mandarin

steve_karen · 11/01/2006, 10:00 PM

Other than pods, what have mandarins been known to eat on ocassion?

sir_dudeguy · 11/01/2006, 10:26 PM

if you're really really lucky, you'll be able to find one that will take stuff like mysis...but for the most part, they'll only take live pods, which is what makes them so difficult to keep. If you can get a way to maintain a very very high pod population (like a huge fuge w/lots of rock rubble) or some other means...then i spose they wouldnt really be hard to keep at all

but ya...just one "minor" setback for the manderins

2fishy · 11/01/2006, 11:15 PM

I don't know if this will help you out at all but here is a couple of articles at www.Melevsreef.com (a RC Staff member). The first one is about thinking about buying a mandarin the other is how he feeds them with pellet food. I think they are worth reading.

http://www.melevsreef.com/mandarin_care.html

http://www.melevsreef.com/mandarin_diner.html

ackerman · 11/01/2006, 11:24 PM

Mine will eat frozen brine shrimp if I spray it in his direction.

grouper25 · 11/02/2006, 08:37 AM

I made the mistake of buying one before my 220 was set-up,. Dumb. I now have him sitting in a breeder hung to the side of a QT tank. The only way to keep these guys healthy absent a huge 2 year growth of Pods is to isolate them by themselves(I have other fish in the QT) and feed them intensively with live brine shrimp. Mine is now fat and thriving. I should never have bought him, but since I did, I will not let him perish on my watch due to my negligence on the research side pre-purchase
.
John

2swift · 11/02/2006, 08:47 AM

We shopped around for a month looking for one that would eat brine shrimp and got even luckier that he eats blood worms.
Shop around and you can find them.

techreef · 11/02/2006, 09:32 AM

i love your sense of responsibility, grouper25. these fish were the reason that I got started in saltwater. i want one very badly, and it doesn't help that they have some of the nicest coloration and patterning among saltwater fish. i'm waiting 6 months for my 90G tank w/ 30G refugium to mature before I get a green mandarin.

2swift, that's a great pic of a greenie in your avatar. is it yours?

Nykademus · 11/02/2006, 10:00 AM

I have heard it reported that the spotted mandarin has been known to eat flatworms (red planaria).. not all of them.. but some.

Best thing to do is make sure it will eat other food than pods before you leave the store with it. Ask them to feed brine or mysis so you can see it eating.

grouper25 · 11/02/2006, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by techreef
i love your sense of responsibility, grouper25. these fish were the reason that I got started in saltwater. i want one very badly, and it doesn't help that they have some of the nicest coloration and patterning among saltwater fish. i'm waiting 6 months for my 90G tank w/ 30G refugium to mature before I get a green mandarin.

2swift, that's a great pic of a greenie in your avatar. is it yours?

Thanks,
it was my own pure ignorance, stupidity and haste which caused this problem. It would be unfair to this innocent creature to just let him starve. So, for now, he is eating like a KING and I get him fresh Brine every two days until such time that I can find suitable living quarters where I know and feel confident he will thrive.
Grouper25

Randall_James · 11/02/2006, 10:08 AM

The brine shrimp are not good nutrition for them unless they are in the napauli stage (yokes still attached) Mels Mandarin dinner works for him, you could try and train yours as well

2swift · 11/02/2006, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by techreef
i love your sense of responsibility, grouper25. these fish were the reason that I got started in saltwater. i want one very badly, and it doesn't help that they have some of the nicest coloration and patterning among saltwater fish. i'm waiting 6 months for my 90G tank w/ 30G refugium to mature before I get a green mandarin.

2swift, that's a great pic of a greenie in your avatar. is it yours?

Yes he is are pride and joy.
He spends his day hunting pods an gets very excited when it comes to feeding time. He's fat and that makes for a happy Mandarin!

techreef · 11/02/2006, 11:33 AM

grouper25's situation reminds me of my experience w/ keeping poison dart frogs. they are drop dead gorgeous, but driving 1/2 an hour each way to the one store that sold pinhead crickets, and then shaking the crickets in Reptivite vitamin powder got to be too much. had to give them away to another keeper.

sir_dudeguy · 11/02/2006, 01:42 PM

Quote:

and it doesn't help that they have some of the nicest coloration and patterning among saltwater fish

lol, that and they're only 14 bucks at my lfs

jimbo045 · 11/03/2006, 01:17 PM

Mine just seams to pick off the live rock. Must be traces of Flakes or Frozen Mysis Shrimp. JD

sir_dudeguy · 11/03/2006, 01:53 PM

not flake or mysis...pods. The pods are everywhere in the tank, so wherever the pods are, thats where the manderin will hunt for them.

