Mandarin fish help

[Peach02]

In regards to food, I am personally a fan of LRS reef frenzy. It has a ton of ingredients and good nutritional value. I thaw mine to tank temp in a little bit of tank water, and turn my pumps off for 10 minutes as I feed.

Being sure the food is thawed and letting it disperse as small pieces around the tank might help you out overall. My fish and inverts love the stuff.

That being said, you probably will have the most success with some pods.

Can you get the frenzy from LFS? Or if it’s online do they ship to australia

 

[Hemmdog]

Roughy how much live rock?

35lbs in a 32gal. Reduced it to 20 when I transferred the mandarin to my bigger system.

 

[ccombs]

Can you get the frenzy from LFS? Or if it’s online do they ship to australia

I have seen it at LFS, not sure if it is in Australia, though.

 

[Peach02]

35lbs in a 32gal. Reduced it to 20 when I transferred the mandarin to my bigger system.

Cool I have about the same (converting to KG is weird sometimes)

 

[ccombs]

Cool I have about the same (converting to KG is weird sometimes)

 

[Peach02]

so yesterday I got a mandarin fish about 1.5 inches and chubby
My question is how do I tell if he is eating and if he isn’t how can I encourage him to
When I put him in yesterday he swam and sat on my clam then perched on a rock, moved into a cave and has barely come out since, he is breathing and moving every now and then but mostly watching the other fish by the looks of it
I’ve put tons of frozen pods and brine shrimp in but I haven’t seen him eat and it’s hard to tell with him in the cave
I tried to catch up to put him in a isolation tank to try get him to eat but I couldnt catch him
Only other fish are
2 clowns
Coral beauty
2 fire fish
Bicolour blenny
33 gallon tank
16kg of rock View attachment 1025265View attachment 1025266 View attachment 1025268View attachment 1025272 View attachment 1025273

Okay so I got him eating but now he is seemingly obsessed with his reflection, he is never going further than a inch from the glass and trying to swim with his reflection cheek to cheek does anyone know what this could mean? I plan on getting a female on Thursday but I’m not sure if we will be able to catch her. Anyone got advice? Kinda worried the fish is depressed if that’s a thing

@ccombs @Hemmdog
@chascornell

 

[Scurvy]

Mandarins chasing their reflection is pretty normal. Mine spends a couple of hours each day doing the same.

While you may have luck keeping one mandarin happy in a 33g tank I think two is a bad idea. Theres simply not enough rock to support the copepod population they’ll require unless you’re adding pods almost constantly. Pods will always be their primary food source.

 

[Wolf89]

Mine eats frozen mysis. I had him in a 32 biocube for a year with zero issues, he was very fat and happy. Now he’s even happier in my 90g that has a fuge, still fat happy and vibrant. As long as you aren’t under feeding your fish, he should learn to eat the leftovers fairly quickly, mine did at least.
View attachment 1025305
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Mine is eating frozen mysis too. I am feeding him 3-5 times a day, but I'm worried this is not enough. How often do you feed?

 

[RIreefGuy]

If you can get your hands on some phyto and pods, breeding them is pretty easy. I use a 1 gallon container with a piece of rigid airline tubing. Bubble slowly. Add some phyto every couple of days when the green tint goes away. My mandarin eats frozen but I still supplement with pods. She is a porker lol

 

[calvertc425]

what exactly have you got him eating im just wondering?

 

[Hemmdog]

Mine is eating frozen mysis too. I am feeding him 3-5 times a day, but I'm worried this is not enough. How often do you feed?

I do 3 times,so that sounds good.

 

[Peach02]

what exactly have you got him eating im just wondering?

He was eating pods and I think he ate a bryne shrimp or two

 

[RIreefGuy]

what exactly have you got him eating im just wondering?

Mine eats mysis and marine cuisine

 

[Kal93]

Watch his weight. If he stays plump, he is eating. If you see him lose weight, purchase some pods. I also recommend starting an external pod culture. They don't eat 1000's of pods per a day, but they will clean your tank within a few months.

 

[calvertc425]

Ive got my male and female spotted mandarins eating a variety of frozen mysis frozen brine frozen bloodworms and frozen fish eggs myself

 

[BryanD]

Get some live Pods, either at LFS or online, and hope he eventually takes frozen mysis.

 

[Peach02]

Get some live Pods, either at LFS or online, and hope he eventually takes frozen mysis.

He’s eating pods now but why mysis?

 

[RIreefGuy]

They are frozen shrimp. They should be available in most LFS in a freezer. Here is a link to what they look like:

https://www.marinedepot.com/San_Fra...FfeTB13Ue_svcn3dys6G8FsjaNiMovEEaAhtrEALw_wcB

 

[Mariette]

I’d return him I’ve got a 55 gallon tank and I’ve been trying to get enough of a pod population to feed one of these guys for 2 years. Never got anywhere close. These guys eat constantly all day long. You’ll been a much larger established tank to feed this guy long term.

 

[Jon Fishman]

Do you think Byrne would work?

https://imgur.com/gallery/2kyhi2O

I'm getting hungry thinking about it