Green Mandarin Owners - Food Advice?

[jon in tx]

I just bought a Green Mandarin today from the LFS and wanted to ask for advice on feeding. The LFS says I should be fine because I have a lot of live rock (135 lb in 90 gal tank) and have been set-up for 1.5 yrs. So I should have copepods.
My question is do others who have mandarins hand feed them or do they not need it? If you do feed it, what does it eat? I'm assuming he'll likely stay at the bottom during feeding which will present challenges also - any suggestions?

 

[kikithemermaid]

Did you see it eat mysis or anything else at the LFS? Some mandarins will only eat copepods, but you can get lucky if they eat other things.

 

[m0nk]

I'm sure it'll likely eat only copepods, mine doesn't eat anything else. Some people do luck out with frozen foods and mysis shrimp, but with the amount of live rock you should be ok. Do you have a fuge? Chaeto makes a great breeding ground for pods, so if you don't have a fuge you could use a new plastic soapdish, cover the chaeto, and put it somewhere in the tank that fish won't easily get to it but where the chaeto can still get light.
Best of luck, my mandarin is my favorite fish.

 

[spiderwoman]

So far mine hasn't eaten anything else but pods.

 

[schnutzzy]

Mine roams the tank 24/7 hunting pods. He seems to never stop. He is nice and fat!!!!

 

[jon in tx]

Originally Posted by kikithemermaid
http:///forum/post/2602587
Did you see it eat mysis or anything else at the LFS? Some mandarins will only eat copepods, but you can get lucky if they eat other things.
I didn't see, or ask, what it was eating exactly at the LFS - they just said it eats copepods.

 

[jon in tx]

Originally Posted by m0nk
http:///forum/post/2602598
I'm sure it'll likely eat only copepods, mine doesn't eat anything else. Some people do luck out with frozen foods and mysis shrimp, but with the amount of live rock you should be ok. Do you have a fuge? Chaeto makes a great breeding ground for pods, so if you don't have a fuge you could use a new plastic soapdish, cover the chaeto, and put it somewhere in the tank that fish won't easily get to it but where the chaeto can still get light.
Best of luck, my mandarin is my favorite fish.

Forgive my ignorance but what is a fuge or chaeto?? My tank is fish only so I'm guessing your talking inverts??

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by Jon in Tx
http:///forum/post/2604107
I didn't see, or ask, what it was eating exactly at the LFS - they just said it eats copepods.
They MAY accept frozen, but their diet is copepods. They can eat mysis all day and still die from lack of nutrition. If you have never seen copepods in your tank, then you likely don't have enough. They eat hundreds per day. You may want to take this guy back. I know that they are beautiful, but they have requirements that must be met. Their diet cannot be replicated with prepared foods.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by Jon in Tx
http:///forum/post/2604109
Forgive my ignorance but what is a fuge or chaeto?? My tank is fish only so I'm guessing your talking inverts??
A "fuge" is a refugium. It is a tank, that is plumbed to the display tank, that you can keep plants or macro algae, such as chaeto, without the fish being able to touch it. In a fuge, you would be able to breed copepods, without the fish being able to eat them. This would be something to do before you get a mandarin. You would then have a huge supply of pods that can be moved into the display.

 

[jon in tx]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
http:///forum/post/2604121
A "fuge" is a refugium. It is a tank, that is plumbed to the display tank, that you can keep plants or macro algae, such as chaeto, without the fish being able to touch it. In a fuge, you would be able to breed copepods, without the fish being able to eat them. This would be something to do before you get a mandarin. You would then have a huge supply of pods that can be moved into the display.
I do have a sump under my aquarium which sounds like what you call a 'fuge.' How do I begin breeding copepods in it? Is that something you buy?

 

[michaeltx]

you add live rock rubble and or cheato which is a macro algae in the sump chambers the pods will migrate down to that area and begin bredding since there is no predation in there they will thrive. you can also buy pods from this site and many others now to add to the tank https://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11...ot_parent_id=4
a bit of advice though and not to sound harsh but please reasearch purchases before buying. You have plenty of LR and if there is plenty of pods in there the mandarin should be fine. but if it was a much smaller tank and you had added the madarin it may not have a chance of surviving. research is key in this hobby.
Mike