Mandarin Dragonet?

[mitch303]

alright so today i purchased a mandarin. i know that there diet is copepods and i know how expensive it can get to keep buying them. i was not planning on adding a mandarin to my tank for this reason but i stoped in the fish store today that my best friend works at and they had one. I asked what he was eating and he said hes been eating frozen food such as cyclops,mysis,etc and he said that they have had him for almost 2 weeks and this mandarin is fat. so if he wasnt eating wouldnt he be pretty slim in 2 weeks of not eating?


so i fed the rest of my tank just a couple minutes ago with some frozen cyclops and he seemed to be picking of the rocks and i cant tell if he is eating food that fell on the rocks or something else. Do these fish ever grab food out of the water column or do they just pick off rocks and sand?

 

[ogiler]

They pick off from rocks and sand.

 

[mitch303]

so they dont eat food floating in the water? just off sand and rocks?

 

[frnkynlop]

Hey mitch,

As you know mandarins are very hard to keep. I've had one in my sytem for about 6months and I've never seen him eat any floating food even if right in front of his face. Try feeding spurilina brine they tend to get stuck on the rock and it will mimic there feeding habits. I've recently started feed frozen plankton as well and he goes nuts for it.

 

[snorvich]

They will eat food from the sand. BUT you are not going to maintain a mandarin by their eating food from the sand. If there is that much floating around, you are probably overfeeding. Mandarins cannot compete for food at all.

 

[mitch303]

i didnt say how much was floating around and i do not overfeed all the food i feed is gone within 3-5 minutes after i put it in and some does manage to make it to the bottom beforethe clowns can get to it. I do have a pack of frozen brine maybe i will try some in the morning. yea i do know how hard they are i wasnt even going to get one but my friend told me they had one at the fish store he works at that is eating frozen so that is the only reason i got him he is very fat not skinny at all and i trust my friend to tll me the truth about him eating frozen foods. He has been pecking at the rocks and sand maybe hes grabing some of the cyclops or maybe copepods idk.

 

[Renton777]

I wish you success with the mandarin, I very much enjoy mine. I have a refugium that is a pod factory. The issue with feeding frozen is that these guys eat a little bit at a time all day. So and hour after you feed the tank there if very likely not going to be any frozen food left on the sand. Google "Mandarin Dinner", this may provide a dedicated feeding ground for the mandarin. Good Luck!

 

[mitch303]

I will check that out thanks. could I also try spot feeding him?

 

[mitch303]

I will check that out thanks. could I also try spot feeding him?

 

[snorvich]

I will check that out thanks. could I also try spot feeding him?

Assuming they eat frozen, do so 3-4 times daily minimum.

 

[Lynnmw1208]

I will check that out thanks. could I also try spot feeding him?

yep. I spot feed mine with a sea squirt and she knows what it is. We feed in her hole she knows where other fish can't go. Mine seems to be a bit more feisty than others though as she will grab from the water column.

 

[mitch303]

alright thanks for all the info.