11/01/2006, 10:00 PM	#1
steve_karen Registered Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: cincinnati, ohio Posts: 188	mandarin Other than pods, what have mandarins been known to eat on ocassion?

11/01/2006, 10:26 PM	#2
sir_dudeguy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 10,841	if you're really really lucky, you'll be able to find one that will take stuff like mysis...but for the most part, they'll only take live pods, which is what makes them so difficult to keep. If you can get a way to maintain a very very high pod population (like a huge fuge w/lots of rock rubble) or some other means...then i spose they wouldnt really be hard to keep at all but ya...just one "minor" setback for the manderins __________________ TAKE...LUCK!!!

11/01/2006, 11:15 PM	#3
2fishy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Rhinelander, WI Posts: 918	I don't know if this will help you out at all but here is a couple of articles at www.Melevsreef.com (a RC Staff member). The first one is about thinking about buying a mandarin the other is how he feeds them with pellet food. I think they are worth reading. http://www.melevsreef.com/mandarin_care.html http://www.melevsreef.com/mandarin_diner.html __________________ Carole Current Tank Info: 55 gal

11/01/2006, 11:24 PM	#4
ackerman Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Jamestown, ND Posts: 286	Mine will eat frozen brine shrimp if I spray it in his direction. __________________ Were? Current Tank Info: 180 reef, 55g sump, diy leds with cat 4101 drivers, vortech mp40w, RKL, diy calc reactor, super reef octo 5000 ext skimmer

11/02/2006, 08:37 AM	#5
grouper25 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: nj Posts: 523	I made the mistake of buying one before my 220 was set-up,. Dumb. I now have him sitting in a breeder hung to the side of a QT tank. The only way to keep these guys healthy absent a huge 2 year growth of Pods is to isolate them by themselves(I have other fish in the QT) and feed them intensively with live brine shrimp. Mine is now fat and thriving. I should never have bought him, but since I did, I will not let him perish on my watch due to my negligence on the research side pre-purchase . John __________________ Grouper25 Current Tank Info: 220 FOWLR, 75 Reef, 55 Exotix Zoas

11/02/2006, 08:47 AM	#6
2swift Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Ruskin,FLA Posts: 876	We shopped around for a month looking for one that would eat brine shrimp and got even luckier that he eats blood worms. Shop around and you can find them. __________________ Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Current Tank Info: 150g with twin FX4 canisters-Jebao 90Wave maker-2 AQUASKY Fluval Lights-AquaMaxx TS-2 Sulfur Denitrator

11/02/2006, 09:32 AM	#7
techreef Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Montclair, NJ Posts: 1,046	i love your sense of responsibility, grouper25. these fish were the reason that I got started in saltwater. i want one very badly, and it doesn't help that they have some of the nicest coloration and patterning among saltwater fish. i'm waiting 6 months for my 90G tank w/ 30G refugium to mature before I get a green mandarin. 2swift, that's a great pic of a greenie in your avatar. is it yours?

11/02/2006, 10:00 AM	#8
Nykademus Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: South Dakota Posts: 530	I have heard it reported that the spotted mandarin has been known to eat flatworms (red planaria).. not all of them.. but some. Best thing to do is make sure it will eat other food than pods before you leave the store with it. Ask them to feed brine or mysis so you can see it eating.

11/02/2006, 10:08 AM	#10
Randall_James Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 6,727	The brine shrimp are not good nutrition for them unless they are in the napauli stage (yokes still attached) Mels Mandarin dinner works for him, you could try and train yours as well __________________ "It's a dog eat dog world and I feel like I am wearing milkbone underwear"

11/02/2006, 11:33 AM	#12
techreef Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Montclair, NJ Posts: 1,046	grouper25's situation reminds me of my experience w/ keeping poison dart frogs. they are drop dead gorgeous, but driving 1/2 an hour each way to the one store that sold pinhead crickets, and then shaking the crickets in Reptivite vitamin powder got to be too much. had to give them away to another keeper.

11/03/2006, 01:17 PM	#14
jimbo045 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Aiea, HI. Posts: 1,788	Mine just seams to pick off the live rock. Must be traces of Flakes or Frozen Mysis Shrimp. JD

11/03/2006, 01:53 PM	#15
sir_dudeguy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 10,841	not flake or mysis...pods. The pods are everywhere in the tank, so wherever the pods are, thats where the manderin will hunt for them. __________________ TAKE...LUCK!!!