Mandarin in need of help...

[insanefishguy]

Anyone have success at fattening up a mandarin? I took a mandarin from someone today that was watching it die of starvation. I have a lot of pods in my refugium, but I already put one mandarin in my reef (ironically it was given to me by my lfs because it was sunken in and starving as well) and I know I dont have enough pods in the tank to support two mandarins. Heck I am worried that I cant support the one I have. I didnt want to take on either of these fish, since I know they mow through pods like mad, but when the first one rolled around, I had a very large population of copepods in my reef. She is doing well now and I can still find pods running around the tank during the day, so she is not an immediate concern, but the male is needing food asap.

I had a 5 1/2 gallon tank up and running to quaratine a couple chromis, so I put it in there. The tank is cycled, but there are not many visible pods. Since I have so many in my refugium, I pulled a bunch of handfuls of chaeto and tossed them in there to give him something to start with. My hope in putting him in this small tank was that I could monitor him better and there would be less room for the pods to run from him.

I had a scooter blenny for years that I managed to get to start eating frozen mysids and then new life spectrum pellets. This guy wont take anything.



On a side note, if anyone has a very large system with a lot of rock, one of them is a male and the other is a female. The male is the most orange I have ever seen a psychedelic mandarin.

 

[coralnut99]

You're a bit too far for me to be of help, but a thought would be to see if you can get some chaeto from a fellow reefer that lives near you. If you can get it nice and fresh right out of their system and put it in the Q tank he's living in now, that should add more pods than you might think.

 

[insanefishguy]

WEll like I said my chaeto is teeming with copepods and I am going to keep switching out the ball in my refugium, but I fear that I am going to lose all my pods in the process. I sure wish there was someone out there with a bigger system who could take this guy. He really is a beautiful fish.

 

[tanks2u]

what about just buying cultures of pods?

 

[coralnut99]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10998741#post10998741 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tanks2u
what about just buying cultures of pods?

That's kind of what I was suggesting in getting chaeto from other reefers, so that your own supply wouldn't be exhausted / depleted, until you find a permanent solution.

 

[insanefishguy]

I have been looking into that, too, but they are so damn expensive! Its my own fault for taking this thing in I guess, but I couldnt let the girl kill the thing. The worst part is is that we told her her take could never sustain one and my friend doesnt get them in unless someonme with a large system special orders it, so she went down to allentown to get the damn thing.

 

[rigleautomotive]

joe i can put him in my big reef if you want.you will never get him out though.its old and mature with out any obvious copepod eaters.

 

[Just Jim]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11000902#post11000902 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rigleautomotive
joe i can put him in my big reef if you want.you will never get him out though.its old and mature with out any obvious copepod eaters.

try to get some frozen bloodworms. I always used that to get mandarins and leopard wrasses to eat..

 

[insanefishguy]

That is the first time I have heard of anyone using bloodworms. I am going to have to get some to try it just for an experiment, but Dan if you dont mind taking him, hes yours. I was never looking to keep the guy, just didnt want to see him die. I don't know if I will be able to get bloodworms before I make it up your way before sunday. I dont know of anyone around here that is open at night that sells frozen foods. I know my friend Dan has them down at Jim Thorpe Pet Center but he is only open til 4 on Saturdays. I may jusst have to use my key and go get some anyway.

 

[insanefishguy]

Jim, how did you get the bloodworms to them? Just defrost and pour in the tank or using a turkey baster or syringe? I rigged up a syringe iwth a piece of rigid tubing for target feedings. He doesnt run from it, but he just sits there as I puff the brine and mysids his way. Do you have a different method?

 

[Just Jim]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11009674#post11009674 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by insanefishguy
Jim, how did you get the bloodworms to them? Just defrost and pour in the tank or using a turkey baster or syringe? I rigged up a syringe iwth a piece of rigid tubing for target feedings. He doesnt run from it, but he just sits there as I puff the brine and mysids his way. Do you have a different method?

I used to feed my tank with a mixture of bloodworms/mysis. I'd just dump in a tiny cup of it. The mandarins suck it into their mouths like a noodle. Heck, you can even buy bloodworms at Petco (not that I would)...

 

[chuckydaphish]

I use black worms to feed allot of my finiky fish. I dont know if it will work for a manderin however its woth a shot and I would black worms have saved about 20 fish for me in the last two months alone

 

[chuckydaphish]

say I ment to say say between would and and and and black yeh ok oooooppppsss. Hope that help later

 

[Bonebrake]

I'm in Danville and I have a 90 gal. display and 100 gal. refugium and the whole system has 150 lbs. of live rock. I would be willing to give him a home if the feedings and takers fall through.

 

[Sk8r]

Mine learned to eat mysis by following my [temporary] purple tang: they were the odd couple for sure. He took after them with great gusto, and she began mouthing a few, in his shadow. Once she discovered those were edible, she began taking after Formula One smallest sized pellet food, and loves it---not to mention pods, etc. I'd never have thought that a purple tang would 'attract' a mandy, but there must be something in the wave lengths her funny little eyes see that just made him glow in the dark, for her. She never left him---and I was downright sorry to turn him back to the lfs [he was on loan to cure an algae problem.] But he left me with a mandy that will eat anything.

 

[insanefishguy]

That is one funny story sk8r. Thanks for sharing. I just put a chromis in with the mandarin to try to eat some of the food he is not. Boy am I getting tired of doing water changes on this little tank. I still have not seen this guuy eat anything I have put in there, but I did put a bunch of live mysids in there that Carl gave me and they have since disappeared, so it has had some food. I picked up some live brine to try that. I know they are not nutritious, but if it starts the ball rolling, Ill take it. He seems to look better now, but that isnt saying much. He is still way too thin.

Bonebrake, had you posted before saturday, I probably would have brought him to you. Do you get down this way often? The next time I will be anywhere near Danville will be Dec 9th, and that will be on my way to State College again.

 

[Bonebrake]

I don't get down that way ever, but it isn't too far that we couldn't get together sometime to trade/buy/sell stuff sometime. If you still have him on Dec. 9th and still need a home for him let me know and I'll be sure to be around.