deejeff442
Active Member
whats the point of getting the goby to eat pellets and frozen when he still needs the fatty pods to live?
Mandarin Goby diary
- Thread starter gypsana
- Start date
hlcroghan
Active Member
Originally Posted by deejeff442
http:///forum/post/3038913
whats the point of getting the goby to eat pellets and frozen when he still needs the fatty pods to live?
Because they don't. They do not require pods to survive. It is just their natural diet and it is very very difficult to get them to take other foods.
Mine is completely weaned off pods although he still picks at the rocks all day. He eats frozen krill, mysis, omega brine, cyclops and emerald diet soaked in zoecon and garlic. I also add coral food to it so he gets phytoplankton as well. He has to be most well-fed mandarin ever. And......as an added bonus, because he is hand fed everyday, he is the most outgoing fish in my tank except for my clowns. I can actually pick him up sometimes.
I love my Sparky!!
They are amazing fish!! Good luck with yours. He is absolutely beautiful!!
http:///forum/post/3038913
whats the point of getting the goby to eat pellets and frozen when he still needs the fatty pods to live?
Because they don't. They do not require pods to survive. It is just their natural diet and it is very very difficult to get them to take other foods.
Mine is completely weaned off pods although he still picks at the rocks all day. He eats frozen krill, mysis, omega brine, cyclops and emerald diet soaked in zoecon and garlic. I also add coral food to it so he gets phytoplankton as well. He has to be most well-fed mandarin ever. And......as an added bonus, because he is hand fed everyday, he is the most outgoing fish in my tank except for my clowns. I can actually pick him up sometimes.
I love my Sparky!!
They are amazing fish!! Good luck with yours. He is absolutely beautiful!!
gypsana
Active Member
Originally Posted by hlcroghan
http:///forum/post/3038916
Because they don't. They do not require pods to survive. It is just their natural diet and it is very very difficult to get them to take other foods.
Mine is completely weaned off pods although he still picks at the rocks all day. He eats frozen krill, mysis, omega brine, cyclops and emerald diet soaked in zoecon and garlic. I also add coral food to it so he gets phytoplankton as well. He has to be most well-fed mandarin ever. And......as an added bonus, because he is hand fed everyday, he is the most outgoing fish in my tank except for my clowns. I can actually pick him up sometimes.
I love my Sparky!!
They are amazing fish!! Good luck with yours. He is absolutely beautiful!!
Thanks! I am working at trying to get him used to my hand as well.
http:///forum/post/3038916
Because they don't. They do not require pods to survive. It is just their natural diet and it is very very difficult to get them to take other foods.
Mine is completely weaned off pods although he still picks at the rocks all day. He eats frozen krill, mysis, omega brine, cyclops and emerald diet soaked in zoecon and garlic. I also add coral food to it so he gets phytoplankton as well. He has to be most well-fed mandarin ever. And......as an added bonus, because he is hand fed everyday, he is the most outgoing fish in my tank except for my clowns. I can actually pick him up sometimes.
I love my Sparky!!
They are amazing fish!! Good luck with yours. He is absolutely beautiful!!
Thanks! I am working at trying to get him used to my hand as well.
sepulatian
Moderator
Originally Posted by hlcroghan
http:///forum/post/3038916
Because they don't. They do not require pods to survive. It is just their natural diet and it is very very difficult to get them to take other foods.
Mine is completely weaned off pods although he still picks at the rocks all day. He eats frozen krill, mysis, omega brine, cyclops and emerald diet soaked in zoecon and garlic. I also add coral food to it so he gets phytoplankton as well. He has to be most well-fed mandarin ever. And......as an added bonus, because he is hand fed everyday, he is the most outgoing fish in my tank except for my clowns. I can actually pick him up sometimes.
I love my Sparky!!
They are amazing fish!! Good luck with yours. He is absolutely beautiful!!
I disagree. They can be trained to accept prepared foods but will slowly die from malnutrition on a diet of prepared foods alone. We simply cannot replicate their natural food source.
Gypsana, good luck with yours. Very beautiful fish!!
http:///forum/post/3038916
Because they don't. They do not require pods to survive. It is just their natural diet and it is very very difficult to get them to take other foods.
Mine is completely weaned off pods although he still picks at the rocks all day. He eats frozen krill, mysis, omega brine, cyclops and emerald diet soaked in zoecon and garlic. I also add coral food to it so he gets phytoplankton as well. He has to be most well-fed mandarin ever. And......as an added bonus, because he is hand fed everyday, he is the most outgoing fish in my tank except for my clowns. I can actually pick him up sometimes.
I love my Sparky!!
They are amazing fish!! Good luck with yours. He is absolutely beautiful!!
I disagree. They can be trained to accept prepared foods but will slowly die from malnutrition on a diet of prepared foods alone. We simply cannot replicate their natural food source.
