Mandarin fish help!!!!!

picoseahorses2

picoseahorses2

Member
so heres the story, I went to my lfs on monday and i saw they had a green mandarin. they had it in a tank with "dead rock" and no pods were visible. and the manager sad that they had been feeding it adult brine shrimp. he also said that they just ran out and that they wouldnt get another shipment in of brine for a week or so. so i sat there thinking of how the mandarin would starve in the tank with no food for more than a week! so dont yell at me but i bought him (her).I just could help but same her and gve her a chance at least! It is a targert mandarin and it is slightly skinny and i think it may be starved or maybe just malnurished from eating only adult brine ( they said it had been in the store for about 2 weeks eating that. right now it will not accept frozen food so i made some "pod piles" in my 45 corner witch had pods before i got the mandarin. I had it set up for about 2 and a half years.So can anyone give me some advice on how to save the poor little fella
please i just dont want the pods to run out and have him starve, but i cant afford to keep buying them! Any help would be appreciated
 
K

kikithemermaid

Guest
You're so sweet for saving him/her. All I can think of is the pods
 
E

eric b 125

Guest
this is one of those situations where you knowingly signed on for this. do you have a sump where you can harvest pods?
 
makoshrk2

makoshrk2

Member
Originally Posted by TANG4me
http:///forum/post/2992789
What are you thinking?? What a jerk thing to say.
Whaaaaaaaa! BOO HOO. What do you expect. Most people that try to "save" fish don't have the capabilities or knowledge to do it themselves.
Seriously, if you have had the tank set up for awhile with pods in it and enough live rock you'll be fine for awhile. My LFS sell pods for $20, and that is for 2-3 thousand per bottle. I dump a bottle of them in my 120g about once a month to keep the colony going
 
scubachris

scubachris

Member
I was worried about the pod population for my new manderin, but I found what I think is the answer. My LFS sells what they call "Oister eggs". It comes in a jar and you put a small amount in the tank 2-3 times a week. It feeds the existing pods and allows them to reproduce extremely fast. I have to go get some tommarow, so I'll post some more specific info. The LFS swares by it and out of all the LFS around here I would trust this guy. Anyone else use this stuff?
 
cleve_seahorse

cleve_seahorse

Member
Originally Posted by Dive Girl
http:///forum/post/2992974
What about raising your own brine shrimp and enriching them to feed?
yes , you had dwarf seahorses , so brew some bbs , enrich them and target feed your manderin....or buy1- 2 week old brine shrimp at your lfs , enrich them [ 4 hours in a saltwater container with selcon ] and feed ....it should eat that if spot fed with a turkey baster.It's not a nutrious as pods , but will tide them over till you get it eating frozen mysis.
 
V

vinnyraptor

Guest
Originally Posted by picoseahorses2
http:///forum/post/2991789
so heres the story, I went to my lfs on monday and i saw they had a green mandarin. they had it in a tank with "dead rock" and no pods were visible. and the manager sad that they had been feeding it adult brine shrimp. he also said that they just ran out and that they wouldnt get another shipment in of brine for a week or so. so i sat there thinking of how the mandarin would starve in the tank with no food for more than a week! so dont yell at me but i bought him (her).I just could help but same her and gve her a chance at least! It is a targert mandarin and it is slightly skinny and i think it may be starved or maybe just malnurished from eating only adult brine ( they said it had been in the store for about 2 weeks eating that. right now it will not accept frozen food so i made some "pod piles" in my 45 corner witch had pods before i got the mandarin. I had it set up for about 2 and a half years.So can anyone give me some advice on how to save the poor little fella
please i just dont want the pods to run out and have him starve, but i cant afford to keep buying them! Any help would be appreciated
mandarins will eat pods, worms, and anything else your LR has to offer. they will also take frozen. my female eats marine cuisine and shes a fat lil thing. i do have over 150 lbs of LR now so she has a varied diet.
i also designed homemade pieces of LR for pod and other critters to breed in. dont let the goby gorge herself allow it to find its food. if it was starving and then it loads up in a day or two it could die.
 
hlcroghan

hlcroghan

Active Member
Don't fret too much. They can learn to be fed. It just takes patience and time. If he's already skinny you will need to get on it though. It is excellent you put the pods in. Now, get some omega enriched brine shrimp (ocean nutrition) and nutramar ova. It is oyster eggs. Both can be ordered off line and aren't extremely expensive. those are the two most nutritious prepared foods for mandarins besides pods and they seems to like them. I would try reseeding the tank with pods once a month as well, if you can. once you squirt the food out onto the bottom of the tank, you may need to blow it toward him across the bottom to make it move a little. But don't blow it into the water column because they normally won't chase after floating food like a clown. Once he learns that it is food, they will often eat from it like a baby froma bottle.
I have recently purchased a mandarin a couple of weeks ago and it was already eating prepared. It is healthy and fat and eats right out of the little squirter I use when I feed my other fish. It is definitely a little more involved than just throwing some food in there and sitting back but well worth it IMO. they are amazing!! Adding some garlic extreme really helps a ton as well.
I love Sparky. He is outgoing and hops right up to the glass to see me as long as I move slow and don't startle him. BTW, i have a 29 gallon tank. this may or may not work. Some do well some don't. If he won't take prepared foods, then you will have to buy or breed your own pods or he will starve. i bought mine knowing it was weaned onto prepared foods. Just work with him on it....and please let us know how it goes....
 
hlcroghan

hlcroghan

Active Member
Originally Posted by makoshrk2
http:///forum/post/2992951
Whaaaaaaaa! BOO HOO. What do you expect. Most people that try to "save" fish don't have the capabilities or knowledge to do it themselves.
Seriously, if you have had the tank set up for awhile with pods in it and enough live rock you'll be fine for awhile. My LFS sell pods for $20, and that is for 2-3 thousand per bottle. I dump a bottle of them in my 120g about once a month to keep the colony going
2-3 thousand??? is it tigger pods??? most of the bottles I see around here are only 2-300......what brand are you using?
 
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