Getting fish to eat flake food from the surface

[recliner]

I have a tall 150 gal reef tank and have 1 eibli angel, 2 blue green chromes,1 falco hawkfish, 1 clownfish, 2 tomini tangs, and a sleeper banded goby. The Tangs seem to almost exclusively eat the seaweed strips I put in. The rest share the carnivore frozen cubes (thawed, cut, and covered with garlic) raw shrimp (cut into tiny pieces), and sinking pellets.
I can't seem to get them to come up to the surface to eat any flake food I put in. Sometimes the clown will be brave and get a bite but most gets pulled into my overflow box and into my refuge. Some of the flake makes it through that and is then discharged back into the main tank about half way down. That flake is usually immediately eaten.

Does anyone have any tricks or tips to get them brave enough to just eat it off the surface so I don't have who knows how much wasted and rotting in my refugium?

 

[lbcathee]

pinch the food between your fingers put it a half inch or so below the surface of the water and let go.

btw flake food is bad for your water quality and if you can switch to only using frozen, that would be better.

 

[wontonflip]

+1 cathee....don't feed flake food. It's high in phosphates, and just not nutritious. Switch to a variety of frozen foods. I also feed my fish formula one pellets once in a while as a treat. But I avoid flakes.

 

[Bifferwine]

I agree. Flake foods tend to lead to algae problems (pellet foods too). If you feed those, feed very sparingly. And it's better if you don't feed them at all.

 

[recliner]

I'll try that. I've been eyeing a listing on eBay for a bulk buy of frozen mysis flat 16 oz packs. Would it be ok to only feed my fish the seaweed and the frozen mysis? (would probably still do some frozen shrimp from the grocery store to feed my anemone and lobster

 

[SarahSmile]

For saltwater, feeding a variety is best. Just pop into your local fish store and they will have a case of frozen foods you can check out. I like to mix it up. A cube of emerald entree one day, half a cube of brine (it's like candy for fish) another day, a few days of mysis, a marine cuisine (a nice mix for carnivores) cube another day. The different varieties of cubes make it easy to make sure your fish are getting a diverse diet.

 

[recliner]

The eBay seller I'm looking to buy from has 16oz frozen flat packs of mysis, blood worm, Krill, Brine shrimp, and Spirulina brine shrimp. They are all about the same price and I have plenty of freezer space. So should I just buy some of each and rotate what I feed each day?

 

[wontonflip]

I buy one of each, personally. The more variety, the happier your fish will be. And don't forget to continue the algae sheets for the tangs. They were only eating the algae sheets because they don't like flake food.

Also i seems you put in a lot of fish in just a couple of months' time. Slow down. Don't add anymore. You should only be adding 1 to 2 fish every few months to let your bacteria catch up. Keep an eye on your levels.

 

[recliner]

Yeah I made the newbie mistake of getting too excited. Thought I could out smart the water issues by buying an established tank and moving it to get a quick start up. Learned my lesson and am not going to add any more fish for a while.
Should the Tangs be fine as long as I provide plenty of seaweed? When I fed last night one of the Tangs ate some of the frozen carnivore blend I put in the tank.

 

[d2mini]

I agree with Wonton that variety is best.
And due to that, I do feed flake food and pellets as an alternative to frozen foods... just to mix it up a bit. I only feed Ocean Nutrition Prime Reef Flakes and Ocean Nutrition Formula Two Flakes. For pellets I like Dainichi Marine FX and Dainichi Marine Reef Veggie FX. Both are considered a higher quality dry food. The pellets are the sinking variety and the flakes I do as someone else stated, pinch/crush between fingers and release beneath the water surface while swishing the water a bit. Some flakes will still rise to the surface and float there, but much of it will now float through the water column attracting the fish.

 

[wontonflip]

Tangs pretty much eat everything, but seaweed is a must in their diet.

 

[recliner]

Thanks everyone. I have a huge tube of flake so it will last forever as I'll only use it every once in a while.