Mandarin, wasn't gonna but HAD to.

[thirty5]

Well i was not going to get a mandarin yet, my tank is pretty well established now. But i was going to get a mandarin at a later time. But a friend of mine went to a LFS and they sold him one. They should not have sold it to him. They didnt even tell him what to feed it. He is a newbie without a doubt. I am not much better but what i read on here i pick up a lot. Well the Mandarin was in the LFS for like 3 weeks and they told him that it was eating ok. He took it home put in his FO tank. I was like no way. hard enough to keep with an established reef. Well he tried to feed it, mysis, brine ad it would not take anything for a few days. It is nice and chubby, but hasnt eaten at all. So he gave it to me to put in my tank. And it does something that a large majority DONT do. It eats frozen food YIPPEE. I put it in, fed enrichedbrine and boom ate it right off the rocks. WOOHOO. Let just hope that he continues to eat.

I want to get pods for my tank now. What do you guys recommend that I put in? I saw a site that has i think Tigger Pods. They are expensive as hell. But i want this fish to strive.

Any input???

 

[deelucky]

get some cheato from one of the guys here(they almost always give it away).if you have a light over your sump you can put it in one of the compartments,they are always full of pods.good luck with the mandarin.what kind did you get by the way?

 

[thirty5]

Its a green dragonet. I am actually gettin the acrylic to make my fuge. 90 gal. And i will stock it with chaeto and all that good stuff. Some people have different thoughts on growin the PODS right in the DT. I will give it a shot. I hope to have my Fuge done in like a couple weeks. We will see.

 

[deelucky]

listen if you got any LR from someone with an established tank chances are there :bunnies:.so just give it time.you can always check an hour after lights out with a flash light then you can see an estimate of what you got.

 

[Deanos]

Any input???

I'm confused...you participated in the last thread about feeding mandarins. You didn't feel your tank was ready then. What's changed?

 

[carpediem212]

I would like a dragonet, but my tank has only been up for 3 months. still waiting for algae bloom, but so far the Mexicans are doing well to keep it under control.

 

[fluidimagery]

Well, if it's eating brine you're off to a good start. Unfortunately brine isn't the most nutritious. I would start mixing in some mysis with your feedings, mine love PE Mysis (comes in frozen bars) as that will get more protein in them. There are tons of threads about them which I'd start reading more on.

One thing to note is that Mandarins are constant grazers that eat very little at a time. So I would shoot a little piece of food at him whenever you can to keep him occupied (I use a long turkey baster). Once your fuge is up and running pick up a few bottles of live pods to jump start the population. Put a few bottles in the sump and a few in the tank and they'll start breeding.

The thing to look for when you're hearing... fat mandarin vs skinny mardarin is the belly which is directly behind the pectoral fins. If you see their body concaving they need to eat, if it's nice and fat it's a good thing.

 

[thirty5]

I'm confused...you participated in the last thread about feeding mandarins. You didn't feel your tank was ready then. What's changed?

well.... this was because my tank was a better fit as a last resort for the mandarin. better with something in my tank with lr than in a FO. I can at least attempt to get the pods goin...

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

I would have suggested he take it back to the LFS and get his money back.

 

[thirty5]

I agree to taking it back. he has the fish for almost a week and he told me that they would not take it back. and I found out about this on sat night. and the stores are not open on sunday. and since I put it in my tanks and it ate with no prob. then we will prob be ok. it has been eating the enriched brine. the mysis. and seen it pecking at the rocks. even when they are not being fed.

so it looks as if it will survive at this point. can u guys point me in the direction to get pods....

 

[Deanos]

For the most part, copepods are introduced via live rock as hitchhikers. They are a "naturally" renewing source of food in a reef tank. Attempting to feed a mandarin store bought live foods can be an expensive undertaking. Have you noticed any pods in your tank (night viewing offers the best opportunity)?

 

[thirty5]

For the most part, copepods are introduced via live rock as hitchhikers. They are a "naturally" renewing source of food in a reef tank. Attempting to feed a mandarin store bought live foods can be an expensive undertaking. Have you noticed any pods in your tank (night viewing offers the best opportunity)?

I have not observed any in the tank. I assume i have to turn all the lights off then just a flashlight to look for them.. Truthfully i dont even know what i am "looking" for. THat is where i was looking for the input about the copepods and where to get them and such.

 

[Deanos]

Copepods & amphipods