Feeding a Mandarin

[Tankjunkie0481]

Does anyone now of anything a Mandarin will eat besides copepods? I've had to restock my pods on a much more frequent basis recently and i'm kinda worried about maintaining a large enough population to keep this guy healthy. Im really just wondering if there is anything else they will eat just to make sure my mandarin is getting enough to eat. Any advice is very much appreciated.

 

[Mr.Kook]

I got mine eating artic pods they are pods but not live. And it also eats marine cuisine cubes. I just turn off all the pumps so the food floats and moves slow.

 

[EllieSuz]

I have never known a Mandarin to turn down Nutramar Ova. In order to feed it often enough to sustain the fish, however, you would have to feed it multiple time a day. If you're just using it to supplement the pod population, it might help. How large is your tank, how long as it been set up, do you have a sump, do any of your other fish compete for the pods? All those questions will help us to determine your best course of action.

 

[Tankjunkie0481]

Its a 28 gallon JBJ Nano. Its been set up for about two and half months. No sump yet. Current fish in the tank are: 1 Yellow headed Sleeper goby, 2 false percs, 2 firefish gobies, and 3 blue/green chromis. I originally decided to go ahead and get the mandarin b/c my pod population was very healthy but recently I have noticed a major decline in the number of pods I see.

 

[Maxi]

Although common, mandarins are tough to take care of.
I like to think of them as the babies of the ocean.

 

[EllieSuz]

You have more fish in your Nano than I have in my 60 gallon tank. Although I don't see any fish that will compete for pods, I'm afraid your Mandarin's fate is sealed. They just don't survive long term in such a small tank without constant supplemental feeding. The pods they eat are not really visible to the naked human eye. There will be opinions to the contrary from others, but I'm talking about long term success. Try the Nutramar Ova (prawn roe), if it's available in your area. If you can isolate the Ova in a device that keeps other fish away from them, try that. I've read that you can teach a Mandarin to go into an empty baby food jar placed on its side, for instance, so you could put the roe in that. I recently rescued a thin baby Green Mandarin from a local store and although I have plenty of pods that reproduce in my sump, I give him roe and brine shrimp twice a day. He has learned to head for a back corner in my tank while the other fish are eating elsewhere and he gets several minutes to chow down without interference, so I know they can learn different feeding behaviors. By the way, he is growing in length and that sunken look to his belly is completely gone. In addition, the other thing you could do is make up an area in your tank where the pods can reproduce safely like a little pile of rock rubble. One more thing, it's very easy to make a feeder tube that will direct frozen foods where you want it. Take a syringe of the kind that administers medicine to infants and available at any drug store. Attach a length of rigid airline tubing to it with a short piece of soft tubing. I also put a 1/2 inch piece of soft tube on the other end. Here's a picture:

I'd love to see your little guy survive, but it's going to take some real dedication on your part.

 

[snorvich]

+1 with above. The vast majority of people do not expend the effort for this fish to be successful in this sized tank.

 

[snorvich]

Its a 28 gallon JBJ Nano. Its been set up for about two and half months. No sump yet. Current fish in the tank are: 1 Yellow headed Sleeper goby, 2 false percs, 2 firefish gobies, and 3 blue/green chromis. I originally decided to go ahead and get the mandarin b/c my pod population was very healthy but recently I have noticed a major decline in the number of pods I see.

Unfortunately that is way overstocked.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Its a 28 gallon JBJ Nano. ... I originally decided to go ahead and get the mandarin b/c my pod population was very healthy but recently I have noticed a major decline in the number of pods I see.

I seldom post on Mandarin threads, but I'll take a risk. I'll bet that the reason you don't many see pods now is because the mandarin (and other fish) ate them

A more serious comment: IMO, if you don't slow down and do some serious reading and research; you won't be enjoying this great hobby for long. Your present stock list , in a very small tank, is a disaster waiting to happen. I don't mean this to sound nasty; I'd just like to see you stick around. This is a lifelong hobby that requires a lot of learning, planning, and patience.

 

[alton]

My two eat PE Mysis, mini mysis, and Spiralina Brine.

 

[Ryand63]

Been thinking about doing one in my 29...best thing I've seen by far thanks to other RC members..http://www.melevsreef.com/mandarin_diner.html

 

[postshawn]

My green spotted mandarin loves Ocean Nutrition Formula One Frozen Food. I cut the cube to little chunks and it snaps a the chunk as it falls. The problem I have is the other fish (angel and clown) will eat anything but when they see that one falling they stop everything and go get it. So I do the turkey baster method sometimes.

 

[erock68]

I'm thinking that, down the line, I would really like to keep a Mandarin. I fully understand their needs and upkeep, and was wondering, will this idea work:

I want to get a smaller (5-10 gal) tank, and keep it stocked, with copepods. Just a no-nonsense tank, a hood w/light, a simple hang on filter and an air pump going to the tank for some sort of circulation. One of those "all inclusive" cheap ones, from the lfs.

This way, I can keep my Copepod/phytoplankton supply seperate & (restock when needed), from the main tank and feed when needed?

 

[Tankjunkie0481]

Thanks for all the information and ideas everyone. After talking to my lfs I think the chromis are going back to the store since tehy seem to be the most likely to be eating pods.(according to the owner). Probably will up my pod restocking to twice a week instead of once until I can get the population back up. Using a a baby food jar is an awesome idea and I will definatley start doing that today. I turned off my pumps and spot fed mysis today and the Mandarin ate alot of them so i'm also going to be doing that as well. Thanks again for all the info and opinions.

 

[sponger0]

Feeding a mandarin = Enough pods in the tank

 

[reeferstace]

From our very own Sk8r


"Can I keep a mandarin or scooter?
Posted 03/03/2012 at 09:44 AM by Sk8r
A mandy should be making a successful 'kill' of a pod every 5 seconds to remain healthy. Keeping one in a well-established 50 with 50 lbs of holey rock, and a mature, year-old 20 gallon fuge with another 20 lbs of rock is very marginal. If you meet those conditions and there is no competition for pods, you can do it with caution.

To run the math, there are 86400 seconds in 24 hours...and given 12 hours of dark when it is not eating (it actually eats before the lights come on...that is 43200 seconds of daylight, divided by 5 (every five seconds)---meaning that a mandy eats about 8640 pods a day, or 720 an hour. Two thousand pods, if fed to it in the required concentration, will be eaten in less than 3 hours. If you have a pair---do the math. You need at least 100 gallons supported by a very large, strong fuge with cheato and live rock.

 

[sponger0]

These alternative methods to feed mandarin majority of the time provide minimum amount of food. Youre best bet and guarantee it will THRIVE is a pod loaded tank

 

[Paul B]

To answer your original question there are alternative ways to feed a mandarin but of course the best way is to have enough pods in the tank. MY reef is old and there are plenty of pods but I aquired a very skinny mandarin so I built this feeder that I fill with new born brine shrimp every day. It keeps the shrimp contained and the mandarin sucks them out. There is a thread about it on here called "Feeding stations"
I have a pair of mandarins, a scooter bleens, a small pipefish and some clown gobies that all live on pods but they also love the feeder.
Here is a couple of video's of the thing




And a picture of the other fish eating from it.

 

[sponger0]

Paul, as I dont doubt your feeder working, but mandarin dont always take the prepared foods. Thats the biggest problem within it itself

 

[Paul B]

New born "living" baby brine shrimp are not prepared foods. They look and act like pods and are more nutritious because they have a yoke sack. I would never feed a mandarin prepared foods like pellets although some of them will eat it.