Mandarin Fish : NEED ADVICE

[kenske]

I just got a pair of juvenile mandarin fish. They were not paired up, they were in different tanks. They are very active and are getting along the moment they are introduced. Beautiful fishies! They remind me of humming birds (the hovering, swimming vertically, and the constant pecking). I do not want anything to happen to these They are sharing a 24 nanocube with a rainford's goby.

They started hunting for pods immediately after placing into my tank. They are also not as shy as I thought. My problem is that they ignore the frozen cyclopeez, baby brine, and mysis. The lfs said that they will eat frozen food. Any suggestions regarding "training" them to eat frozen foods?

For the time being, I will buy pods at lfs to feed until I can get them take frozen food.

 

[fritz]

You can try the Mandarin Diner

http://www.melevsreef.com/mandarin_diner.html

I almost bought one the other day:

"Do they eat frozen food?"
"Yeah dey eat da...whatcha callit? Mysis shrimp"
"I'll buy any two that eat it right now"


Well after 5 minutes each and every one in the tank had mysis slap him in the face and not a single one tried to eat any of it. I left them in the store

 

[Deanos]

Mandarin

Another Mandarin question

Help me make my mandarin fat

IMO, a 24g tank is too small for 1 mandarin, let alone 2.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Please stop listening to the LFS people 98% of them don't know what they are talking about cause they are sale driven not hobby driven. You should ask the guy who sold them to you how many he had in his tank at home.

They need to be trained to eat frozen foods. Some pick it up right away and some take time, some never do and die of starvation. Pods are a must for them keep their population up and you should have great success with them.

 

[basiab]

You are going to starve 3 fish. Your Rainfordi may eat frozen but I doubt it. It needs lots of live sand to feed it. It sifts sand all day and in your size tank will run out of food unless you can keep restocking. The same goes for the mandarins. One alone probably needs a 75 gallon to make it. So you have 3 fish that each need a large mature tank to survive. They will last a couple months and then die of malnutrition and you will be asking everyone why they died they were doing so well. Even a fuge will only be enough for one of these fish.

 

[kenske]

Thank you to all that chimed in to try and help.

On the "taking advice from lfs". I agree. But I actually trust the guys over at my lfs. They are honest and have help me solve some problems in the past. They have even talk me out of buying things in the past.

I will do some more research tonight. I will definately visit the links suggested above.

I have had my rainford's goby for 6+ months now. He is doing great . When I got him, he was a bit emaciated. Now he is quite plump. He sifts sand all day long. I feed my corals 3 times a week. I think the goby do eat whatever that is on the sandbed. He definatley do not look starved.

I will continue to offer frozen food to my mandarins. I will make sure that I keep buying live pods until I am successful.

Thanks again,
Kenny

 

[Deanos]

Which LFS told you that you could successfully keep 2 growing mandarins in a 24g tank? That goes beyond trust issues. If they're as trustworthy as you state, they'll have no problems accepting the mandarins back for store credit. It's the best move in the interest of saving their lives (the mandarins' that is )

 

[JHOV2324]

wow..pods are $20 a bottle....thats expensive fish to keep...maybe u shud start a pod culture..i was going to do one..but my mandarin started to eat mysis so i decided to save that project for another day....the guys above me are giving u good advice...good luck

 

[jhale]

I agree the 24 is too small for mandarins, they will consume the pod population too quickly. If you were to hook a 55 gallon fuge to the 24 then it might work. not trying to knock your LFS guys but they are wrong in this case.

 

[thirty5]

Hey you can always introduce Flatworms, into your tank. The mandarins will eat them, and they will reproduce without a prob.

That was a total joke.......

I am going to pick up a couple manadarins for my 180. But i have to get my fuge built (90 gal), so i can grow the pods.

 

[emps]

They are honest and have help me solve some problems in the past. They have even talk me out of buying things in the past.

They may be honest with you, but then it seems that they don't know what they're talking about regarding mandarins. Get those 2 mandarins back to them. You'll be spending hundreds a week on bottled pods to keep them fed. I've got one in my 55g with sump and a fuge that I dose with DT's phyto daily to keep the pods going and i'm still scared he won't have enough. He eats like a madman, but he's been there for a month and I still have pods growing in the fuge and on the rocks.

 

[thirty5]

If they wont take them back. I might consider taking them off your hands for my 180. But i will need to get pods to introduce into my system.

 

[reefman]

Deanos is right on the $.
unfortunely, most like u will learn the hard way. too bad its those cute mandarins that will ultimately pay the price.:sad2:

 

[thirty5]

I do have to say that my first tank 72 Bow which i purchased entire setup over $1500 from Reef Encounter. I did fish only in that tank. I bought a mandarin from them and they didnt even ask what i was putting it in. I konw that it was not their job to ask, it is their job to sell. But i put it in my tank lived for a short period and died. That was my first tank and i didnt know much.

I didnt even know they they needed special food. LFS just sold it to me with no questions. Real customer service woud have asked if i at least had food for it.

 

[EmilyT]

:knockedouyou killed me with that joke there
jk

 

[cybermeez]

Everything people here are saying is on the money. You are going to slowly starve these 2 beautiful little fish.

I have a 120g with lots of live rock/sand and a refugium to grow copepods to boot! I was still concerned that there might not be enough pods to feed the pair of mandarins I have.

Something like 90% of all mandarins in captivity will never take to anything but live pods. If you really want to do what's right for the fish, I'd rehome them with one of your fellow reefers here who can provide them with the propper tank setup. These fish are beginning to be under serious pressure in the wild and it's sad to know most of those caught will die a slow death due to starvation.

 

[kenske]

Which LFS told you that you could successfully keep 2 growing mandarins in a 24g tank? That goes beyond trust issues. If they're as trustworthy as you state, they'll have no problems accepting the mandarins back for store credit. It's the best move in the interest of saving their lives (the mandarins' that is )

24 Gallons is not acceptable to house 2 mandarins because of size/habit of the fish?
or
it's not acceptable because it cannot produce enough pods?

Suppose I provide baby brine daily? I can decapsulate 6 weeks worth of brine eggs and store in fridge. So if food is no longer an issue, is the tank still too small to house these guys?

I want to do the right thing for these fish. If the answer is yes, then I have somehow catch them and then return to LFS.

By the way, i did do some research online. There are numerous sources that claim that these guys will eat frozen food or at least trained to. Also, at least one source says that the mandarin can thrive in a 10 gallon. That's why I decided to make the purchase. Up to this point, I do not have any fish in the tank other than a rainford's goby. This is b/c most fish that I like will out grow the tank.

 

[NYreefNoob]

manderins

ive tried them twice in my 62g and longest i got one to live was 2 month's. i seeded the tank with artic pod's have a ton of lr and ls, but they still starved

 

[thirty5]

I was told that you really should have a Fuge for the pods. They will grow in the fuge and then flow with the water into the DT and that is when they will get eaten. I am going to get a couple to try out in my tank but after my fuge gets built

 

[cybermeez]

I was told that you really should have a Fuge for the pods. They will grow in the fuge and then flow with the water into the DT and that is when they will get eaten. I am going to get a couple to try out in my tank but after my fuge gets built

This is exactly what I did. I have lots of yummy little white pods reproducing in my fuge. A few times a month I scoop some out, turn off the pumps and set them free in the main tank. Once they've scurried into the rocks or grabbed onto the glass I turn the pumps back on. I also let film algae grow on the back and sides of the tank. Those little pods love that stuff....and my mannderins love the pods. :eat:

It's being able to grow a sustainable population of pods that is the issue. Mine won't touch Tigger pods either. They only want the teensy white ones.