I used frozen cyclopeeze for my mandarin and he got active when I fed it. I saw him eat it but he still only lived about 3 months. He got very skinny after he depleted the pod population, despite the 'eeze'. I would definitely not depend on it for an only food source. I have heard that to live a long healthy life, 1 mandarin should have at least 80 - 100 lbs. of established live rock, but I don't know if that's accurate.