Another common question probably.... MANDARIN GOBIES feedin?

[scifi_3d_zoo]

My guy has been in there for about a year. Now he's got a white spot on his head and he looks really thin. Has he eaten all the copopods? Has he eaten himself out of home? I have a 100 gal tank and he's the only creature in there that eats pods I believe. Is this a normal cycle.. IF that's what is wrong with him? Is there nothing I can do but let him die, wait 6-12 months, and get another one that will last a year??

It's really breaking my heart b/c he sits right in front of the tank and looks at me. Like he needs some other rock to forage. To me it looks like he's looking at me asking for help.

 

[jlneng]

Add some live Brine shrimp.......that will help him out

 

[scifi_3d_zoo]

That will help temporarily but what about the future? Thanks for the reply.

 

[Anonymous]

Check this out.
http://www.oceanpods.com/
Might want to setup a fuge to help keep more pods available

 

[ChrisRD]

Unfortunately many of these fish end-up dieing in captivity for this very reason (lack of natural food supply).

In the short term you might try getting him to eat some frozen cyclopeeze and/or buying a bunch of pods from an aquaculture place. Long term, you'll probably need to cultivate additional pods in a separate system or an attached refugium to keep him going.

 

[Rob Top]

I bought one my first month reef keeping. Was told it was a great begginer fish. After 5 years of freshwater keeping I should have know better than to buy with out research. I was able to keep him thriving for 3 years before I sold him as I didn't want to take him on a move. The biggest factor to my success, IMO, is a constant in flux of new live rock. Not everyone can do thi, but I kept expanding the size of the tank 29-55-75-125. Each time there was a chunk of new rock and a boost to the pod pop.

 

[owenz]

I am planning on keeping a mandarin in my 46-gallon bowfront. In addition to plenty of live rock, I've been advised to set up a refugium where I can spawn/culture pods. You could so something similar for your 100-gallon. For $140, you can get a commercial hang on the back model with a light:

http://www.aquariumpros.com/p-CPRAFLG.html

Clearly, an under the tank fuge with more water volume is better, but it's also more expensive and requires a more sophisticated pumping system due to the different water levels. With a hang on the back model, it's pretty much plug n' play. Toss in some live rock, sand, macro algae, and pods.

In the meantime, feed your mandarin live brine shrimp. You'll probably need to turn off all water flow for him to chase them down, but it will give him some neutrients prior to the refugium running.

(Note: I'm a complete rookie. What I'm telling you is recyled from more experienced keepers on this board.)

 

[scifi_3d_zoo]

I've been getting a lot of email feedback from Adelaide at OCEAN POD. She's really kool. She has a link in her FAQ about "Frank's Article" on making one of these too.

BUT... she's telling me... use a bottle of hers to get a culture going. And you can grow this in a closed jar, tupperware, gal. container, etc. Just add a little food, 10-20% water change every 2 weeks (how hard is that with a small container?). Put 1/2 in the tank and let your culture replenish itself for the next time. I don't know if I want to get into a full blown refuge, or a 10 gal tank. She told me Frank probably did that in his article b/c she supplies pods to several large tanks.

She said she was going to put together an article on how to do all of this and specifically how to take care of stuff like Mandarin's. I'll pass along the info on this and anything else if I find out.

 

[owenz]

Good to hear, scifi_3d_zoo. I may try my hand at keeping them on my own, in addition to trying them in the fuge. Incidentally, I priced out what the whole operation costs with the refugium (includes approx. shipping):

1. Large Aquafuge Unit - $110 (drfoster)
2. Jebo 17" refugium light - $30
3. Oceanpod culture - $35
4. Chaetomorpha (Macroalgae) Culture Ebay - $10

Total: $185

You can knock about $30 off if you purchase a smaller Aquafuge unit.

Anyway...that's the price breakdown from the wonderous Interweb. While I'm sure you can produce similar pod results in a bucket, refugiums are pretty helpful as filtration units too.

 

[owenz]

Another good source for Pods here:

http://www.sharkysreef.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=89_126&products_id=2471

Also of interest, this guy has taught his Mandarin to eat roe...the little eggs on the top of sushi:

http://joshday.com/mandarinfish.htm

He is housing the Mandarin in a nano tank, which is not advisable...but it's still an interesting read. He seems to endorse Sharky's over Oceanpods, who he'd used previously. His preference seems mostly based on shipping costs, which is $5 from Sharky's vs. $10 from oceanpods.

 

[scifi_3d_zoo]

I think I got some $15 shipping/handling charge from Ocean Pods.

 

[owenz]

I think I got some $15 shipping/handling charge from Ocean Pods.

Sharky's apparently considers pods "dry goods" - i.e. something that can sent through regular mail (ground). Conversely, Oceanpods considers them "live goods," and requires the pods to be sent using next day or 2-day mail.

I would be interesting to compare the mortality rates...

