raciampa Posted October 23, 2004 Share Posted October 23, 2004 I have recently purchased a spotted mandarin, and was wondering if anyone has had any luck getting them to eat regular foods? I heard they might eat cyclopeeze, but I haven't seen him try any yet. His stomach is fat, but I don't know for how long. Please help. Thanks, Robert Link to comment
cadesun Posted October 23, 2004 Share Posted October 23, 2004 ugh... here we go again... Link to comment
tinkertank Posted October 23, 2004 Share Posted October 23, 2004 how long have you had your tank running Link to comment
brahm Posted October 23, 2004 Share Posted October 23, 2004 ...Sorry you were miss informed, Mandarins only eat live food. Unless you have a well established medium to large tank with a fair amount of live rock your fish will starve to death.. 40-55 gallons.. Link to comment
incysor Posted October 23, 2004 Share Posted October 23, 2004 How bad do you want to save it? You can order a pod kit & some pods from a few sites, and the bought ones can keep him going until the ones in the kit multiply, but it's a pain in the butt and pretty pricey. The pods aren't bad, but shipping usually is. https://3kserver7.com/~frank/secure/agora.cgi http://wardsci.com/product.asp?pn=875400 To get them to multiply, you put them in a 10 gallon with some macroalgea to live in and a bubbler, and feed them a bit of flake food every few days. You need a light to keep the macro alive, and you use a turkey baster to pull them out. I have heard that phytoplankton also makes your pods happy. We have a pod tank that we keep going continuously to feed our mandarins with, mainly as a precaution now since our 75 gal. has gotten it's pod population well established. But yer not gonna have enough live rock in anything smaller than around 40 gallons (layman's estimate BTW) to keep enough pods to sustain a mandarin. Good luck! Shannen Link to comment
TerryB Posted October 23, 2004 Share Posted October 23, 2004 Hi Robert, If you follow this link you can find six articles in the library about caring for mandarins. http://www.marineaquariumadvice.com HTH, Terry B Link to comment
holyherbiness Posted October 23, 2004 Share Posted October 23, 2004 Return it. If you want it to have a better chance at survival. Link to comment
Masoch Posted October 23, 2004 Share Posted October 23, 2004 He probably thought he'd be OK with the huge number of copepods he has in his 10 gallon tank. Find a better home for this fish ASAP. Once its belly starts collapsing, its gut'll get permanently damaged ... leading, inevitably, to its death even if placed in a tank with a huge number of 'pods to eat. Link to comment
Ann Posted October 23, 2004 Share Posted October 23, 2004 Hi Robert, You can get Spotted Mandarins, Synchiropus picturatus, to eat frozen foods but they really need live food, and lots of it, to thrive. I have a male/female pair in my 7.5 ft tank and they both eat brine and Mysis shrimp when it's around but copepods are their mainstay. I would doubt that a 10 gal would be able to provide a sustainable supply of pods I'm afraid. Best regards Ann Link to comment
chrisisthereefer Posted October 23, 2004 Share Posted October 23, 2004 id give the guy a chmace before you start on him, he hasnt even siad what size tank its in yet. or how established or andything about it. dont always jump to conclusions. Link to comment
raciampa Posted October 23, 2004 Author Share Posted October 23, 2004 Damn, you guys jumped on me like rabbid wolves. I didn't know. I liked the way he looked. I am still new to the game. My tanks is only about six months old; it is a ten gallon. I hope I find something for him to eat, so I can rub it in your faces. Some of you were nice about the stupid mistake I made, and I appreciate that. I appreciate all comments though. Like I said I am still new and learning the game. Thanks, Robert Link to comment
