Mandarin fish help
- Thread starter Peach02
- Start date
From what I understand brine shrimp are not as nutritious. Also missing a compound that marine fish need (DH something I think) If you do want to feed brine you should feed newly hatched. First day or 2 after hatching. They are super super easy to hatch and u can buy the eggs on Amazon. Equipment is just 2 soda bottles and and a air pump. I have hatched a few batches and will continue on occasion but I'm mainly doing pods. Also pretty easy =) Let me know if u want more info on any of it. Happy to help!
OP
OP
ill update on my build thread https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/peach02’s-33g-reef.572548/
That's not true. I've had mandarins for years. A home aquarium will never have enough pods to fully sustain a mandarin.
I feed them nutrimar ova (shrimp eggs), then move them onto mysis. Then they'll pretty much eat any frozen stuff that fits in their mouth. I had one that used to eat flake food too.
Main thing is initially giving them a lot of attention with spot feeding small food and moving them onto larger, more meaty foods over time. Then I just feed them once a day with the rest of the fish, no spot feeding. They're only tough because people don't know how to care for them or they're not willing to do what's required.
I have a target mandarin living in a 10g. Got her as a minnow. She's about 8 years old now. I have to shoo her away from my corals when I feed them because she is a pig. She eats everything.
My 2¢
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They like to eat, so they actively go after floating/sinking food once they realize all the stuff that's been hitting them in the head is actually food.
OP
OP
ok great! thank you, love the way you worded "once they realize all the stuff that's been hitting them in the head is actually food"
Newly hatched brine are an excellent source of protein .... Adult Frozen brine are not the best source of nutrition ... I soak Frozen brine in Amin-Omega . Kind of like selcon . ..
Although brine shrimp are not the best source of nutrition ...some days getting the kids to eat a Happy meal it's better than nothing ...
I always shut off all flow in the tank feed my other fish Omega One Mini pellets ... Kind of let them fill their bellies first . Then I would spot feed my Mandarin cyclops baby brine shrimp Frozen brine shrimp soaked in Brightwell's AminŌmega. he would almost bottle feed from a long tube connected to a syringe ... After 8 months he's finally starting to take omega One Mini pellets from the Sand ... When the Mandarin slows down eating ( takes an honest 5 or 6 minutes ) I turn one wave pump on low.... my firefish likes chasing down the last of the brine shrimp ... I give him a minute or two before I turn all the pumps back on ..
The entire tank loves a treat of freshly hatched live brine shrimp ...
Look into the Poseidon reef system for growing pods and phytoplankton. I have a mandarin in a 93 gallon reef system. You will have new pods every 7 to 10 days and if a culture crashes Poseidon Reef systems replace quickly.
Get a bigger tank. With refugium.
OP
OP
unfortunately it starved after I added a second that it had previously paired with at the LFS (couldn't catch it initially it was in a frag tank)
I had copods everywhere in the tank and refugium. After adding the mandarin the population went down to a point that I no longer saw just a few. Took about 8 to 10 weeks. Then started buying pods. To expensive. So I now grow my own.
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