Feeding Nori/Algae Sheets

[Mike&Terry]

After watching our fish yank off huge chuncks of nori they could not possibly eat and seeing it float into the overflow and down to our sump for many years, we started experimenting to find a way to reduce the waste while giving our fish their much-needed veggies. We tried suction cup veggie clips, rocks with rubber bands, adding smaller sheets, and rolling or folding the sheets as tightly as possible without much success.

The suction cup clips did not hold up well for us and our larger fish would pull them off the glass. We decided to try the TLF VeggieMag on a whim, but didn't really hold out much hope that it would stay in place. Amazingly, it does a fantastic job and we don't even have to put our hands in the water to remove the clip.

Although the clip is fantastic, we still had the problem of waste to resolve. I decided to try cutting small strips in the algae to see if it would make it easier for our fish to pull off smaller more appropriate sized pieces and it worked.



Although we do use Nori on occassion, we really like Ocean Nutrition's algae sheets because they come in 3 varieties (Green, Red and Brown). We cut a full sheet in half. We then fold the half sheet in half and cut small strips. We then fold the sheet like a fan and place it in the clip. We soak the nori/algae for about 15 minutes in Selcon before adding to the tank.





The fish love it and best of all, there is no waste.



What tips/tricks do you use? Please share! :bigsmile:

 

[olesalty]

i like that idea of cutting strips. I got tired of my hippo tang yanking it out that i started using my mag float

 

[SDguy]

Precutting the algae into strips is a great idea. The waste is one of the main reasons I almost never feed nori.

 

[btkrausen]

I started doing this about a month ago and it works great. I love seeing my big Blueface rip off an strip and chomp it down. Meanwhile, my Orange Shoulder still insists to pull strips off and let them float away. I'm not even sure he's eating much of it, but he loves to pull it off, haha. So now I no longer have huge pieces stuck to the overflows, but now smaller strips, haha.

It has helped out though, so I'd encourage others to try as well.

 

[revhtree]

This is a great idea! I have always struggled with using nori as well due to the waste.

 

[skinz78]

Great idea, I'll have to try it out!

 

[HappyHoney41]

Great idea! I've been rolling it, but the strips sound like a great idea. I don't use a clip though. I use this instead...
[video=youtube;NZgHv1q2FBg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZgHv1q2FBg[/video]

 

[skinz78]

Great idea with the magnet!

 

[reef_freak]

Yep I use a magnet as well and looking for another one. But the strips are a great idea. Mine get a couple of small strips a day and this will definitely help!

 

[xcorallusx]

I just rip and fold them and used the tlf magnet but mine fell apart on the dry side and the tangs were picking and eating the algae on the floaty foam part...not good. Supposedly they are fixing the design and should have a new one out soon.

 

[mallorieGgator]

Wow! What a good idea! I did get sick of watching my tangs tear off massive chunks and spit them out only to watch it get stuck on corals.

 

[steamer51]

The only fish in my tank that must have Nori is a medium sized rabbit. I do not have a sump so none goes into an overflow to be wasted. I tear off about a one inch strip that he grabs as soon as I drop it into the tank. This keeps him occupied and gives the other much smaller fish a chance to fill up on the frozen food I pour in next. The rabbit is capable of eating the whole strip and the clowns nibble on the other end while he is gobbling it up. Any small pieces that get torn off are grabbed by the CUC as soon as it hits the rocks. This would not work in a normal reef setup but does in mine.

 

[swissgaurd]

great idea on the nori strips

i use the suction cup veggi clip but i take out the suction cup and tie a very thin airline tube or a fishing line
i hang it from my lights let it hang into tank never get my hand wet.

thanks

vic

 

[navila06]

got tired of using the magnets, now I just break it up into flake size pieces and soak it in distilled water for about 10 minutes, way less waste that way.

 

[rynosaurus]

I don’t know how it works but I kind that if you tear off 1inch strips and roll that up, fold it over and over 3-4 times, than clip it the clip holds great. My blue hippo constantly would pull the entire piece loose until I started rolling/ folding it. Not sure what difference it take but it works for me.
I am curious how much algae strips should be fed daily. My fish will finish these chunks in a matter of minutes. They never seem to get enough.

 

[Maxcmo]

This is brilliant I will try it later today.