Madarin QT

[FishinAround]

How do you feed a mandarin in QT? Do you need to get copepods out of the main tank and then feed to him in QT or just try to train him to eat frozen food? I try to QT for at least 4 weeks so I don't want him to starve during that time.

 

[Bmgrocks]

i don't really think QT is absolutely necessaiy, especially because they thrive on Live Food

If your qt'ing for ick, you don't need 2, they have a very thick slime coat, that makes them almost immune to it..

I wouldn't risk the long term health, starvation that could result of a month long qt.

Nor do i think he would release anything into your main tank.

 

[fatdaddy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9862847#post9862847 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bmgrocks
i don't really think QT is absolutely necessaiy, especially because they thrive on Live Food

Okay, I'll bite. What does live food have anything to do with QT'ing or not? I'd always QT for a number of reasons including stress, disease, and acclimation.

 

[sbwood007]

I am gonna tag along.....

 

[fatdaddy]

Re: Madarin QT

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9862789#post9862789 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FishinAround
How do you feed a mandarin in QT? Do you need to get copepods out of the main tank and then feed to him in QT or just try to train him to eat frozen food? I try to QT for at least 4 weeks so I don't want him to starve during that time.

How big is your main tank? How much live rock? I hear you need about 100#'s to keep a Mandarin healthy. If not, you should set up a fug.

Pulling copepods out of the main tank sounds like a great idea. I'd just be careful to not to mix waters (double dipping nets, etc).

This is a good time to test out various foods to see what it'll eat. I've gotten mine to eat brine shrimp, freeze dried plankton, caplin roe, etc. I've heard it's possible to get them to eat flake and pellets, but I haven't gotten the chance to try because my pseudochromis and damsels beat him to it in the main tank.

The nice thing about caplin roe is that fish go nuts and eat in a frenzy, but a lot also settles on the bottom that my mandarin picks up. Just be careful to not overfeed or you'll end up with red slime. (Yes, been there; done that.)

 

[FishinAround]

I've got a 120g reef with at least 150# of live rock along with a fug full of cheato so I'm pretty sure I can keep him alive once in the main tank, just don't want him to die before he gets the chance to get in the main tank. I'll start by pulling some pods out of the main tank and then working with some other foods to see if he'll go for them.