Masoch Posted October 23, 2004 Share Posted October 23, 2004 Originally posted by raciampa Damn, you guys jumped on me like rabbid wolves. Actually, considering all the posts here, on RC, and, in fact, every reef board around about the care of mandarins, you were treated with kid gloves. The first rule about buying any pet is to research its needs and make sure they can be met. This holds true for any pet, from a garter snake to an Irish wolf hound. Buying a pet before you know its needs because you "liked the way he looked" is not exactly a model of good animal stewardship. And virtually dooming a pet to its death so you can "can rub it in [our] faces" on the (way far) off chance you'll be able to keep it alive speaks volumes about your maturity. The advice to find the fish a proper home was fairly given. People are just trying to help you and your fish. Link to comment
matt the fiddler Posted October 24, 2004 Share Posted October 24, 2004 agreed. you got the red carpet treatment.. people normally get no less that 9 four letter words on these boards... :/ Link to comment
nano-nemo Posted October 24, 2004 Share Posted October 24, 2004 you want to keep a mandarin in a 10 gal? best way to do that is with a 55 gal+ fuge stocked with 60 lbs+ of lr Link to comment
NanoReefTexas Posted October 24, 2004 Share Posted October 24, 2004 *Jumping in with clothing advertised as flame-retardent* You can keep a mandarin in a nano, here's the trick, you have to be willing to let a 70 gallon (longer and shorter) or a 100 gallon (thinner and taller) Rubbermaid stock tank fuge set for at least 6 months with a few pod kits and massive LR stockage. Plumb that into your nano, and well... it isn;t really a nano anymore, but you could do it to keep a mandarin dragonette, and still have the look of a nano. Hide your Rubbermaid behind or under the tank, it's what I'm going to do, so that I can keep a crocea clam with better water quality and stability. Except mine won;t be a pod farm. It will be heavy on LR though. Link to comment
cjl Posted October 24, 2004 Share Posted October 24, 2004 It doesn't seem like it but the mandrin forages ALL day for pods. You truely need a huge SUSTAINABLE system with(refuguim)for copopods. I know it seems like everyone is jumping down your throat but it's a subject with a lot of information that is easily accessable. Read some articles and decide whether to bring the fish back or not it is as simple as that. Sea anemonies have never been sucessfully kept in captivity for more than a few years; they eventually will die. Flowerpot corals are the same. I know that it is easy to buy a pretty coral without doing the research I've done it many times. It's almost a learned process. My advice is to get a book so you don't have to reference in the store then use the book to find the names and husbandry requirements for whatever coral or fish you are thinking about, do the research then the most important is THE FISHGUY AT THE STORE IS NOT THE KNOW-ALL END-ALL LEADER IN FISH AND CORAL PROPAGATION KNOWLEDGE. The reef business is very competitive. There are a lot of conservation and biological issues that change the dynamics of the business every day. A lot of the time stores really want to sell to you no matter what. Do the research first. Link to comment
raciampa Posted October 24, 2004 Author Share Posted October 24, 2004 I appreciate all the info an ideas, but my best bet is to return him. The next task is going to catch him. Beautiful, but he has been mare of a problem than not. Thanks, Robert Link to comment
Whitten Posted October 24, 2004 Share Posted October 24, 2004 Ahh they aren't too hard to catch, just be really slow and diliberate when you do it and that way he won't get stressed as much. Link to comment
BJK2 Posted October 24, 2004 Share Posted October 24, 2004 at my lfs they won't sell you a mandarin unless you have a established tank greater than 75 gallons w/ lots of liverock Link to comment
mattie Posted October 25, 2004 Share Posted October 25, 2004 sorry...... but i recomend that retun it and choose a different fish only becouse the difficulty in keeping this fish especailly difficult if it was not a well planed out purchase since the mandarin (dragnet) goby is an extremely picky eater and needs and plan in place before it's purchase... no you do not need a 55g sump for a 10gallon nano! but if this is a fish you desire to have in the future. i would say to return this mandrin put your refugium together and plan to buy a mandarin a few months down the road when you have finshed your plan on how the succesfully keep a mandarin in a nano for a long healthy life Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.