Mandarinfish feeding question.

[olonmv]

I’ll pump da breaks on the prazipro. Got a bottle of reef nutrition tigger pods. LFS recommended small daily feedings seeing that the mandarin is constantly hunting and eating pods in my tank. But I’ve read that you dump half in sump (I have an evo 13.5, camber 2 houses my foam and bio filter is where I put it?) and half in display. Which is right? Any recommendations?

 

[olonmv]

He for sure likes the tigger pods. And he was steadily hunting when I got home.

 

[blaxsun]

He for sure likes the tigger pods. And he was steadily hunting when I got home.

Tigger pods are always a huge hit. I have a pair of Mandarins that eat anything. The larger male pretty much ate everything right out of the bag, but the female took a bit of coaxing (and probably followed the example the male set) to get her to eat frozen. The male will occasionally even eat flakes and pellets.

I've had great success feeding my Mandarins Calanus and Nutramar. Mix about a half cube of each in a small container, let thaw in the fridge and then mix with some RO or tank water and hand feed with a pipette or feeder. We also add a drop of Garlic Guard.

Other frozen foods that have been immensely popular: brine shrimp, bloodworms (like spaghetti, slurp!), R.O.E. (popcorn for fish!) and the ever popular mysis. The Mandarins still hunt near 24x7, but when it's feeding time they're focused on whatever the other hyenas in the tank miss and let float down to the bottom.

 

[olonmv]

Tigger pods are always a huge hit. I have a pair of Mandarins that eat anything. The larger male pretty much ate everything right out of the bag, but the female took a bit of coaxing (and probably followed the example the male set) to get her to eat frozen. The male will occasionally even eat flakes and pellets.

I've had great success feeding my Mandarins Calanus and Nutramar. Mix about a half cube of each in a small container, let thaw in the fridge and then mix with some RO or tank water and hand feed with a pipette or feeder. We also add a drop of Garlic Guard.

Other frozen foods that have been immensely popular: brine shrimp, bloodworms (like spaghetti, slurp!), R.O.E. (popcorn for fish!) and the ever popular mysis. The Mandarins still hunt near 24x7, but when it's feeding time they're focused on whatever the other hyenas in the tank miss and let float down to the bottom.

I’m just hoping to get this guy past his deathbed lol. But yes, the tigger pods definitely made him happier. I’m going to try mysis at feeding time tonight. I definitely feel better having plans to fall back on as far as feeding him and fattening him up.

 

[blaxsun]

They prefer brine and calanus, as they’re smaller.

 

[olonmv]

They prefer brine and calanus, as they’re smaller.

This is what I’ve been told and gonna follow Paul B’s feeder diy.

 

[olonmv]

Ok guys, I’ve watched a few culturing videos on baby brine n pods. Gonna culture baby shrimp as they’re the quickest. I’ll culture pods in the meantime. The Paul b feeder looks super simple. Thank you all for your input. The mandarin is steadily hunting and eating. He is very active.

 

[boacvh]

FWIW this is what I use for mine. Very simple and easy to get them plenty of BBS. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brine-shrimp-hatchery-eggs-bundle-bulk-reef-supply.html

Build a Paul B feeder and you are set.
Mine love frozen bloodworms too. Try those, can't hurt.

 

[reefinatl]

I was in the market for a mandarin for a long time and every time I'd look in a fish store I'd check out their mandarins but nearly 100% of the time those fish are malnourished and on a path to dying which is why the LFS charge so much for them (to replace the expense of dead livestock). I ended up buying a captive-bred mandarin (for much more money) but it's 100% healthy from day 1 and will live a full lifespan since it's sold at a younger age than most wild caught.

Should always opt to buy CB over WC when available for many reasons.

 

[olonmv]

FWIW this is what I use for mine. Very simple and easy to get them plenty of BBS. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brine-shrimp-hatchery-eggs-bundle-bulk-reef-supply.html

Build a Paul B feeder and you are set.
Mine love frozen bloodworms too. Try those, can't hurt.

I’m gonna make a feeder tomorrow and gather all the supplies needed to culture brine. I’m gonna try my best to fatten him up. I’m on a mission now! I seen several diy videos for making hatcheries. Seems simply enough. Thanks for the input!!!

