Mandarin Weaning Advice?

[brian92]

I'm looking to try weaning a mandarin onto prepared, I'd like to get some advice on what I should do when I get the mandarin.

 

I stole this plan from someone on here and I can't remember your name.

 

My plan is to use the BS hatchery I made and hatch some BBS and try to wean the mandarin onto the BBS by feeding it through an airline. Once I do that I'd be mixing the BBS with frozen Mysis.

 

I'd prefer it to be the only fish in the tank because I just don't like the look of a lot of fish in a tank. My LFS says they always try to wean the mandarins onto frozen before they sell them, so I figure that may help

 

So my strategy for success so far is:

Mandarin being only fish in tank

10g sump with chaeto area

Live Brine Shrimp hatched daily

Selcon Enrichment

Frozen Mysis

 

I have a

20 long

10 gallon sump (waiting for return pump) to install with chaeto

an Aqua C Nano Remora Skimmer

22 lbs of LR in the display

No fish anymore (gave away the only clown to my neighbors he's doing fine there)

a few zoanthid frags

 

I haven't purchased the Mandarin yet and I don't plan on it until I know I can execute my plan successfully

[MiddReef]

Hey brian...

 

So I purchased a green mandarin about 3 months ago that a LFS owner started to wean onto frozen food, with the explicet understanding that if I found the fish wasn't readily willing to eat frozen food and starting to decline, I could return the poor little guy in exchange for something else. I probably wouldn't have tried it without that agreement with a solid LFS, but, it turns out that his claim was true. Once in my system, the fish quickly decimated my pod population, but didn't appear to lose any weight. I've got a thriving fuge attached to my tank, but I really don't think that my pod population alone could keep a mandarin happy.

Using the patented SeeDemTails method, I started to feed him live brine shrimp through an airline tube/syringe setup.

 

I made sure to always follow the same sequence at feeding time: pre-load the syringe, slide my sunpod back (allows easier reach-in access), and then turn off all my pumps. Then, I would dangle the airline around the rockwork where the fish usually hung out, and then really slowly push out the live shrimp. In a few days, he/she quickly figured out the sequence, and also that the end of the tube meant food. I started to mix in mysis shrimp along with the live brine, and after about a week of that, I've been on full frozen mysis ever since. The mandarin comes right to the tube, and pigs up about 8-10 mysis shrimp every other day. He/she is looking nice a fat, healthy, and has grown a bit in my setup.

 

My feeling is that I got a bit lucky with my particular "fish personality," however a couple of people have seen similiar success using the airline transition method. I could basically feed it out of my hand now, and at some point I'm going to try and mix in other foods for further enrichment. Cool, and smart little fish. Should it be tried in a brand new 10 gallon setup...probably not....but if you're dedicated and take the time to teach them feeding seems possible in my experience. Not the end all solution to all mandarin methods, but certainly possible.

 

SDT had a great thread on hers....I can't remember the title, but worth tracking down!

Good luck!

[brian92]

Thanks a bunch for your story!!! Now I remember it was SDT.

 

By green mandarin do you mean the Pyschedelic or the "Standard"? Right now I'm split on which mandarin type to get. I plan on observing the fish before I buy it also to better the chances of getting a fish like yours.

[SeeDemTails]

Wow MiddReef I am really proud of you, I couldnt have said it better myself!!!! I am sure you will have great success with you fish for many years!

 

You should always follow a routine, like midd said, this will help the fish get used to the feeding. My routine is to turn the pumps off, then go rinse the mysis, put in tube/syringe, then feed. My fish is so smart it knows to meet me at the exact same spot every time I turn the pumps off. The meeting spot is on top of the mj 1200 in water to shallow for the tang to get too. He crawls onto it with his back out of the water!

 

Once your fish gets healthy, it is amazing how pudgy they get. Even a fish that most would consider healthy in a lfs looks nothing like a well fed mandarin. They get back fat and stuff lol.

 

I have a spotted or target mandarin, both types are easily trained with this method. I wouldnt use baby brine shrimp unless you have them already, the big ones are more similar to mysis in size. It shouldnt take you longer than a few days, these fish are much smarter than people think.

 

I do not have a fuge, but they can only help. I find the more I feed my fish and as time passes, the less he hunts and the more he fights himself in the glass. A fish worried about sex is a healthy fish! I am gonna get him a female and have my eyes on one already!

 

I cant wait to get home to feed mine. I really enjoy the one on one time with a "hard to keep" fish who's trust I have truly earned. I can even touch it with my fingers, it totally trusts me.

[brian92]

Wow MiddReef I am really proud of you, I couldnt have said it better myself!!!! I am sure you will have great success with you fish for many years!

