mandarin fish feeding questions

[RAJOD]

When picking up some fish at my LFS they talked me into a madrian. Found out they are picky eaters. Was going to return it but decided to see if I could keep it.

I purchased a few items.
1. Tigger Pods
2. Phyto feast
3. Julians thing - Really helps in a deep tank. I can get down 40 inches and spot feed.

Its been around a month and he seems to be eating ok.

 

[snorvich]

When picking up some fish at my LFS they talked me into a madrian. Found out they are picky eaters. Was going to return it but decided to see if I could keep it.

I purchased a few items.
1. Tigger Pods
2. Phyto feast
3. Julians thing - Really helps in a deep tank. I can get down 40 inches and spot feed.

Its been around a month and he seems to be eating ok.

Success with a mandarin is one year.

 

[arnoldrew]

Success with a mandarin is one year.

I was going to say...some fish can last for more than a month without eating at all.

 

[reefgoddess808]

I have had mine for about 8 months, he eats frozen twice a day and sometimes pellets. Mostly he pecks at the rocks and glass all day. I add a pod mix every few months. reefs2go.com sells the mix of amphipods/copepods and sometimes has 1000 bogo on sale for $25 free shipping. Cant beat it and my other fish enjoy chasing down the larger amphipods as a nice snack. Also they act as part of my CUC. I just accepted that having a mandarin meant keeping a good stock of pods so I commit to buying them. Good luck!

 

[lhscouchmonster]

I have had mine for about 8 months, he eats frozen twice a day and sometimes pellets.

how do you feed him the frozen? i try to squirt some near the mandarin but before i can get anywhere close, he swims away afraid. If i feed the entire tank, i doubt hes going to get any.

i tried the olive jar a few times and he doesnt go in it. i made a little contraption similar to "julians thing" but he swims away as soon as its anywhere remotely close.

i know he eats mysis because i watched him eat a bunch at the LFS before i bought him. the tank section he was in there was about a liter big so when they squirted in the mysis, he was forced to hang around near it.

 

[EllieSuz]

I have a homemade feeding tube I use to feed Nutramar Ova in the morning and Hikari enriched brine shrimp in the evening. The tube is easy to make and I also use it to target feed certain corals and direct food to fish that lose out to more aggressive fish. Here's a picture of the tube:



A syringe like this can be purchased in any drug store or pharmacy department. It's the type used to give meds to infants. The syringe is attached to the rigid airline tube with a piece of soft airline tubing.

Here's the other end:



I suspend powerhead flow during feeding and always feed in the same back corner of the tank. The Mandarin hotfoots it to the right spot and grabs the food as it exits the tube.

 

[BlueFyre]

I have had my mandarin for 10 months and my red scooter for over a year. They were pretty easy to get onto prepared food. The mandarin eats frozen and crushed up flakes and the scooter eats everything including pellets. I'm a pretty heavy feeder. I mix up some food in the evening, turn off the pumps and slowly feed the mixture. My dragonets have no trouble getting their share. Both have gained a lot of weight from when I got them. At first I spot fed them both but eventually I didn't have to. They are neat fish.

 

[lhscouchmonster]

A syringe like this can be purchased in any drug store or pharmacy department. It's the type used to give meds to infants. The syringe is attached to the rigid airline tube with a piece of soft airline tubing.

I actually made the same thing. im having trouble getting the mandarin to come over to the mysis to even realize they are there. Every time i put the syringe device in the water, the mandarin swims away from it.

i will try just adding in a bunch of mysis into the same corner for a few days and see if he makes his way over.

 

[lhscouchmonster]

I have had my mandarin for 10 months and my red scooter for over a year. They were pretty easy to get onto prepared food. The mandarin eats frozen and crushed up flakes and the scooter eats everything including pellets. I'm a pretty heavy feeder. I mix up some food in the evening, turn off the pumps and slowly feed the mixture. My dragonets have no trouble getting their share. Both have gained a lot of weight from when I got them. At first I spot fed them both but eventually I didn't have to. They are neat fish.

how were you able to spot feed? mine swims away when he sees my hand or syringe in there.

 

[GatorsUF]

My mandarin will only eat hikari frozen blood worms. He won't even touch any other frozen foods I've tried. I had him in a 30 gallon for 2 years and just upgraded to a 90. He is fat and healthy

 

[Irishdolphin]

Tagging along and really hoping somebody will answer the question of what to do when the mandarin swims away from rather than towards the syringe

 

[BlueFyre]

how were you able to spot feed? mine swims away when he sees my hand or syringe in there.

I just use a pipette and squirt it above him. It then falls down on him. Either that or squirt it into a place I know he's hiding. It doesn't take long for them to catch on.

 

[GatorsUF]

Julian's thing works wonders for spot feeding