Madarin WILL eat prepared food,OK?

[pontius]

Originally Posted by D-Monic
Not exactly what i want to hear but the truth is the truth! I dont want the mandarin to starve of course, but i do plan on keeping an eye on her...if i see that she isnt eating in her new environment within 4 days ill sell her to someone who has tons of pods,i could have her in a great home within one day of putting her up for sale *great saltwater community around here* id really like to give it a try though! Do you think that the breeding copepods idea might help? Id also buy a fuge and put some in there...will they be able to breed and perhaps keep a steady supply going if i were to do that? Let me know what you think,i appreciate your honesty..im very much an animal lover *infact im a vegetarian* so the last thing i want to do is starve the poor little girl to death.

the breeding of copepods should definitely work as long as your rock and sand are good enough for them to eat off of, and yeah, a fuge definitely is good for copepods because it gives them a place to breed away from the main tank.

 

[gubber]

Hey, don't give up so easily. They are wonderful fish to have. Just make sure you stay with what she's eating right now and go from their. The truth dosn't hurt but don't give up on a dream cuz it's difficult. I'd wait a little longer than 3 day. I have a small tank and all I get is grief about my Mandrin, how he's not going to make it but I'll tell you what, he's making it. And that's the name I gave my mandrin. "GUBBER" I LOVE HIM!!!

 

[d-monic]

Originally Posted by Pontius
the breeding of copepods should definitely work as long as your rock and sand are good enough for them to eat off of, and yeah, a fuge definitely is good for copepods because it gives them a place to breed away from the main tank.

I think ill try and get a fuge tonight, im still a noob,what exactly do you put in it? Their selling one by CPR with a light and everything for around 70 at a LFS near me thats going out of business....would that be good?
As far as the breeding,i was going to use the method from this website,does it seem logical?:
***********LINK DELETED*************
I know my current rock and sand is good for them,i used to have a ton,but my wrasse eats them too so im going to have to take extra care to make sure hes not hogging them all anymore by breeding them outside of the fuge myself as a backup....let me know what you think!

 

[d-monic]

Originally Posted by GUBBER
Hey, don't give up so easily. They are wonderful fish to have. Just make sure you stay with what she's eating right now and go from their. The truth dosn't hurt but don't give up on a dream cuz it's difficult. I'd wait a little longer than 3 day. I have a small tank and all I get is grief about my Mandrin, how he's not going to make it but I'll tell you what, he's making it. And that's the name I gave my mandrin. "GUBBER" I LOVE HIM!!!
haha i love hearing your side of the story! Please update the forums on Gubber im sure hes adorable!! ill keep everyone updated on mine,im definately going to give her a shot living here,but i dont wanna risk her life at all just so i can oogle her for awhile if shes not eating mysis anymore lol

 

[pontius]

Originally Posted by D-Monic

I think ill try and get a fuge tonight, im still a noob,what exactly do you put in it? Their selling one by CPR with a light and everything for around 70 at a LFS near me thats going out of business....would that be good?
*********************
I know my current rock and sand is good for them,i used to have a ton,but my wrasse eats them too so im going to have to take extra care to make sure hes not hogging them all anymore by breeding them outside of the fuge myself as a backup....let me know what you think!
in a fuge, you'd put a deep sand or mud bed, some live rock, and some kind of macroalgae like caulerpa or chaetomorpha. this algae grows under the fuge light and absorved the phosphates in the system so that unwanted algae won't grow in the main tank. this makes for a great breeding ground for copepods.

 

[gubber]

It sounds like what Pontius is telling you is correct and I like what your going to do with the copepods fuge. I'm going to try it myself. Try the blood worms until you get her used to the mysis. Gubber is a wonderful Mandarin Dragonet-Spotted. He's a joy to watch here at work. I work in a Hospital and a 10 gal is all I'm allowed to have here in my office. People can't belive I have a saltwater fish tank in here and they keep coming to see. The six line wrasse is called SEXY cuz of the lipstick and eyeshadow.

They keep my smiling all day long.

 

[d-monic]

Hey all,just thought id give some closure on this thread,went back up to the LFS,and took a more realistic view at the mandarin,not as fat as i thought,in fact not very fat at all..i think i was seeing what i wanted to see at first. I asked the guy there to feed her once more,and this time i did not see her eat,and along with the doubts in my head,that sealed the deal. Im hoping someone more experienced will pick her up and give her a nice home,ive decided to buy a fuge and build up a nice copepod population before i think of getting a mandarin in the future and just feed 'em the old fasioned way. Thanks for all the advice everyone...she mightve been ok had i tried...but as someone on here said previous,better safe than sorry.

 

[gubber]

Very nice love.

Give me a hollar when you do get one.

 

[tiberius]

Originally Posted by reefkprZ
Another good way to spot feed madarin that will eat prepared foods is to run an airline down inside the aquarium and stick it under a rock poking out in one of the mandarins prefered locations then you take a feeding syring and suck teh mysis shrimp up and inject them through the air line directly to the mandarin
What an excellent idea!!!
another good food for them is sushi roe (flying fish eggs) you can get them at most asian markets. (some times sushi resturants in a pinch)
I just started a thread about this. You read about Josh's mandarin test!