Can a Mandarin Live off roe?

[silentj]

I have a mandarin that will eat pellets/brine and mysis and fish roe.....can it live off that?? so that i can give my pods a little rest??

 

[alyssia]

It needs pods.

 

[silentj]

but i mean...think i can give my fuge...a month of rest...and have him eat flying fish roe and pellets for the time??

 

[stanlalee]

If its eating prepared and frozen then give the pods a rest and consider yourself one of the lucky few. It even eats pellets

 

[murph]

If he/she is eating that much of a variety I would say you are fine. I suspect that you will even find that he/she will become more and more aggressive at feeding time competing more and more with the other fish in the system.
I have had my spotted mandarin for many months now and is getting quite aggressive at feeding time. Mixing in a few live brine with other prepared foods is starting to do the trick for me but in your case I doubt that even that is necessary.
IMO mandarins are not as difficult as most people would lead you to believe. Especially if a quality specimen is purchased (most are half starved to death before they leave the LFS). I would say over half can be weaned onto prepared foods given an honest effort over the course of six months or more.

 

[silentj]

well my mandarin will only eat the food that manages to get to the bottom of my tank.....I hope it will get bolder and go get the food when it is sinking...

 

[my way]

Originally Posted by alyssia
It needs pods.
Are you saying this from personal experience? Why if the fish is getting and accepting a variety of foods would it's nutritional needs not be met?

 

[murph]

Here is something that might be worth a try J. Get the smallest jar you can find and put some of the roe and other food items you have seen your mandarin take and sink it to the bottom of the tank around his favorite hang out.
If the food goes unaccepted or other tank inhabitants don't come across it and eat it it can be easily removed from the tank.

 

[shrmnator]

another idea for feeding a mandarin.. wrap some cyclopeeze in some leaf algae and place it at the bottom of the tank.. use a rubber band to keep it bundled in the middle, leaving the sides open for the fish to get to the cyclopeeze.. works pretty good and lasts a day or so just sitting there in the tank.

 

[crazyzeus1]

I too have a mandarin who will accept Formula One & Formula Two pellets, frozen brine, live brine, & frozen bloodworms...he grabs what has sunk to the bottom. If your mandarin will take pellets, perhaps try what I do...When I feed the tank, I put some pellets in just for Mandarin...the pellets sink immediately so while the other fish are busy swimming around eating the frozen mix, Mandarin can eat in peace. The bloodworms also sink quickly, and only our Foxface is a "bottom picker", so the Mandarin usually has plenty to choose from.
It is true that Mandarin will become more "aggressive" during feeding time. He will now come out of the rockwork & wait in the one spot where the food hits the sand first every time...he knows where the food comes from! Our Mandarin is about 4 inches from mouth to tail & we restock the pod population every few months with about 4 bottles of Aquapods or a similar product. Not cheap, but I never feel like we have TOO many pods, so I just get some whenever I order something else live online for the tank.
And I agree with the comment about Mandarins being perhaps easier to keep than some people are led to believe. Of course, PLENTY of live rock is essential to their survival, and the majority of Mandarins will not accept any prepared foods...but if you have a sufficient pod population, have the funds to replenish the population frequently if needed, & find a healthy specimin, then you should be good to go.