lgreen's Mandarin FAQ

[StevieT]

i just bought a mandarin the other day..the moring after i acclimated him he had these white strings hanging out his mouth and gills.

 

 

 

why go through all that trouble and just train it to eat frozen food

[Ghost]

For those who've trained theirs, I'm curious; do you feed piece by piece directly to it with tweezer or syringe? How do you keep all the other fish from devouring mysis in the tank before it can get to the dragonet? And I only feed my tank once every three days (mysis)... is that frequency sufficient for the dragonet's health?

 

I got tons of great info on keeping them in nanos and how to train them. Working at a LFS gave me hands on access to every mandarin that came in. I have successfully trained atleast 6 mandarins to eat mysis, three greens and three spotteds...Including the one I have had for close to 6 months in my 37 g.

 

Many things go into successfully keeping a mandarin, I would be happy to share any of my info if needed!

Tried to PM you about methods on training onto frozen, but your mailbox is full. Mind sending me a msg when you've got a moment, SDT?

[acanatic]

The best way is to ask the person working to feed the animal and if it eats your good

[fstransk]

This is great info. Thanks alot for the post. I look forward to reading the finished package.

[evodrgn@]

I'm hoping to get a dragonet sometime soon.....if my LFS says that they feed their dragonet frozen mysis should i be okay with that?

 

I have no copepods in my tank currently (and people would probably say to get some and culture them) but i've read of people weaning their dragonets into frozen food and being successful.

 

Another thing is that they say that most of their livestock is wild-caught...Should I be worried when buying my dragonet? The usually come in looking very plump.

 

Thanks

[lakshwadeep]

What kind of tank do you plan to keep the mandarin in? What will be the other tankmates (fish)?

 

Almost all mandarins are wild-caught (captive breeding has only recently progressed to more than a few people).

[StevieT]

11 months after purchase

 

[evodrgn@]

What kind of tank do you plan to keep the mandarin in? What will be the other tankmates (fish)?

 

Almost all mandarins are wild-caught (captive breeding has only recently progressed to more than a few people).

 

I plan to keep the mandarin in a 20 gallon tank with lots of LR which would be housing for pods and tankmates will be a mated pair of ocellaris clown fish.

[Nic01]

gday guys.

just joined this forum and loving the idea....

i have just set up a 10g nano reef and have just...like last week added a spotted mandarin fish

the tank has been cycling for around a month btw.

 

hes picking around on my 3 or 4 kilos of live rock but is looking very skinny and need to get some pods for him id say...any advice would be apprieciated

 

im unsure if he is eating my frozen bloodworms and mysis also.

 

thanks

nic

[lakshwadeep]

Have you read this thread? It should be clear that mandarins should be eating introduced foods before you keep one, unless you have the time and money to buy pods until you can wean it. 4 kg (8 lb) is actually lower than the recommended 1-1.5 lb/gallon suggestion when you're using live rock as the basis for filtration. Also, the very small amount of live rock will mean the mandarin can decimate the "wild" pod population in a short time.

[Nic01]

well my live rock isnt the only filtration mate, i have 2 filters going in there too

turns out hes now weening onto the mysis shrimp and bloodworms so problem solved itself anyway

[Nemo Niblets]

So if anybody cares...

 

I got a mandarin

 

I made sure he ate live brine, and stuffed him with it the first 2 days. The first day I just gently blew them at him from a turkey baster. The next day I did the same, but with a feeding tube. The next day, I switched the live brine for some frozen brine, and just dangled it at the end of the tube. If I take it slow, he will eat almost a whole cube of brine in about 20 minutes.

[mnvikes8484]

is a 3 gallon jbj pico large enough to comfortably hold a mandarin if it eats frozen food or is that just a bad idea? they dont seem like the move around all that much. but feeding with frozen looks messy and i could see that being a problem

Edited December 7, 2009 by mnvikes8484

[lgreen]

is a 3 gallon jbj pico large enough to comfortably hold a mandarin if it eats frozen food or is that just a bad idea? they dont seem like the move around all that much. but feeding with frozen looks messy and i could see that being a problem

 

i wouldn't recommend it.

