific.

 

[ZANYMASTER]

Adding seahorses may not be a good idea being that they are slow swimmers and the clowns or others fish may compete for the food.A 24G for the kole may be a short term solution and not recommended.

 

[ZBT3091]

nooo the fish listed are in the 75. The 24 is completely empty besides the gracilaria. The specs i was describing was for the 24. Seahorses would be by themselves in the 24 with gracilaria

 

[ZANYMASTER]

Oh,my bad.That's fine.Might want to get some sea fans or tonga branch rocks for them to anchor themselves on.

 

[Pedro Nuno Ferreira]

....I was wondering if I would be able to sustain the diet of a kole tang with a 24 gallon tank that has no sand or rock, a canister filter with chemi-pure and carbon, and a 24" PC Orbit Extreme 2x65 watt 1 Actinic 1 10,000K and the tank filled with gracilaria. I am looking to have about 1 lb altogether of gracilaria. 1/4 GReen, 1/2 Red, and 1/4 brown. If I completely spread them out across the tank and just left them there would the gracilaria grow fast enough to grow so that he will be fat on the trimmings without finishing the algae?....

Hi ZBT3091 ;-)
Well its difficult to say for sure, still, bristle tooth, which is the meaning of Ctenochaetus genus name,

have a look here

(cteno-chaetus means "comb bristle" define the genus’ members. Unlike other surgeons that have rigid, attached dentition, Ctenochaetus have movable, individual, bristle-like teeth. Coupled with a protrusible, outreaching mouth, these fishes use this unusual feeding device to sort and remove interstitial fauna, scrape soft algae, and "detritus" of nutritive value from rock and substrate.

are very good at eating filamentous algae and brown diatom micro algae, still they are not fast eaters as other surgeon fishes are, and may be behave shy, especially when living with more active fish species. However from your description the fish will live alone in the 24g tank. Ctenochaetus strigosus or Yellow Eye Bristle Tooth, like other marine algivorous fish, will graze all day long and thus will consume high quantities of algae which in a small closed system, can impact very significantly the algae growth, so 1lb (500 grams) of gracilaria will probably not be sufficient and sustained growth will possibly be deterred/refrained by the continuous grazing activity of the fish, still if it proves to be so, you can add more, as well as Nori (Porphyra sp) that you can buy in the supermarket or grocery store. Please read this here

[SIZE=-1]Diet & Feeding: This fish is a workhorse when it comes to eating various types of algae in an aquarium, particularly brown diatom microalgae. From our experiences of keeping this fish we could put a few in a tank that had a brown diatom algae accumulation on the glass, and within days it would be gone. All that was left were the little lip marks on the glass where the algae used to be. The Kole Tang spends it day constantly grazing and eating, so providing it with an environment with plenty of algae growth is best. However, beware not to put one in a small reef tank, as it can do a lot of damage if you have delicate plants and algae growth that you want to keep. In a very large reef tank the plant growth can recover, as the Kole has so much to pick from. The Kole Tang adapts to eating tank fed foods extremely well. It will accept blue-green alga Spirulina, fresh romaine lettuce and other vegetable matter such as broccoli and zucchini. It likes nori (dried seaweed), flake foods made from dried marine algaes, and will even nibble on some meaty foods like dried shrimp and blood worms. When feeding with fresh romaine lettuce, broccoli or other fresh vegetables, place these foods in the freezer long enough to partially freeze them, then let them thaw out. This helps to break down the tough fibrous matter in the plants and allows the fish to digest them more easily. You can also blanch them to get the same results.[/SIZE]

Also a 24g tank may be sufficient for a small Ctenochaetus in the beginning but will become small as it grows. Also, adding sea horses is not a god idea as these are slow swimming fishes that require a special diet, please read more about sea horses here

Hope this answered your questions

Cheers
Pedro Nuno ;-)

 

[ZBT3091]

thank you for the detailed response. I wasnt very clear in the question. The tang, and all other fish listed are in my 75 reef right now. My 24 gallon has nothing in it - no live rock or sand. There is only 1lb of gracilaria consisting of red brown and green. I am asking if i can use the 24 tank as a feeder tank for the 75 to support the diet of the kole tang.

 

[Pedro Nuno Ferreira]

thank you for the detailed response. I wasnt very clear in the question. The tang, and all other fish listed are in my 75 reef right now. My 24 gallon has nothing in it - no live rock or sand. There is only 1lb of gracilaria consisting of red brown and green. I am asking if i can use the 24 tank as a feeder tank for the 75 to support the diet of the kole tang.

Hi ZBT3091 ;-)
It will depend on the growth rate of the gracilaria versus the feeding speed rate and demand of the Tang. Now the growth rate of the gracilaria will depend on nutrients and light available. If you maintain a low nutrient tank with no trace element addition other the ones present in NSW or ASW, the growth rate might be very slow for the purpose intended. I usually do not recommend the use of trace elements for several reasons, still, these act as fertilizers for algae.

Cheers
Pedro Nuno ;-)