finally taking the great mandarin jump

seecrabrun

seecrabrun

Active Member
pinky327 said:
its all good i was enjoying the read! looks like the only one I have up right now is a little old but here he is. I feel like so many people hate them, where i really love my damsel, he has the most personality out of any fish i have ever encountered. if only i had a bigger tank for him....



.
Click to expand...
Gorgeous!! Wish I could take him. Damsels are my favorite fish so far. I love their personality as well. My tank isn't just for me to look at occasionally, I treat the occupants like all my other pets, like family. I interact with each of them and I think that makes a difference.
I have a neon velvet, yellowtail, and 2 chromis. I continue to lust after other damsels but I know I'm full now for my current setup.
 
pinky327

pinky327

Member
Well my damsel is gone. His name was Digger and I fear I'll never have another fish with his spunk. But he's off to bigger and better places, I even gave them his favorite snacks so he will be happy and I get visitation rights lol. So it's just my mandarin, snails, hermits, and some mushrooms.

She is very shy like very very shy, when I come near the tank she basically freaks out so much I feel bad. I really hope this gets better with time because my favorite spot in the house is right next to the tank and I normally get my hands in there everyday... But I have cut this down to reduce stress on her.

She is still eating and I feel confident she knows the feeder is almost always full of treats, I'm gonna order the American Marine Selcon I couldn't find any around me. I have never used something like that to enrich my foods so I'm interested to see how it does! And I'll probably get some of the recommend flake/pellets too just for good measure!
 
pinky327

pinky327

Member
I do like the idea of having a male for her but I just want to focus on her for now i just want to make sure I can even keep her happy and healthy in the first place. She is the only fish in the tank as an attempt to reduce any stress or food comp. Once i get the hang of it i may do a male or ill do some research into an acceptable open swimming fish that will not hunt her pods. Just haven't decided yet
 
pegasus

pegasus

Well-Known Member
pinky327 said:
I do like the idea of having a male for her but I just want to focus on her for now i just want to make sure I can even keep her happy and healthy in the first place. She is the only fish in the tank as an attempt to reduce any stress or food comp. Once i get the hang of it i may do a male or ill do some research into an acceptable open swimming fish that will not hunt her pods. Just haven't decided yet
Click to expand...
You won't have much competition from other fish hunting her pods. Copepods are tiny creatures that most fish won't bother hunting for. Besides, you won't have enough pods in a 29 gallon tank to support one mandarin, so you'll have to feed her... and him if/when the time comes.
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Ah 29 , thanks peg lol
Six line wrasse are pod hunters but most other fish would prefer to just be fed lol.
To give u an example I have my green mandy pair in my 56 column w a pair of scooter blennys, a sixline, black clown, red fire, purple pseudo, a chromis and a yellow watchman goby. All those fish types can go in a 29 just not all together. All get alone w mandarins
 
pegasus

pegasus

Well-Known Member
jay0705 said:
Ah 29 , thanks peg lol
Six line wrasse are pod hunters but most other fish would prefer to just be fed lol.
To give u an example I have my green mandy pair in my 56 column w a pair of scooter blennys, a sixline, black clown, red fire, purple pseudo, a chromis and a yellow watchman goby. All those fish types can go in a 29 just not all together. All get alone w mandarins
Click to expand...
It's true about the sixlines. Although they'd rather munch on a nice fat amphipod, they won't pass up a copepod snack. I said most fish won't, but there will be a few that will. Scooter Blennys are not actually Scooter Blennys... they're Ocellated Dragonets. Just like the Mandarin, they eat copepods. Anything that eats pods will have to be trained to eat frozen or processed food to survive in the pinky's biocube. Firefish would be a good choice, as they're small and very docile. A royal gramma, purple pseudo, or possibly a dottyback would also be a good companion. Space is limited, so if you want variety, think small...
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Good call on gramma, passive fish. I have one in my 75.
Yes most people don't realize scooters are indeed draggonets. I have to up load a video of my 56. When I feed its crazy the scooters and mandys go vertical, picking food out of the water column
 
pegasus

pegasus

Well-Known Member
jay0705 said:
I have to up load a video of my 56. When I feed its crazy the scooters and mandys go vertical, picking food out of the water column
Click to expand...
It's fun, and funny to watch! My mandy tries, and sometimes succeeds, but he's so slow that other fish will pick if off before he can decide which eye he wants to look at it with. There are times when he's completely upside down trying to nab a piece. He's far more successful if it hits the sand and doesn't move. I'm sure a lot of people have never witness it, so yeah... a video would be cool.
 
pinky327

pinky327

Member
Thanks for nice suggestions guys! I'm not going to add anything soon but having an idea if I do is awesome. And what I was saying was I don't want a fish to eat not only her pod treats but any of her food sources at all. I have the BBS feeder and a jar in opposite ends of the tank so that's where her food goes so if I got another fish I would want one that will eat floating pellets and meaty bits at the top that way they don't bother her shrimp and other foods at the bottom.... I would of loved for her to associated me with food but she is one skiddish fish if I even get too close she freaks so hand/pipette feeding her just doesn't seem likely.

Original I was thinking firefish but read they ate pods which made me think they would also go to her feeders.... If I get a fish I would want one that would refrain from eating off the bottom too much I know most can't resist a tasty bite or two lol, but my damsel was that way he did not eat sandy food lol he was spoiled if it hit the bottom it was for the cc and he wanted a new piece

Still debating between getting a male or a different fish all together. I haven't looked into it yet but do they benefit for having a male friend??


Also I figured I would update she has been released into the display. She naturally took over the one cave in the back that I can barelly see into that was Diggeres favorite cave too... but she comes out hunts the rocks a lot she went into her jar yesterday and ate some pellets or cyclopseeze I'm not sure cause I have to watch from so far away. The BBS feeder that is in the tank is a little different from her training one so she has ignored it so far. I also made a shell pile next to cave that I have been squinting different frozen foods on to along with the rocks. So I have some very happy crabs lol they are so not use to all these different types of food being everywhere but I just want her to have food at every turn!
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
When she is out try just dumping some food in.you want to train her to eat like normal fish. When I feed its a free for all and my mandys r in the middle of it lol
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
I should add , idk if the fish benefit from pairs but u do by being able to keep more of them. 2 males will fight. Also dont mix w spotted mandarins there nasty lol
 
pegasus

pegasus

Well-Known Member
I don't think they benefit from having a mate. I have a single male, and he's content hunting for food. I tried adding a female twice a little over a year ago, and they both died as neither were healthy when they arrived. I haven't tried since.

Be careful not to overfeed your tank.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top