[molsen187]

do the red scooter dragonetts train easier than the mandarins do? my lfs has a beautiful red scooter but he isn't eating frozen at the moment. i'd get him if he was easy to train onto mysis and cyclopleeze.

[kayl]

I'm hoping to get a dragonet sometime soon.....if my LFS says that they feed their dragonet frozen mysis should i be okay with that?

 

Make them show you-

They're probably just feeding frozen mysis to the tank, who knows if the mandarin is eating it...

[Seventy]

Make them show you-

They're probably just feeding frozen mysis to the tank, who knows if the mandarin is eating it...

 

+1

 

And Mandarins eat constantly. Don't let them tell you that "he's not eating because he already ate". They are very active and always looking for food.

 

I couldn't get mine to eat Mysis for a few months, but he ate Brine since the day I got him.

 

Also, feed frequently and in small amounts if you don't have the pod population to supplement once-a-day feeding.

Edited December 14, 2009 by Seventy

[blizzardscout2]

I just wanted to share my experience with keeping a Mandarin. I was able to get mine to eat Prawn roe and by doing that my pod population was maintained with the supplementation in a 14g. The only problem was that my water quality suffered and I had to perform a lot more WCs. I tried a lot of different techniques to feed him as suggested on this website, but he would only eat Prawn roe suspended in the water. So just keep that in mind that you may not be able to get yours to eat certain foods or with certain techniques, but to keep trying new ways. Anyways, good luck to you.

[masgrada]

For a while I had an in-line pod factory. Originally it was set up to hold my LR that I accumulated in anticipation for a larger tank. Full (to the brim) 10g tank of LR with about 25L/hr tank water cycle through. I let the detritus just accumulate in that tank. The water inlet and exit were on the opposite sides of the tank, so not a whole lot of fast moving water... at all.

 

Let me tell you, that was pod heaven. Packed full of pods. It started to fill with sponges and breeding all different types of snails. The way I had it set up it would pull some water directly from the LR/pod tank into the main. I would watch the pods get pumped into my tank; prob about 1-2 pods every couple seconds. Had I thought about it at the time, this would have been perfect for a Mandarin.

Edited December 17, 2009 by masgrada

[blizzardscout2]

Had I thought about it at the time, this would have been perfect for a Mandrin.

 

No kidding! If I were to have a mandarin again, I would do exactly what you did and add a sump with a refuge for pods to go forth and multiply.

[hahaximmaxfish]

Hey I was thinking about getting a mandarin and have a few ?'s about 'pods and stuff.

1. Would I mandarin be happy in a 10g? (most impotant!)

2.If I were to get a cheapo 1.5g tank and put pods in there to multiply, would I be able to scoop them out and give them to the fishy?

[BumbleBeeJBG]

Picked up a healthy looking Mandarin last night. This morning, excess mucus on him

 

We'll see how it goes, he's alone in the tank so I hope training will go a bit easier, though it looks like I bought a diseased fish.

 

You can't copper treat Mandarins, right?

[StevieT]

Hey I was thinking about getting a mandarin and have a few ?'s about 'pods and stuff.

1. Would I mandarin be happy in a 10g? (most impotant!)

2.If I were to get a cheapo 1.5g tank and put pods in there to multiply, would I be able to scoop them out and give them to the fishy?

 

1. no

2. no

[BustytheSnowMaam]

I bought my first mandarin last Sunday. He's quite fat and sassy, and they showed me he did eat brine before I bought him. The LFS I bought him from is pretty run-down, so I figured he stood a better chance with me than with them.

 

I have a 30 long with 60+ lbs of LR. I don't know how anyone could keep one in a smaller tank, I feel guilty enough trying to keep one in a 30. He is constantly eating. As someone stated, they eat prawn roe. Apparently they will eat that orange sushi roe as well. I might try to pick some up. Does anyone know where you buy this?

 

I read that pods on the glass will congregate under those mag-floats, so I have a big mag float sitting in one spot for a few days, then I move it to release the pods. I wait for the mandarin to bop around nearby, then I slide it over to expose the pods, and he consumes them. I don't know if this helps increase the pod population or not.

[hahaximmaxfish]

1. no

2. no

Thank you!