 

[olonmv]

Should always opt to buy CB over WC when available for many reasons.

I’m realizing that now but, I’m in the deep and gonna give it my best to get him plump. I really honestly thought I asked all the right questions before purchasing. Apparently not. I’m not the giving up type so hopefully my tenacity prevails.

 

[blaxsun]

I’m realizing that now but, I’m in the deep and gonna give it my best to get him plump. I really honestly thought I asked all the right questions before purchasing. Apparently not. I’m not the giving up type so hopefully my tenacity prevails.

There can be a lot of misconceptions with the dragonets. For example, the mandarin dragonets will kill the ruby red or scooter dragonets. And you can have a pair - one just needs to be a female (otherwise they’ll kill each other; no LGBTQ in the fish kingdom!)

The mandarins also have an icky slime coating and poisonous dorsal spine (don’t pick them up!) which is why other fish leave them alone (they stink and they sting).

Another thing. It’s typically recommended that these only go in a 100-gallon tank or larger, yet they don’t grow very big so most LFS will sell them to people with much smaller tanks. It doesn’t have anything to do with the size of the fish - it’s how much live rock your tank has. You need about 60-80lbs to support a large enough copepod population that the mandarin won’t quickly hunt to extinction or drive into hiding with their near 24/7 hunting regiment.

Even the captive-bred mandarines won’t necessarily eat pellets or frozen food, and conversely the wild mandarines can learn to eat frozen over copepods.

 

[olonmv]

There can be a lot of misconceptions with the dragonets. For example, the mandarin dragonets will kill the ruby red or scooter dragonets. And you can have a pair - one just needs to be a female (otherwise they’ll kill each other; no LGBTQ in the fish kingdom!)

The mandarins also have an icky slime coating and poisonous dorsal spine (don’t pick them up!) which is why other fish leave them alone (they stink and they sting).

Another thing. It’s typically recommended that these only go in a 100-gallon tank or larger, yet they don’t grow very big so most LFS will sell them to people with much smaller tanks. It doesn’t have anything to do with the size of the fish - it’s how much live rock your tank has. You need about 60-80lbs to support a large enough copepod population that the mandarin won’t quickly hunt to extinction or drive into hiding with their near 24/7 hunting regiment.

Even the captive-bred mandarines won’t necessarily eat pellets or frozen food, and conversely the wild mandarines can learn to eat frozen over copepods.

I’m gonna give it my best effort to not only pull him through BUT get him healthy. In conjunction with the brine, I wanna get pods cultivated as to add them into my tank periodically. I bought a bottle of tigger pods today but at $29 bucks for a round about 6-10 day supply just isn’t economical.

I swear that I seen this guy eat at the LFS I got him. I’m hell bent on getting him right!

 

[reefinatl]

I’m realizing that now but, I’m in the deep and gonna give it my best to get him plump. I really honestly thought I asked all the right questions before purchasing. Apparently not. I’m not the giving up type so hopefully my tenacity prevails.

You are doing everything you can to save the little guy. They are really cool fish. Best of luck but next time go CB if it's available even for damsels and easier fish. It's the future and needs support.

 

[olonmv]

Update, he’s eating BBS!!!!!

 

[lake985]

Update, he’s eating BBS!!!!! View attachment 2256473

That's terrific...you're on your way!

A fellow R2R member, @hollback, sells pods at very reasonable prices. I've bought from him twice already and my mandarin goes absolutely nuts.

 

[olonmv]

That's terrific...you're on your way!

A fellow R2R member, @hollback, sells pods at very reasonable prices. I've bought from him twice already and my mandarin goes absolutely nuts.

Tried my hand at BBS hatching with success....next stop. Pod raising.

 

[olonmv]

I’m happy to announce that my mandarin is eating frozen brine AND pe mysyis shrimp. He will actively chase the food while I broadcast feed and when everyone has eaten I’ll cut flow and serve him his ow stash. He eats twice a day and hunts in between.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Prazi is a bad idea until it's fattened up. One of the side effects is decreased food intake.

 

[olonmv]

Here’s a quick update on the little fella. He ate BBS for a couple-few days and then on his own started chasing the frozen mysis and brine. He’s been weened off the BBS for a few weeks now and eats like a pig. Thanks for all the help and feeding ideas!