Another captive bred mandarin that won’t eat frozen foods

[ilovemarinetanks]

Our LFS has been getting in baby captive bred mandarins and we decided to pick one up that they said had been eating frozen food like a pig (we bought the food they said she had been eating.)


We didn’t know that the captive bred ones still have trouble eating frozen food sometimes. ‍ugh.

Well we’ve seen her pick at pellets and she ate three pe calanus but that’s all she’s eaten. (She got really excited when we put in mashed up LFS brand pellets and was swimming around like crazy, but she was mostly just sucking at the water although she did suck at a few pellets).

We ordered the pellets that biota recommends, and masstick and are going to be trying bloodworms today and cyclops if we can find them.

We also got the ova a few people have recommended and ordered pods.

Has anyone had success training these guys to eat frozen with live bbs mixed in with frozen and a bubbler?


We have a 60 gallon tank with her in a breeder box at the top. We’ve been trying to feed her 3-4 a day (probably more) as per biotas instructions with all powerheads off.

 

[littlefoxx]

If it were me I would just get them pods since thats their natural diet and dose them until the pod population is enough to naturally sustain their diet

 

[Jekyl]

Just keep at it and get pods going. These fish need to eat multiple times a day.

 

[BContos]

Our LFS has been getting in baby captive bred mandarins and we decided to pick one up that they said had been eating frozen food like a pig (we bought the food they said she had been eating.)


We didn’t know that the captive bred ones still have trouble eating frozen food sometimes. ‍ugh.

Well we’ve seen her pick at pellets and she ate three pe calanus but that’s all she’s eaten. (She got really excited when we put in mashed up LFS brand pellets and was swimming around like crazy, but she was mostly just sucking at the water although she did suck at a few pellets).

We ordered the pellets that biota recommends, and masstick and are going to be trying bloodworms today and cyclops if we can find them.

We also got the ova a few people have recommended and ordered pods.

Has anyone had success training these guys to eat frozen with live bbs mixed in with frozen and a bubbler?


We have a 60 gallon tank with her in a breeder box at the top. We’ve been trying to feed her 3-4 a day (probably more) as per biotas instructions with all powerheads off.

Any updates on what you were able to get her to eat?

 

[Biota_Marine]

Our LFS has been getting in baby captive bred mandarins and we decided to pick one up that they said had been eating frozen food like a pig (we bought the food they said she had been eating.)


We didn’t know that the captive bred ones still have trouble eating frozen food sometimes. ‍ugh.

Well we’ve seen her pick at pellets and she ate three pe calanus but that’s all she’s eaten. (She got really excited when we put in mashed up LFS brand pellets and was swimming around like crazy, but she was mostly just sucking at the water although she did suck at a few pellets).

We ordered the pellets that biota recommends, and masstick and are going to be trying bloodworms today and cyclops if we can find them.

We also got the ova a few people have recommended and ordered pods.

Has anyone had success training these guys to eat frozen with live bbs mixed in with frozen and a bubbler?


We have a 60 gallon tank with her in a breeder box at the top. We’ve been trying to feed her 3-4 a day (probably more) as per biotas instructions with all powerheads off.

If it's one of our mandarins they usually go after small pellets first in new environments. We also feed Hikari Baby brine often which they also go crazy for. We do recommend feeding small amounts multiple times a day to more naturally mimic thier feeding behaviors, we usually feed them 4-5 time daily.

 

[landlubber]

I understand a frozen diet is maybe the push stores use to sell Mandarins but to me it just feels a lot like a misleading sales ploy to push people to believe they can sustain one without the proper environment.
A year old, semi-established system that is at least 40 gallons is really what is needed, preferably with a refugium as these guys shred through pods if they're on their game.

 

[exnisstech]

I understand a frozen diet is maybe the push stores use to sell Mandarins but to me it just feels a lot like a misleading sales ploy to push people to believe they can sustain one without the proper environment.
A year old, semi-established system that is at least 40 gallons is really what is needed, preferably with a refugium as these guys shred through pods if they're on their game.

I agree. I would only place them in a tank that can sustain them naturally. If they eat frozen thats just a bonus IMO