Mandarin in 20 gallon.

[el_ote]

if theres chaeto and its only a day or two, the mandy should be ok on pods. ive been away a long weekend moving into our new apartment and not able to feed mine(dont hate me NR!). carefull to feed just enough and not too much, I drew in dinos and that is a pain!

[Tamberav]

Well if the water quality is poor still (we have no way of knowing without tests) it would be more harmful than the mandarin not eating for a day or two. Mandarin's take awhile to starve, they lose their fat and you can see their skeleton.

 

It sounds like he is too stressed to eat right now anyways.

 

Prime can't harm the tank in any way so when in doubt.. prime away

[Icywater]

I don't have any pods left. I don't think the water is bad. The water is clear and the fish are acting normal. I did alot of water changes aswell.

 

 

But when mandarins get really skinny they stop eating right?

[Tamberav]

I don't have any pods left. I don't think the water is bad. The water is clear and the fish are acting normal. I did alot of water changes aswell.

 

 

 

 

But when mandarins get really skinny they stop eating right?

 

Oh glad to hear that they are back to normal and no longer gasping.

 

If you don't have any pods, I would feed twice a day. Just be careful not to overfeed. Some people train their mandarins to use a dish. They put it in a spot the mandarin hangs out a lot and pipette the food into the dish and the mandarin learns the dish = food.

 

If you can get some display macroalgae, red titan, dragons breath, blue ochtodes, caulerpa prolifera, ect. Growing that in your tank will help immensely with water quality (and look pretty too!). Once the algae grows large it will also provide a spot for breeding pods. I have 4 mandarins in a 20g that is heavily infested with pods due to a large volume of display macroalgae.

[Dark_ice]

i fed mine twice a day and he did well. also every now and then bought some pods for him.

 

good luck with you're little cutie!

[ManGups]

I also started with keeping a mandarin in a 20 Gallon Long Tank and used the "diner" to train it from ova eggs to frozen to pellets. I also at that point of time has a HOB refugim to which I added reef pods for the mandarin.

 

3 weeks later it was eating everything. I no longer seed pods and I drop flakes/pellets/frozen brine/mysis shrimp and the mandarin eats all.

 

This is how he look now.....

 

 

Here is video when I had just added him to the tank (almost a yr back):

 

Here is a video of the training using the diner concept:

[Icywater]

Hes not eating anymore though D:

How can I help him?

I don't want him to starve...

[Dark_ice]

Hes not eating anymore though D:

How can I help him?

 

I don't want him to starve...

buy some pods. if you have to get some tiger pods at the LFS or get some copepods off something like ebay. also try to soak the pellets in a garlic matter. this can sometimes cause a feeding response.

 

braking them in on mysis and good name brand pellets is key to getting the correct nutrition.

 

​sometimes they will not want to eat. i had to retrain mine a few times and sometimes i thought i was going to lose him. when i bought some pods he seemed to pull around. you can even ask your LFS for some pods in their system

[Icywater]

buy some pods. if you have to get some tiger pods at the LFS or get some copepods off something like ebay. also try to soak the pellets in a garlic matter. this can sometimes cause a feeding response.

 

braking them in on mysis and good name brand pellets is key to getting the correct nutrition.

 

​sometimes they will not want to eat. i had to retrain mine a few times and sometimes i thought i was going to lose him. when i bought some pods he seemed to pull around. you can even ask your LFS for some pods in their system

 

I didn't try pellets should I put him in a small bowl or something and feed ova mysis and pellets? He doesn't eat mysis he doesn't like it. I haven't tried pellets.

[Dark_ice]

I didn't try pellets should I put him in a small bowl or something and feed ova mysis and pellets? He doesn't eat mysis he doesn't like it. I haven't tried pellets.

i replied to you're PM. smaller pellets work best. mine was on instant ocean marine pellets and did great. garlic and pods do help though

[Icywater]

I can't get pods right now.... I'll try Garlic. I'll get some pics right away.

[Icywater]

[ManGups]

Hes not eating anymore though D:

How can I help him?

 

I don't want him to starve...

you could get this -

'AlgaGen ReefPods Tisbe Live Aquacultured Copepods'

and put it in the fuge. A mandarin can decimate a pod population in a day if you directly put it in the display. Ova eggs and the diner is a trusted method to get it feeding on other types of foods. After acclimated to eating ova eggs you can start mixing crushed flakes/brine shrimp/mysis shirmp/pellets and feed and then slowly wane out the ova eggs. Ideally it should start feed on other types of food.

