Reef Keeper 14
New member
Do you ever try frozen mysis or brine shrimp, mine loves that. Or do you chop the bloodworms into smaller pieces? Mine only eats bloodworms when they are chopped up.
ORA Mandarin Dragonets!!!!!
- Thread starter Jordani
- Start date
Do you ever try frozen mysis or brine shrimp, mine loves that. Or do you chop the bloodworms into smaller pieces? Mine only eats bloodworms when they are chopped up.
pweissma
Member
He ignores chopped up bloodworms. Haven't tried mysis or brine shrimp. I've been trying to target feed him with foods that sink easily as he's on the sand 98% of the time. I don't have many places where I could put in a diner as I have a lot of liverock and I also don't see it as a long term solution. At this point I'm not worried as my mandarin isn't too skinny and it's been 3-1/2 three weeks but I am keeping my eye on him.
I don't want to hijack this thread but along the lines of "finally he's eating", my algae blenny that was paper thin yet always active has finally put on some weight. He started eating lots of things he previously rejected such as nori and macroalgae.
I just bought mt first spotted mandarin two days ago
I just bought mt first spotted mandarin two days ago
I live near Boston, and only one place close to me actually has two of these very cute little fish available. So, I bought the more active of the two after observing him swimming with two pink clowns in a small tank.
Since I only have a 29 gal nano-tank, with two small clowns, I acclimated the mandarin, and released him into the tank. Immediately, he swam around, very active and inquisitive, and pecked at the live rock as he scanned and looked closely at the crevices. I had purchase an elongated baby food glass jar (3 inches max in length) to be used as his refuge and dining room. I placed in in the back corner so that I can see it clearly. I used a heavy knife and chopped/broke a cube of frozen blood worm into smaller pieces....and I take one chunk, and quickly dip my hand in the water down to the opening of the jar and push the piece into the jar, where it thawed inthe warm water and sank to the bottom. The mandarin did not take long before venturing into the jar...but I did not see him eat anything. I tried also small ON pellets, and he also did not touch those either. I looked everywhere for the Nutrimar Ova, but apparently it is very hard to find. Only Fr foster and Marine depot sell them, and the overnight shipping is very expensive for just a plank of frozen...but I was told by the nice lady at ORA that they loooove the prawn eggs, so I guess I will have to order this first thing this Monday. I noticed the little Mandarin has used the jar as his private sleep/home chamber...he has slept in the jar for two nights now-very cute. At least I think he knows that's his home. But given the posts about the CB Mandies dying of starvation...I am worried.
By the way, I paided $60 for the fish here around Boston, and absolutely dont mind paying premium for this fish. I like ORA's philosophy behind their effort. I also definitely want a blue or a red mandarin when they are available. But I hope the fish can thrive in my tank. The only reason why I would even dare to get a mandarin for my nano tank is because it was supposed to eat prepared food, so the # of copepod was supposed to be irrelevant. mike:fish1:
I just bought mt first spotted mandarin two days ago
I live near Boston, and only one place close to me actually has two of these very cute little fish available. So, I bought the more active of the two after observing him swimming with two pink clowns in a small tank.
Since I only have a 29 gal nano-tank, with two small clowns, I acclimated the mandarin, and released him into the tank. Immediately, he swam around, very active and inquisitive, and pecked at the live rock as he scanned and looked closely at the crevices. I had purchase an elongated baby food glass jar (3 inches max in length) to be used as his refuge and dining room. I placed in in the back corner so that I can see it clearly. I used a heavy knife and chopped/broke a cube of frozen blood worm into smaller pieces....and I take one chunk, and quickly dip my hand in the water down to the opening of the jar and push the piece into the jar, where it thawed inthe warm water and sank to the bottom. The mandarin did not take long before venturing into the jar...but I did not see him eat anything. I tried also small ON pellets, and he also did not touch those either. I looked everywhere for the Nutrimar Ova, but apparently it is very hard to find. Only Fr foster and Marine depot sell them, and the overnight shipping is very expensive for just a plank of frozen...but I was told by the nice lady at ORA that they loooove the prawn eggs, so I guess I will have to order this first thing this Monday. I noticed the little Mandarin has used the jar as his private sleep/home chamber...he has slept in the jar for two nights now-very cute. At least I think he knows that's his home. But given the posts about the CB Mandies dying of starvation...I am worried.
By the way, I paided $60 for the fish here around Boston, and absolutely dont mind paying premium for this fish. I like ORA's philosophy behind their effort. I also definitely want a blue or a red mandarin when they are available. But I hope the fish can thrive in my tank. The only reason why I would even dare to get a mandarin for my nano tank is because it was supposed to eat prepared food, so the # of copepod was supposed to be irrelevant. mike:fish1:
A question
A question
My target green ORA mandarin is getting acclimated in my 20 long reef tank and is eating spectrum pellets and BW with relish. I just saw a very nice blue ORA mandarin yesterday, and was wondering if I could add this blue mandarin into my tank? Will they provoke each other? I know that the blue male can be aggressive, but I also spoke with the people at ORA and they told me that it should not be a problem because they were all raised together???!! Any insight is appreciated.Thank you! mike
A question
My target green ORA mandarin is getting acclimated in my 20 long reef tank and is eating spectrum pellets and BW with relish. I just saw a very nice blue ORA mandarin yesterday, and was wondering if I could add this blue mandarin into my tank? Will they provoke each other? I know that the blue male can be aggressive, but I also spoke with the people at ORA and they told me that it should not be a problem because they were all raised together???!! Any insight is appreciated.Thank you! mike
Western_reefer
Reef keeper
How much are the Blue Mandarin fish selling for?
olemiss reb
Molon Labe
My pair of blues was 125 at LFS.