Gypsana, good luck with yours. Very beautiful fish!!
deejeff442
Active Member
hlcroghan
Active Member
Originally Posted by sepulatian
http:///forum/post/3039028
I disagree. They can be trained to accept prepared foods but will slowly die from malnutrition on a diet of prepared foods alone. We simply cannot replicate their natural food source.
Gypsana, good luck with yours. Very beautiful fish!!
Let me add something here. I do add pods from time to time to give him something to graze on but they are definitely not his primary food source. I don't know that the above statement is true or not. Maybe Spanko has something up his sleeve. I personally didn't come across any research that stated they were unable to survive without pods or anything like that prior to my purchase but time will tell I guess. I have my tank thread so I will just keep updating on his progress.
http:///forum/post/3039028
I disagree. They can be trained to accept prepared foods but will slowly die from malnutrition on a diet of prepared foods alone. We simply cannot replicate their natural food source.
Gypsana, good luck with yours. Very beautiful fish!!
Let me add something here. I do add pods from time to time to give him something to graze on but they are definitely not his primary food source. I don't know that the above statement is true or not. Maybe Spanko has something up his sleeve. I personally didn't come across any research that stated they were unable to survive without pods or anything like that prior to my purchase but time will tell I guess. I have my tank thread so I will just keep updating on his progress.
mantisman51
Active Member
Anybody that can keep them, I tip my hat. I have pods galore in my 3 y/o 125g reef tank and can't keep them alive. As I mentioned in the "can't keep" thread, if I don't clean the glass for a couple days, the side is crawling with pods/rotifers.
meowzer
Moderator
Originally Posted by mantisman51
http:///forum/post/3039438
Anybody that can keep them, I tip my hat. I have pods galore in my 3 y/o 125g reef tank and can't keep them alive. As I mentioned in the "can't keep" thread, if I don't clean the glass for a couple days, the side is crawling with pods/rotifers.
I have had mine since November...seems pretty happy and healthy to me.
http:///forum/post/3039438
Anybody that can keep them, I tip my hat. I have pods galore in my 3 y/o 125g reef tank and can't keep them alive. As I mentioned in the "can't keep" thread, if I don't clean the glass for a couple days, the side is crawling with pods/rotifers.
I have had mine since November...seems pretty happy and healthy to me.
pezenfuego
Active Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3039450
I have had mine since November...seems pretty happy and healthy to me.
http:///forum/post/3039450
I have had mine since November...seems pretty happy and healthy to me.
gypsana
Active Member
Well yesterday ended up being a near disaster. I checked my QT levels and they were horrible, high nitrates, slight ammonia, and I had nitrites present
. I hate QT issues, I have had nothing but problems with that set up from the get go.
I had no choice but to remove the Mandarin and put him in my DT. He is doing extremely well in there and seems no worse for the wear. My other fish were checking him out but they were not aggressive towards him. My Maroon Clown actually seemed protective of him which surprised the hell out of me. We will see how he does today. So far he likes pellet food, not sure about roe, and not much interest in mysis. I have a jar in my DT and once he is settled I will start to fill it with food again to see how that goes.
I had no choice but to remove the Mandarin and put him in my DT. He is doing extremely well in there and seems no worse for the wear. My other fish were checking him out but they were not aggressive towards him. My Maroon Clown actually seemed protective of him which surprised the hell out of me. We will see how he does today. So far he likes pellet food, not sure about roe, and not much interest in mysis. I have a jar in my DT and once he is settled I will start to fill it with food again to see how that goes.
meowzer
Moderator
Originally Posted by gypsana
http:///forum/post/3042056
Well something that I never would have guessed in a million years happened. My Maroon clown is protective of my Mandarin. If I stare at her and my Clown is by her she lunges at my face. She used to do this with her anemone. Crazy lady!
HAHA...that's funny
http:///forum/post/3042056
Well something that I never would have guessed in a million years happened. My Maroon clown is protective of my Mandarin. If I stare at her and my Clown is by her she lunges at my face. She used to do this with her anemone. Crazy lady!
HAHA...that's funny
moondog
Member
Since everybody is sharing, here is a pic of my Mandarin. He was the first fish on my stock list, but I waited 6 months for the pods to colonize. All the sudden, one day, I noticed he was eating the frozen brine I was feeding everybody else. Now he is fat, happy, and one of the most personable fish that I have.
gypsana
Active Member
Originally Posted by Moondog
http:///forum/post/3042422
Since everybody is sharing, here is a pic of my Mandarin. He was the first fish on my stock list, but I waited 6 months for the pods to colonize. All the sudden, one day, I noticed he was eating the frozen brine I was feeding everybody else. Now he is fat, happy, and one of the most personable fish that I have.
Very beautiful. I love to see other users Mandarins. They were the first fish I wanted as well. Mine seems to prefer pellets over mysis. But he is just getting used to his new surroundings so we will see what he starts to eat.
http:///forum/post/3042422
Since everybody is sharing, here is a pic of my Mandarin. He was the first fish on my stock list, but I waited 6 months for the pods to colonize. All the sudden, one day, I noticed he was eating the frozen brine I was feeding everybody else. Now he is fat, happy, and one of the most personable fish that I have.