 

I use ocean nutrition formula two pellets with garlic and the mandarin goes pecking on them as soon as i broadcast feed. (http://www.marinedepot.com/Ocean_Nutrition_Formula_Two_Pellet__Small_Sized_Pellet_Fish_Food-Ocean_Nutrition-ON2663-FIFDDRPTSWSP-vi.html)

 

 

However, not trying to discourage you but not every mandarin picks up new types of food. i remember reading that younger females are more adaptive (not sure though)

[Icywater]

It didn't eat Ova....

[Brasil7]

I have a female in a 16g. Nutramar ova in a "diner" ( I use the bottom of a plastic bottle placed in her favorite spot she has learned Is the feeding area).

 

 

I turned off all my pumps to still the water, coaxed her gently into the "diner" and then squirted nutramar ova into the "diner" until she was in a small cloud of it. She couldn't help but try some eventually as she was surrounded by it.

 

 

In the wild mandarins will eat fish eggs or roe as well, so this particle size is hard for them to pass up.

 

 

I know you're showing her not eating nutramar but it didint look like enough or she might be stressed in that dish/container

 

If there are some hidden water quailty/bacteria issues or oxygen level issues the last worry is feeding the fish. Does she go around picking at surfaces and "hunting" at all? (Sorry if this was already answered)

[Icywater]

She goes hunting often usually.

[Tamberav]

She looks stressed. When I trained mine, I had to leave them in the breeder box for awhile (a few hours to a day). Then feed while trying not to disturb them and leave the room and peak around the corner. If they knew I was watching them, they would not eat.

 

Also be careful if your tank doesn't have a top. All of mine jumped out of the breeder box. Wouldn't want your mandarin to jump ship the wrong way and end up on the floor.

[Icywater]

Well after talking to my local fish group. I'm going to keep the mandarin with pods instead of frozen food. I have cheato in the hob im gonna add a few bottles of pods in there. I can also make a ten gallon fuge but im not sure how to make it...

[ManGups]

Well after talking to my local fish group. I'm going to keep the mandarin with pods instead of frozen food. I have cheato in the hob im gonna add a few bottles of pods in there. I can also make a ten gallon fuge but im not sure how to make it...

Fuge is easy.. add some sand from display and rock rubbles and cheato to the container. plumb a small o/p pump to push water into fuge and flow back to display. Light up the fuge with a regular light (CFL bulb)

 

You could use this ...: http://www.finnex.net/index.php/breeder_box

[Icywater]

She needs to eat soon i don't know what to do....

[Icywater]

But she would eat more pods than that could make right?

[Icywater]

Gonna try this

http://www.saltwatersmarts.com/diy-target-feeder-mandarinfish-pipefish-2804/

[Tamberav]

But she would eat more pods than that could make right?

 

Correct. If you want pods to be a large part of her diet and supplement with food.. I would..

 

1. Set up a sump/fuge. You can buy a hang on overflow box, pump, and plumbing. Research how to do this and ask help with your local forums. Make the fuge part as big as possible. I would only do 1 partition for the return and make the rest into a fuge so you can utilize almost the full 10 gallons. If you can go large than 10 gallons, that would be even better.

 

2. Plant your display heavily with macroalgae

 

If you can't do #1. At least do #2 with and still run your HOB if you want pods to be a large part of her diet. Obviously this can't happen overnight but macro-algae grows quickly and you could feed her until it grows in. It would be a good long term plan if you want to keep pods in the tank.

 

Here is a pic of my 20g hex macroalgae tank that supports 4 dragonets. I feed frozen but only once every other day to every 2 days. There are pods ALL OVER THE GLASS and EVERYWHERE even with 4 dragonets. I use a large fuge and macro in the display to keep the pods reproducing out of control.

 

[Icywater]

I cant do the above since Marco algae apparently cost quite abit of money. I'm gonna buy a breeding box and stuff it with cheato and pods.

[Tamberav]

I cant do the above since Marco algae apparently cost quite abit of money. I'm gonna buy a breeding box and stuff it with cheato and pods.

 

You will have to continue to feed her frozen then. A HOB with cheato will not breed enough pods and buying pods is expensive. Ask your local forum if anyone has some caulperla you could have. Generally people give that stuff away.