Reef Keeper 14
New member
make sure that they are both not male mandarins or else they will fight.
williams.luca
New member
post some pics up.......these fish always amaze me.......
I dont know...
I dont know...
The blue mandarin is definitely a little male...they are all males if sold as singles from ORA. My spotted, is unknown, because ORA cannot sex the target mandarins....so it could be a male or a female. On a side note, finally got 4 packs of Nutrumar Ova from a LFS near me. It was back ordered for SOOO LONGGGG. I defrosted some and squirted the mixture on top of my little target Mandarin, and he/she went nuts. Eventhough she/he was eating pellets, today was the first time I saw his/her tummy bulging out!!!!!
)))))))
On another side note, my maroon clowns (three from ORA)) have spawned, but they not only tolerate the target mandarin, but are quite protective of him/her....wierd little nano-tank I have.:lmao::lmao:mike
I dont know...
The blue mandarin is definitely a little male...they are all males if sold as singles from ORA. My spotted, is unknown, because ORA cannot sex the target mandarins....so it could be a male or a female. On a side note, finally got 4 packs of Nutrumar Ova from a LFS near me. It was back ordered for SOOO LONGGGG. I defrosted some and squirted the mixture on top of my little target Mandarin, and he/she went nuts. Eventhough she/he was eating pellets, today was the first time I saw his/her tummy bulging out!!!!!
)))))))On another side note, my maroon clowns (three from ORA)) have spawned, but they not only tolerate the target mandarin, but are quite protective of him/her....wierd little nano-tank I have.:lmao::lmao:mike
pweissma
Member
ORA feeds the mandarins Spectrum Small Fish Formula, Nutramar Ova, and Hikari bloodworms cut into small 1/2 cm pieces. There's probably some other foods as well. Each individual fish has its own preference but in general the blues tend to prefer Spectrum while the greens tend to prefer Ova.
pweissma
Member
Update on my ORA green mandarin
I've had him now for almost 2 months. He had gotten really skinny in my Solana so I brought him back to my LFS where they have him in a small tank that they stock with pods. When he recovers the store will ween him back to non-live food and then I'll put him in a pico that is now cycling. (I love this store.)
I blame myself for the failure of the mandarin in my Solana. There is a misconception that these mandarins are community fish that can be kept easily with clowns etc. ORA never made such a claim and it isn't true. ORA has said that they are good to keep with sea horses. I see two main factors that led to my failure. First I have two ORA false percs in my tank. These guys are very aggressive eaters and probably intimidated the mandarin. Secondly I stocked my tank with Tigerpods twice. This likely fed the mandarin for a while but long term it could have made him reluctant to eat non-live food.
My advice to those who want to get one: If your tank doesn't support a large enough pod population think about the eating aggressiveness of your current fish. It's probably a good idea to QT the mandarin not so much for disease but to understand its eating preferences. Lastly don't feed him bottled pods unless you plan on constantly restocking and that is expensive.
I've had him now for almost 2 months. He had gotten really skinny in my Solana so I brought him back to my LFS where they have him in a small tank that they stock with pods. When he recovers the store will ween him back to non-live food and then I'll put him in a pico that is now cycling. (I love this store.)
I blame myself for the failure of the mandarin in my Solana. There is a misconception that these mandarins are community fish that can be kept easily with clowns etc. ORA never made such a claim and it isn't true. ORA has said that they are good to keep with sea horses. I see two main factors that led to my failure. First I have two ORA false percs in my tank. These guys are very aggressive eaters and probably intimidated the mandarin. Secondly I stocked my tank with Tigerpods twice. This likely fed the mandarin for a while but long term it could have made him reluctant to eat non-live food.
My advice to those who want to get one: If your tank doesn't support a large enough pod population think about the eating aggressiveness of your current fish. It's probably a good idea to QT the mandarin not so much for disease but to understand its eating preferences. Lastly don't feed him bottled pods unless you plan on constantly restocking and that is expensive.
sslak
New member
My mandarin lives with a pair of ORA false percs and a midas blenny, all fast swimming pigs. The mandarin cannot compete with them for food, and you should not expect it to.
I feed my clowns and midas blenny up high in the water column, while they are eating, I then target feed the mandarin on a rock on the opposite side of the tank. A mandarin will never(in my experience) swim up into the water column and compete with active swimmers for food.
You need to feed a mandarin with pumps off, and from a pipette by placing the food on the rocks or sand. They don't chase food in the water column.
You can't just toss food in the tank and expect a mandarin to be well fed.
velvetelvis
Active member
sweet d--if that orange critter on the bottom right is a BTA, be careful. I've heard of 'nems catching mandarins.
Reef Keeper 14
New member
I have two ora spotted mandairns (both in seperate 30 gallon tanks because i made the mistake of getting two males) the larger one eats like a pig and is constantly fat, however the smaller one i have yet to see eat a lot of food and he is pretty skinny and he even wont eat pods that swim right in front of his face. im not sure if i should give him up and try to get a pair of ora blues instead or keep trying to get him to eat pods and frozens. i had no problem like this with the larger male. dont know what to do..
Reef Keeper 14
New member
ok so today i tried really hard to try and get my smaller male mandarin to eat. he seems to be somewhat scared of me so i turned all of the pumps off and target fed a bunch of food to him and left it there for an hour. i went up to the tank and noticed him eating some brine shrimp and a couple pellets. he swam away though when i got to close to the tank. so he just takes a little more time to eat then expected.
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