ORA Blue Mandarin Rant

[cardoctor]

Link seems not working

Should be working. Tried it on my MacBook and phone. Other people have pmed me saying they saw the video and asked for advice on how I get them to eat. If the link does not work for you search cardoctorc on YouTube


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[bizzarro]

I had a captive bred Bangaii eat frozen mysis in the store before I bought it but at home it wouldn't touch the same food and later that one died.

Captive bred fish are more likely to eat frozen but doesn't guarantee that they may replicate teh same behavior in your tank.

 

[Imbarrie]

I have heard of a lot of fish resetting during a tank move.
Even clown gobies have been known to do it.

 

[jck16]

I'm just updating to say that I'm trying out the baby jar method with the Nutramar recommended by cardoctor and also mentioned in that link. I finally got around to taking pictures of the guy. He likes to look at the rock next to the jar, but he doesn't seem interested in the jar at all. I have to refill it every day though because something is eating it at night (I don't think it's the mandarin...could be the 3 peppermint shrimp I have).

 

[jck16]

Also even if I train the guy to eat frozen, will I have to leave the jar in the tank forever for him to recognize the food? It's kind of an eyesore.

 

[cardoctor]

Also even if I train the guy to eat frozen, will I have to leave the jar in the tank forever for him to recognize the food? It's kind of an eyesore.

Yes the jar should stay in all the time so they feel like its a permanent fixture. The jar should be installed in the same place and same position all the time. All of my mandarins are in the jars first thing in the morning waiting for food. 3 of them even stay in the jar as I lift it out of the tank and refill it. It will take about a week for him to venture in and eat. Be patient and replace the food twice a day using ova, new life spectrum and a touch of formula one. After he successfully eats for a month you can slowly move the jar to another position. They are slow and lazy eaters and will return to the jar 10-20 times a day so removing it will not help. He will eat all day out of the jar a little at a time. After he eats the ova I will tell you how to switch it up with mysis but it still has to be in the jar. For the most part they will not chase any food blowing around on the sand unless it comes right to them. Some cases there will be aggressive ones that chase the food but for the most part they will not.


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[cardoctor]

Your last picture shows curiosity to the jar and the food.That is the begining of progress He will venture in soon. Just give him time.


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[jck16]

Update: So I've seen my mandarin picking at clumps of loose Nutramar Ova that I use to target feed some of my corals only like once or twice. The glass jar was too much of an eye sore, so I removed it. There's always Nutramar where it used to be anyway because it's an area of very low flow and I think he's learned that.

I'm never sure what he's eating with gusto but he does seem picking at rocks more often and getting less skinny since I started adding the Nutramar. Yesterday, I added 2000 pods (copepods and amphipods) for him and the seahorses to snack on when I'm not home. Will this just encourage him to not eat frozen though?

Also, how do I trick him into eating mysis? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Imbarrie]

Along with the nutrimar I feed cyclopeez. It is pretty much inpossible to see what they are eating but if they move to cyclopeez then mysis are not out of the question.

 

[msharifa]

You have to be patient with the diner/jar method. I have mine for three weeks now and are eating nutramar ova and cyclopeeze. I had the same problem with the jar being too big and ugly looking. So, I took a smaller bottle/jar and hid it among rocks while I can still use a rigid tubing and a syringe to put food in every day. Another benefit of the smaller bottle was to keep other pesky fish and shrimp out of the food.

Since I have two green spotted mandarins, i did it with two bottles. To get them into the bottles, i shut off all the pumps and created a trail of nutramar ova to get each of them in the respective bottles. That took about 4-5 days of patient and slow work (sometimes hopeless.) But it all worked out and I was able to train them both. Hopefully this helps.

 

[jck16]

I think I'm gonna end my rant here. I saw him eat a PE mysis head and not spit it out, so I'm going to call this a success at this time. Since the start of this thread, he's definitely gained weight and seems much more at home in my tank. Thanks for all the advice!

Hopefully this won't be a temporary gain, but I at least have the knowledge about what to do should he stop eating frozen again.