Very beautiful. I love to see other users Mandarins. They were the first fish I wanted as well. Mine seems to prefer pellets over mysis. But he is just getting used to his new surroundings so we will see what he starts to eat.
gypsana
Active Member
Originally Posted by Moondog
http:///forum/post/3042431
The pic doesn't do him justice, he is about 4" by now, and absolutely beautiful. He is now in a 150, and I have been thinking about getting him a wife, I don't know how well that would work.
I never tried pellets, what kind are you using?
I feed the Hikari Marine S and Marine A Bigger pellets to my clown. They are a big hit with all my fish. I alternate with those and homemade food.
http:///forum/post/3042431
The pic doesn't do him justice, he is about 4" by now, and absolutely beautiful. He is now in a 150, and I have been thinking about getting him a wife, I don't know how well that would work.
I never tried pellets, what kind are you using?
I feed the Hikari Marine S and Marine A Bigger pellets to my clown. They are a big hit with all my fish. I alternate with those and homemade food.
spanko
Active Member
Sep is correct in her assessment here. We cannot provide the nutritional requirments to keep these critters long term.
From U of M Museum of Zoology, aminal diversity site
Lifespan/Longevity
In the wild mandarin fish are expected to live between 10 to 15 years (Sale, 2002). In captivity, however the lifespan is greatly reduced due to dietary requirements. On average, mandarin fish live between 2 to 4 years in captivity (Delbeek, 1989). (Delbeek, 1989; Sale, 2002)
And from wetwebmedia
"It’s not unheard of that a dragonet will accept (with training) frozen/defrosted foods in place of live, but it is rare that non-live foods sustain them. In the wild their food choices are principally small crustaceans and worms. You can culture these "incidentally" in a large main/display system with lots of substrate and/or live rock, but adding a live fishless refugium will go an immense distance in assuring your mandarin/s receive sufficient live food. These fishes cannot live on dried-prepared or frozen/defrosted, or chopped meaty foods."
From any reading I have done 2-4 years is unheard of in systems that;
Do not have a fishless remote refugium to cultivate live foods.
Have any other predatory fish competing for the same food stuffs as the dragonet.
So you can see these creatures are doomed, as probably most creatures are, in our captive systems, but their life spans are greatly reduced where others at least have a fighting chance.
From U of M Museum of Zoology, aminal diversity site
Lifespan/Longevity
In the wild mandarin fish are expected to live between 10 to 15 years (Sale, 2002). In captivity, however the lifespan is greatly reduced due to dietary requirements. On average, mandarin fish live between 2 to 4 years in captivity (Delbeek, 1989). (Delbeek, 1989; Sale, 2002)
And from wetwebmedia
"It’s not unheard of that a dragonet will accept (with training) frozen/defrosted foods in place of live, but it is rare that non-live foods sustain them. In the wild their food choices are principally small crustaceans and worms. You can culture these "incidentally" in a large main/display system with lots of substrate and/or live rock, but adding a live fishless refugium will go an immense distance in assuring your mandarin/s receive sufficient live food. These fishes cannot live on dried-prepared or frozen/defrosted, or chopped meaty foods."
From any reading I have done 2-4 years is unheard of in systems that;
Do not have a fishless remote refugium to cultivate live foods.
Have any other predatory fish competing for the same food stuffs as the dragonet.
So you can see these creatures are doomed, as probably most creatures are, in our captive systems, but their life spans are greatly reduced where others at least have a fighting chance.
gypsana
Active Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3042454
From any reading I have done 2-4 years is unheard of in systems that;
Do not have a fishless remote refugium to cultivate live foods.
Have any other predatory fish competing for the same food stuffs as the dragonet.
So you can see these creatures are doomed, as probably most creatures are, in our captive systems, but their life spans are greatly reduced where others at least have a fighting chance.
I have a fishless refugium and only three other fish in a 90+ gal. I know that they do not do well in captivity and my struggle to get one for the last couple of years was for that reason. I believe though that I would give it a go because I have a set up that will, hopefully let a Mandarin a chance to thrive. That is why I started this thread so I can update it to help people with my experience and also let others share there's. There are a lot of threads started on this fish so I hope this helps.
http:///forum/post/3042454
From any reading I have done 2-4 years is unheard of in systems that;
Do not have a fishless remote refugium to cultivate live foods.
Have any other predatory fish competing for the same food stuffs as the dragonet.
So you can see these creatures are doomed, as probably most creatures are, in our captive systems, but their life spans are greatly reduced where others at least have a fighting chance.
I have a fishless refugium and only three other fish in a 90+ gal. I know that they do not do well in captivity and my struggle to get one for the last couple of years was for that reason. I believe though that I would give it a go because I have a set up that will, hopefully let a Mandarin a chance to thrive. That is why I started this thread so I can update it to help people with my experience and also let others share there's. There are a lot of threads started on this fish so I hope this helps.