 

[scifi_3d_zoo]

http://www.copepod.com/
This is the URL of the place that sells all that stuff to Sharkey's.... the Pods in a Bottle, Phyto-Feast, etc. There's some info on all of this.. FAQ's, etc. But it still leaves me with questions. You can buy a bottle of these ready to go and use the bottle to culture them. Pretty kool. But it says you can't use tank water. I don't understand how that would contaminate and hurt the culture. That's where they are going in the end.. to the tank. They say to use ocean water.. or something like Catalina bottled ocean water? They Phyto-Feast is so concentrated you only use 1 drop a week. You don't want to fowl the water. Doesn't say a lot about how to do all of this still though. There's also mention about no aeration... then later it says at night to aerate it. I don't know. Anybody here actually doing all of this already? Gotta be a lot of Mandarin people out there. Maybe most people do like I use to do and just let them die... wait 6-12 months.. buy another one.

 

[owenz]

If you read this guy's blog, you can see he became pretty discouraged with his aquaculture attempts:

http://joshday.com/mandarinfish.htm

He was able to get a stable pod colony going in his nano tank with a mandarin present, however. His experience seems to suggest that your best bet might involve dosing the tank once a month with a fresh supply until the colony takes hold in the tank. It also suggests that a pod colony can be established in a small tank, even with a mandarin present, if you're persistent.

So even if the aquaculturing doesn't work, dosing the tank directly could. The only downside is that it might require you to order several batches of pods off the net.

FYI - also keep an eye on Ebay. People sell pods there for less $$.

 

[scottfarcuz]

I am setting this up next week.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/ ... eeder2.htm

 

[jlneng]

I hung a brine shrimp hatchery on the tank. I hatch 1 batch per week. My Mandarin is looking good.

 

[magicman76]

I hung a brine shrimp hatchery on the tank. I hatch 1 batch per week. My Mandarin is looking good.

brine shrimp do not have much in the way of nutirion.. you might want to consider something else long term..

 

[mike90]

im looking for the easiest way to feed my mandarin. i don't really want to build a fuge. any recomendations?? can i order pods and just pour them all in the tank? if so, how long would that last him?

 

[scifi_3d_zoo]

I replied to your thread with this same info in the other forum.....

There's a LOT of Copepod info I have gathered over the past few weeks. Let me start off by questioning one comment made by somebody. I am told, and it's on the respective website FAQ's, by the makers of both types of pods you can buy that you should NOT put them in the refrigerator. It's not like phytoplankton. They need room temp.

Uh... Adelaide's OCEAN PODS (www.oceanpods.com) have 1000 pods in a bottle, and the makers of Phyto-feast (http://www.copepod.com/) have 500 in a bottle. Both are similar in price. There's a guy on Ebay who will sell you Ocean Pods for only $5 shipping too... Reef Revolution. Adelaide charges about $15 shipping/handling. I got a Copepod bottle from Sharkey's. I decided to dump the Ocean Pod bottle in the tank (small plastic bottle) and I'm going to try and culture the Copepod brand bottle. In the meantime live brine, like everybody said will do, maybe frozen mysis. I've been doing live brine for a couple of weeks now and... boy he has a hard time eating them even when they are in front of his face. I was thinking... try direct feeding with a syringe or something so he gets some food. Try that with mysis too.

Adelaide tole me that a bottle might only last 2-4 weeks b/c of all the pod eaters in a tank and the time needed for them to populate. They might not get over the hump and populate quicker than they are consumed. I guess I'll have to start looking in the dark with a flashlight to get a good idea of exactly when I have enough pods. That's the real question... when is it enough?

Read both websites for info on how to care for them, feed them, culture them, etc. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you bought a bottle every month for the rest of your life but that doesn't seem logical. You can go with refuge or you can try what I'm thinking about and culturing them yourself. You can do it for a few months in the bottle they sell. Or make your own out of a 2-liter bottle, tupperware, etc. They also talk about aeration, light, etc. too. Adelaide told me she was working on a more informative FAQ on culturing them this way. I figure I'll just culture them easily this way for awhile b/c I'm not real interested in another tank or having something else hanging off the back of my tank. If I were more of an expert like these guys around here I think ideally a refuge can have a lot of advantages.

About pellets and stuff... you know what... don't start adding all sorts of food hoping he'll get it. Don't foul your water up. Anything you try like this do it with a very small amount. And I mean mysis. Mandarin's are like koala bears. They have very specific diets... they are highly specialized for this diet too. So try direct feeding mysis or live brine.

OH yea... don't use tank water to add or do water changes with. I never understood why now I do. I think I forgot the reason too but let me hack at it. Apparantly the bacteria (good stuff that has built up) in the tank can't survive outside the tank. SO they'll die and foul the water up. So use Catalina seawater, maybe bottle/box seawater, or make your own. There are instructions on OceanPods.com.