 

You should always follow a routine, like midd said, this will help the fish get used to the feeding. My routine is to turn the pumps off, then go rinse the mysis, put in tube/syringe, then feed. My fish is so smart it knows to meet me at the exact same spot every time I turn the pumps off. The meeting spot is on top of the mj 1200 in water to shallow for the tang to get too. He crawls onto it with his back out of the water!

 

I have a spotted or target mandarin, both types are easily trained with this method. I wouldnt use baby brine shrimp unless you have them already, the big ones are more similar to mysis in size. It shouldnt take you longer than a few days, these fish are much smarter than people think.

 

I do not have a fuge, but they can only help. I find the more I feed my fish and as time passes, the less he hunts and the more he fights himself in the glass. A fish worried about sex is a healthy fish! I am gonna get him a female and have my eyes on one already!

Thanks for the help! I'm unfamiliar with raising brineshrimp to adults I always thought died easily after hatching. Is that what you did or did you buy them from the store?

[SeeDemTails]

Yeah forget rasing them, $1 for hundreds at most lfs's.

[MiddReef]

Thanks SeeDemTails! But really, I wouldn't have even messed with it without your experience to use as a base. I've noticed mine also spends a lot more time showing off to itself in the tank glass, but I never thought of it that way, good call!

 

Brian, I have a green mandarin, which I suppose most people consider the standard variety. One like this:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_di...&pcatid=551

 

I'm lucky enough to have a LFS within 30 minutes that has a constant supply of live brine shrimp. I just setup a 5 gallon tank with an air bubbler and for $.32 you can get a whole cup of live shrimp. They last about 2 weeks in the 5 gallon, but I've since shut down the food tank as the fish has been completely weened. There are many simple methods for hatching your own, if you google around a bit you can see lots of 2 litre-based DIY projects. I would've gone that route were it not for my LFS supply. Really though, if you can just buy live ones, they're inexpensive and you probably won't need them as long as you think...I went through probably 10 of them every two days for say 14 days or so? The problem was really other fish that LOVE them...had to shoo them away while the mandarin got his!

[SeeDemTails]

Yeah the tang is currently at war with bot the camera and the feeding tube. So much for shooing him off.

[MiddReef]

The real problem is that soon ALL of your fish associate you reaching into the tank with food...so you can't get anything done without being pestered and surprised by nibbles when you aren't looking. Lousy classical conditioning.....

[SeeDemTails]

Thats why I feed mine in a inch of water on top of the maxijet. Nonne of the other fish can get up there, even the mandarin has to crawl up with his back out of the water.

[brian92]

Thanks SeeDemTails! But really, I wouldn't have even messed with it without your experience to use as a base. I've noticed mine also spends a lot more time showing off to itself in the tank glass, but I never thought of it that way, good call!

 

Brian, I have a green mandarin, which I suppose most people consider the standard variety. One like this:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_di...&pcatid=551

 

I'm lucky enough to have a LFS within 30 minutes that has a constant supply of live brine shrimp. I just setup a 5 gallon tank with an air bubbler and for $.32 you can get a whole cup of live shrimp. They last about 2 weeks in the 5 gallon, but I've since shut down the food tank as the fish has been completely weened. There are many simple methods for hatching your own, if you google around a bit you can see lots of 2 litre-based DIY projects. I would've gone that route were it not for my LFS supply. Really though, if you can just buy live ones, they're inexpensive and you probably won't need them as long as you think...I went through probably 10 of them every two days for say 14 days or so? The problem was really other fish that LOVE them...had to shoo them away while the mandarin got his!

Thanks for your help guys, I'll keep it updated

 

Yeah I made a 2 liter hatchery with an air pump and a light bulb for heat. I think I might be easier to get him to feed since I won't have any other fish.

[SeeDemTails]

He will eat just fine, you just have to show him the food. Make sure you turn the pumps off.

[Kraylen]

You can save yourself all this trouble and just buy the biggest mandarin you can find and go from there.

[brian92]

You can save yourself all this trouble and just buy the biggest mandarin you can find and go from there.

Why the biggest?

[Kraylen]

Juvies are the ones you gotta worry about with the diet... adult ones are super easy.... mine even eats squid now.

[brian92]

Juvies are the ones you gotta worry about with the diet... adult ones are super easy.... mine even eats squid now.

Really, Sounds good kinda makes sense too. Thanks

[Kraylen]

*shrug*

[douglam]

i have been feeding my mandarin out of a tube but she doesnt eat directly from he tube. she waits until the brine are on a rock and then hunts them down. does everyones actually eat out of the tube or does it wait till the shrimp are on a surface. i also dont turn of my pumps maybe this is the problem.

[Kraylen]

Brine? You should try some mysis.

[mkriegal]

wow, I just saw this thread and am kinda amazed. last time I checked (probably over a year ago), putting a Mandarin in a nano was worse than a tang. So real results from this technique? I don't mind putting the effort into teaching the Mandarin to feed if it will really work.