Rethinking how I feed nori ..

Ross · #1 11-09-2010, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Hmmm I wonder if O-rings would work better.

Thats what I was thinking, O-rings or Reusable Zip ties.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#zip-ties/=9n9580

This style one is what I was thinking of.

http://images1.mcmaster.com/Contents...g?ver=17738846

Delphinus · #2 11-09-2010, 05:33 PM

That's an awesome idea!! Gonna have to go pick up some of those! Thanks!

Brett - not bad either except I see that working better for just having the nori loose - I feel very strongly that the nori has to be rolled over the PVC pipe (think of a sushi roll but instead of rice or whatever inside, it's a PVC pipe). The tangs have to earn their nori by scraping it off the PVC. What happens this way is that no one fish can make off like a bandit with the day's allotment of nori so everyone who wants some, gets some (how very socialist of me - I blame my Swedish ancestry), there is also far less mess produced and the amount of nori actually "harvested" by the fish is much larger. And, the last little bits get picked up by the urchins and/or abalone - rolling it is really a win in my opinion..

mike31154 · #3 11-09-2010, 05:37 PM

I use a regular nori clip attached to an acrylic bracket that I fashioned with a heat gun. The bracket hangs on the rim of the tank fairly close to my autofeeder. I tried the elastic scenario on a piece of live rock and didn't really like the way that worked. I also read about the pvc method but that seemed like too much hassle as well with the elastic issues as you've experienced. Inevitably I didn't do a good job of wrapping the elastic and tang man would tear it right off it's mooring. The clip has its cons, but at least it secures the nori fairly well. I soak the nori just a little and fold it in half before putting it in the clip with just a little protruding. This means every so often I need to pull the clip out and expose a little more nori, but with the bracket set up that's fairly easy and very little gets wasted that way.

I experimented with chopping up dry nori and putting it in the auto feeder with the flakes & pellets, but that didn't work all that well. Seems the bits of nori floating around with the flakes somehow didn't spark the interest with the two fish that regularly take nori. My yellow tang & singapore angel are just too accustomed to taking it from the clip now and mostly ignored the nori that floated with the flake food. Might still do this if I'm away for a few days. The tang will go after the last remnant of nori from the clip when I release that into the water, but usually there aren't a bunch of flakes floating around to distract him when I do this.

Here's the bracket with clips. I only use a single clip since I don't have that many veggie eaters in my system. All you need is a heat gun or torch, scrap acrylic and a nylon screw. I tapped the acrylic so the screw threads right in. The screw head holds the clip quite loosely so it dangles to and fro, like real algae in the ocean. The tang & angel seem to enjoy making it bounce when they tear away at it.

Milad · #4 11-11-2010, 05:46 PM

here are some crappy IPhone shots

Delphinus · #5 11-11-2010, 05:54 PM

I like that. So you don't find that there is a lot of messy nori bits floating off into the water column that way? That was one of the things that pushed me to roll it over a pipe in the first place. But I just lost yet another elastic last night.. the tangs must really be picking at them harshly, that one only lasted about 2 days. No idea where this one ended up, couldn't see it anywhere.

365seasons · #6 11-11-2010, 05:55 PM

We use hair elastics. The ones with no metal of course. They're thin enough not to be a pain in the butt with nori getting left over, but don't break (easily, at least) and are never touched if they do fall.

Milad · #7 11-11-2010, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delphinus

I like that. So you don't find that there is a lot of messy nori bits floating off into the water column that way? That was one of the things that pushed me to roll it over a pipe in the first place. But I just lost yet another elastic last night.. the tangs must really be picking at them harshly, that one only lasted about 2 days. No idea where this one ended up, couldn't see it anywhere.

i fold the nori several times and clip it right in the middle so they cant take big junks. There isnt much nori floating around in the water so its not biggie to me. One thing i hate about it is when they poop. Then there is a bunch of nori all over the place for a bit. Ive been trying to feed before i go to work so then i dont have to deal with the poop nori because the filters pick it up.

Milad · #8 11-11-2010, 06:00 PM

here is a glimpse of my LMB tarzaning, hes a bit shy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMzwzClbTgE

Delphinus · #9 11-11-2010, 06:08 PM

Haha, those guys are hilarious. I had one that would put on a huge show of bravado anytime I cleaned the glass on the outside with a white cloth - he HATED that white cloth! He would chase it away the whole time.

Well I must say I'm sort of intrigued of just rolling it like a cigarette or something like that and letting them go berserk at the "stick" of nori. I'll have to try it and see how it goes. Used to be that it was too messy for my liking but maybe things will be different now.