Should I return this mandarin to my lfs? Please help

[Hoopz87]

Ok so I had kind of An impulse buy, My tank is doing great only 3-4 months old but all parameters are mint. I have a flame, a dottyback, and a cardinal, and added the mandarin today, now I didn't know that feeding a mandarin is a much bigger task than feeding most fish. I have a 29 gallon tank. Anyone's opinions or recommendations are appreciated, thank you

 

[Hoopz87]

is my current tank

 

[Marine fish man]

Should I return this mandarin to my lfs? Please help

I would add a quarter of a bottle of trigger pods till u Finnish bottle when the lights r off at night
And then the little creatures will reduplacte
That's what I tell all my customers to do when they buy a mandarin

 

[dread240]

with a 29 gallon I doubt it could sustain a pod population for it, but that said if you keep supplementing like marine fish man said it's doable. I don't think you'll get by with adding it one time and having them sustain on their own

 

[alb_56]

I would try to find an alternate food it likes also. Like pellet or salmon or something. You will probably have to keep supplementing its diet until you can find one.

 

[snorvich]

I would add a quarter of a bottle of trigger pods till u Finnish bottle when the lights r off at night
And then the little creatures will reduplacte
That's what I tell all my customers to do when they buy a mandarin

And, unfortunately, you are wrong. Unless of course, you add a bottle every other day. Remember mandarins eat copepods once every 15 seconds or so. So, sure buying a bottle and constantly adding will be good for you, but not for your customers.

 

[humaguy]

And, unfortunately, you are wrong. Unless of course, you add a bottle every other day. Remember mandarins eat copepods once every 15 seconds or so. So, sure buying a bottle and constantly adding will be good for you, but not for your customers.

agree...the amount of pods needed to keep a mandy healthy longterm is extraordinary...

 

[ace_92101]

It's good that you're thinking about the fish's well being. As others have said, I'd return him/her.

 

[71Percent]

I had a tank raised one and despite numerous attempts to feed and different strategies, could not get it to eat. It's one of those fishes I think are better left in the wild. You can try a few things for a week, but if your unsuccessful, it is probably best to take it back.

 

[faithenfire]

i would return it. tank is too small and too young for him on a long term basis

 

[snorvich]

I had a tank raised one and despite numerous attempts to feed and different strategies, could not get it to eat. It's one of those fishes I think are better left in the wild. You can try a few things for a week, but if your unsuccessful, it is probably best to take it back.

Unfortunately, the ORA mandarins have gotten mixed reviews at best.

 

[71Percent]

Yeah, I thought being tank raised that it would be more open to food types. Not!

 

[snorvich]

Yeah, I thought being tank raised that it would be more open to food types. Not!

Some of them are, but they don't hunt like wild caught ones do and they are totally inept competitors for supplied food. I tried a pair in a 350 gallon tank with no other copepod eaters and it was an abysmal failure.

 

[rworegon]

The tigger pods are not the mandarins preferred food anyway. They are primarily a water column pod. Mandarins prefer to pick pods off the rocks and substrate. Tisbe pods are more appropriate for a mandy. I have a mandarin that decimated my pod population in a 39 gal after sitting fallow for 3 months. I supplement with daily hatches of brine shrimp and add pods to the refugium on a regular basis. They are not really an easy fish to keep or one to keep in a tank that is not very mature.

 

[MondoBongo]

i would take her back. a 29 gallon is too small for a novice to attempt to keep any dragonet in, and the tank is far too young.

 

[vette.tech]

i think its clear you have your answer and this is a constant beating of the dead horse due to misinformation like this --

I would add a quarter of a bottle of trigger pods till u Finnish bottle when the lights r off at night
And then the little creatures will reduplacte
That's what I tell all my customers to do when they buy a mandarin

 

[larac]

I have a mandarin in a 75gal. with a large amount of live rock and a HOB refugium. I still have to supplement pods to keep my pod population up and diverse.

Mandarins are like hummingbirds and must eat continuously while active to stay alive and not starve. You will notice them peck at the rock every few seconds. Even a bottle of pods every day will not sustain them since a typical bottle is 200-500 pods and a mandarin is eating somewhere in the vicinity of 1700+. Your system must be large enough to reproduce the pods they need.

Others, with small aquariums, have claimed success with large refugiums either attached to the DT, or by reproducing pods offsite and adding daily en mass. But, this does not sound like what your LFS told you or what you may be currently capable of doing.
As others have said, it is best to return him to your LFS, he will certainly starve in a new 29gal.

BTW, your flame angel is probably eating pods as well, mine does.

 

[Macimage]

I would give it away to someone with a very large tank where it might have a chance to live. It will likely perish in your tank and if you return it to the store.

 

[reefgoddess808]

Ive had my mandy for almost a year. I waited til my tank was over 8 months old before I added him. I add mixed pods every few months and he does eat anything frozen I feed. He still is not as fat as I would like him to be. I have a 56 gallon column style tanks with 40lbs sand and about 40-50 lbs of rock. I can see pods everywhere so I know I have a good population and as I said he does eat frozen, which I feed at least twice a day, usually four times a day on weekends. And hes still too skinny IMHO. They are a difficult little fishy to keep. I really wish the price were higher for them to deter the impulse buy. They are such beauties its incredibly hard to resist them at $20 price tag.

 

[davocean]

I would give it away to someone with a very large tank where it might have a chance to live. It will likely perish in your tank and if you return it to the store.

This is what I would do too, and if for some reason you can't then I'd try Paul B's type of feeding station asap, and then still would probably find a better home.