Official Mandarin and Dragonet Show off thread

[pokerdobe]

Dr Gs has reef caviar, Ocean nutrition has ROE.

Doc eco eggs also is an egg product.

I buy roe from the japanese supermarket and rinse and soak the portion i am about to feed for a little while to get the dye out.

 

Ah, got it. I thought it might be a different product. I've tried feeding him Ocean Nutrition's ROE and Eco Eggs... doesn't take to it.

[JoeDigiorgio]

Dr Gs has reef caviar, Ocean nutrition has ROE.

Doc eco eggs also is an egg product.

I buy roe from the japanese supermarket and rinse and soak the portion i am about to feed for a little while to get the dye out.

 

All these and H2OLife Reef Caviar as well. Any one of these options is a great one if they'll take it. I've had good success with capelin roe. Not live adult brine shrimp level success but I get a fair number of dragonets that will at least allow it to be included in the rotation. And your other fish will love it.

 

I just got home from a friends house with what I hope to be a 1.2 trio of S. tudorjonesi. Not 100% sure on the ID yet because they're in stress color right now but hopefully tomorrow I will see them in full color and get a better ID. Not the female rubies I was hoping for this week but ill take it. Another quarantine tank is just what my girlfriend wanted I'm sure.

[JoeDigiorgio]

QUESTION!

 

 

Who here has ordered a red mandarin from liveaquaria? I know one guy that ordered a pair and he loved them and said it was a great experience but I want more feedback.

 

I want one or more females. I know they won't guarantee sex but I'm willing to tack on an extra or two to make sure I get a female.

[metrokat]

No experience there but I was considering selling my female target mandarin. She's in the fuge and happy but she needs to be admired.

[JoeDigiorgio]

No experience there but I was considering selling my female target mandarin. She's in the fuge and happy but she needs to be admired.

Kat why!?

[metrokat]

She's in the fuge, I think she should be in a display no?

[JoeDigiorgio]

She's in the fuge, I think she should be in a display no?

Do you not feel like you can get her fed in the display? How big is it? You aren't running the RSM any ore right?

[Nstocks]

How often do you guys feed the mandarin? I'm currently adding half a cube of frozen food the the tank twice daily, solely for the Mandarin to put on weight. Other than that, I don't feed the tank anything else since the Mandarin disturbs the cube and a lot just floats away for other inhabitants.

[JoeDigiorgio]

How often do you guys feed the mandarin? I'm currently adding half a cube of frozen food the the tank twice daily, solely for the Mandarin to put on weight. Other than that, I don't feed the tank anything else since the Mandarin disturbs the cube and a lot just floats away for other inhabitants.

Be careful with the pray and spray method of feeding them because the truth is they don't eat a lot on one sitting so its very easy to run into nutrient issues with the whole tank, especially in nanos. The best way to put weight on a mandarin is to feed it small meals many times a day. Sometimes a hanging breeder basket or something makes this a lot easier and helps target feeding.

 

I feed my mandarins 2 times a day on average but that's not when I'm trying to put weight on them that's just their normal schedule. If I'm trying to fatten up a new one, I feed up to 5 times, and I try a different food every time so they don't get picky.

[pgrVII]

Be careful with the pray and spray method of feeding them because the truth is they don't eat a lot on one sitting so its very easy to run into nutrient issues with the whole tank, especially in nanos. The best way to put weight on a mandarin is to feed it small meals many times a day. Sometimes a hanging breeder basket or something makes this a lot easier and helps target feeding.

I feed my mandarins 2 times a day on average but that's not when I'm trying to put weight on them that's just their normal schedule. If I'm trying to fatten up a new one, I feed up to 5 times, and I try a different food every time so they don't get picky.

This I've found true,luckily I'm able to sit and watch when I feed ,but they will almost always certainly be out competed for the food. Poor guys

[Nstocks]

Be careful with the pray and spray method of feeding them because the truth is they don't eat a lot on one sitting so its very easy to run into nutrient issues with the whole tank, especially in nanos. The best way to put weight on a mandarin is to feed it small meals many times a day. Sometimes a hanging breeder basket or something makes this a lot easier and helps target feeding.

 

I feed my mandarins 2 times a day on average but that's not when I'm trying to put weight on them that's just their normal schedule. If I'm trying to fatten up a new one, I feed up to 5 times, and I try a different food every time so they don't get picky.

 

Sounds good, I'll give that a go.

 

Would those other target feeders that use a airline and small a pertri dish be better since the food is slowly been released?

[JoeDigiorgio]

Sounds good, I'll give that a go.

 

Would those other target feeders that use a airline and small a pertri dish be better since the food is slowly been released?

 

I personally have never had a mandarin that would go inside one of those. I've seen a million videos from others who have had good success doing this though. If it works its nice, but still gotta be careful long term with the amount of uneaten food going into the tank.

[Nstocks]

I personally have never had a mandarin that would go inside one of those. I've seen a million videos from others who have had good success doing this though. If it works its nice, but still gotta be careful long term with the amount of uneaten food going into the tank.

 

 

So with your Mandarin, do you just feed the tank as a whole? I don't have many fish so there's not much in the way of competition.

[JoeDigiorgio]

I cut the flow and put the food down at the bottom for them and when they're done, like 10 minutes is what I give them, I kick the pumps back on and what's left gets blown around to feed the rest of the crew.

 

Mind you my mandarins are in a display designed around them, their roommates aren't such aggressive feeders so this is possible. The reason people use that diner idea is to offer the mandarin a little safe calm area to eat in piece. I like the idea but I've never had one that will go inside a jar or tube or anything for me. Idk why, it seems like other people have a lot of success with the mandarin diners.

[Nstocks]

I take it you don't defrost the food then? Admittedly I've gotten lazy with that.

[BulkRate]

I've been lucky/smart/more lucky in that one of us (either me or the fish) has trained the other to expect & put the food onto one of three upper rocks in the tank. Never more than a fraction of a meal at a time, but enough to let her peck away until not interested. Let the other stuff in the tank get the leftovers (there will be) - I've yet to have a water quality issue arise and honestly everything else in the tank seems to do better with the multiple-smaller-feeding approach.

 

And I second Joe's recommendation... when they're smaller you MIGHT be able to get away with one feeding a day with foraging doing the rest of the work. But once a mandarin grows a bit bigger at least in a nano they could start getting skinnier and skinnier - this appears to have happened in my case. Luckily with her growing nutritional needs has come a willingness to go for something other than just nutramar. Decapsulated brine shrimp cysts now seems to be the favored food, with Larry's Fish Frenzy (the one with blackworms) being mixed in for bulk. The long and winding point being, try different foods at different times - these darn fish will change tastes at the drop of a hat.

 

That or make really good friends with Keydiver or one of the other pod-culturers here or on other fora.

[JoeDigiorgio]

The other thing I think everyone on this thread should make part of their routine is buying the pods from reefs2go when they're on sale...like right now.

 

We all work or have kids or both and feeding 2-5 times a day with a few hours in between isn't possible everyday, that's life. But making sure there are enough amphipods in a nano is seriously affordable once every few months and benefits more than just the mandarin. My banggai and clownfish do backflips when they see those things go in the tank. They're better than most other live products that are available right now and very very affordable when the sale is on.

[Derwins]

Honestly, I did not read all the thread...but i'll do it
I really like this fish, and the only thing which I may say is: that the mandarins are in the best conditions and to make them breed they have to be in specific tank .whitout any other fish ...
in that way they're easy too feed ,and it's easy to collect the eggs
..and then ..
http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/362223-breeding-ssplendidusspicturatushreidi-and-some-clownfishes-cross-quest/?p=5051011

[Nstocks]

I've been hearing some strange noises coming from my tank and it's my Mandarin at the surface of the water. He's either looking for food (unlikely) or expelling air?

 

EDIT: He's actually spitting out water, strangely where the weir lid if temporarily placed. Has this happened to anyone else?

 

[metrokat]

I've been hearing some strange noises coming from my tank and it's my Mandarin at the surface of the water. He's either looking for food (unlikely) or expelling air?

 

EDIT: He's actually spitting out water, strangely where the weir lid if temporarily placed. Has this happened to anyone else?

 

yes, trying to get the pods that hang out at the waterline.

[kirbaay]

Not mine but I took some photos of my friends Green Spotted

 

 

 

[Nstocks]

Those eyes

[JoeDigiorgio]

Not mine but I took some photos of my friends Green Spotted

 

 

 

That is one helluva fish.

[BluCrab]

^^That lil mug is so cute!

[metrokat]

Kirbaay - those pictures are spectacular!