Mandrain Fish
- Thread starter xjayx
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teresaq1
Member
Sorry to say you are prob not going to be able to keep it. They live on pods. Do you have a fuge, if not you will need to set one up, and order pods on line. get more live rock, and try to get it to eat live brine enriched with zoe, and mysis shrimp. I feed mine with a syringe, it comes up to it to be feed. Did your lfs show you it eating??? they get skinny very fast. Good Luck
arrissa
Member
The mandarin may or may not except frozen mysis shrimp, but most likely not. You can order pods online if you conduct a search. You may have a hard time keeping up with the mandarin though. Training him to feed on mysis might be worth the effort if you can't keep you pod supply up. You may also want to get a live brine shrimp colony started, it's easy to do, but not always easy to feed in a large aquarium. Pods and more live rock are your best choices.
jedi
Member
A mandarin should only be kept in a tank with alot of LR and the tank should definatley be established.(1 Year min)
Your mandarin will die way before you can get pods, or "teach" it to eat frozen.
They are among the hardest to keep, and unfortunatly they are very cool looking so alot of people get them not understanding how difficult they are.
I would return it and get something that does not need lso much"special care" and LR.
Jedi
Your mandarin will die way before you can get pods, or "teach" it to eat frozen.
They are among the hardest to keep, and unfortunatly they are very cool looking so alot of people get them not understanding how difficult they are.
I would return it and get something that does not need lso much"special care" and LR.
Jedi
reefnut
Active Member
If you can not get him eating frozen mysis shrimp or something very quickly then take him back. It's not worth letting a fish starve to death... even if you were to buy a 100 pounds of live rock today, he would be dead before the pod population built up enough to support him. Buying pods on-line is an option but expensive.
g-dude
Member
Ive had both my mandarins for 7 months. Ive also got 60 Lbs of LR. I started off by target feeding them for the first 3 months and now all I do is just drop in the food and watch them eat. I been told by many people not to get them because they have failed keeping them alive. I got that one lil problem with being stubern, but hey I still got my mandarins alive and well. By the way i used Frozen Brine and Mysid shrimp. Iwould cut the little frozen cube into 1/8 slices to make sure the food would fit into their mouths.
Good luck to you
G-dude
Good luck to you
G-dude
reefnut
Active Member
I do enjoy hearing success stories of mandarins and other hard to keep critters but there are as many or more cases where the out come is grim.
The main problem with mandarins is MOST will not eat frozen foods. If you have one eating frozen foods you are indeed fortunate but w/o that supplemented diet they would not have enough natural food to eat with out an adequate amount of LR and pods.
Again, If you can not get him eating frozen mysis shrimp or something very quickly then take him back. A few pounds of LR and/or a new system will not have the required pods for them...
The main problem with mandarins is MOST will not eat frozen foods. If you have one eating frozen foods you are indeed fortunate but w/o that supplemented diet they would not have enough natural food to eat with out an adequate amount of LR and pods.
Again, If you can not get him eating frozen mysis shrimp or something very quickly then take him back. A few pounds of LR and/or a new system will not have the required pods for them...
1journeyman
Active Member
Take him back and tell the pet stores to quit selling them to people with small, newly established tanks. That is a death sentence.
Welcome to the boards, btw. You've come to the right place for a wealth of information!
Welcome to the boards, btw. You've come to the right place for a wealth of information!
sammiefish
Member
see if he eats mysis and brine shrimp...(as reefnut said) if so you may be fine... if he wont take that stuff within a week then Id say start making plans for a new home for him soon after that...
If he does eat the mysis then you should also be sure that the other fish dont eat all the food before the mandarin gets any... they are a little slower than other competitors so you may need to "place" food right near him and be sure he eats enough.
good luck
BTW, how many of those who responded to this post have actually owned a mandarin?
Ill start,
I did for 3 years... about 15 years ago... he went to a new home when I moved my tank.. one of many times!!!
If he does eat the mysis then you should also be sure that the other fish dont eat all the food before the mandarin gets any... they are a little slower than other competitors so you may need to "place" food right near him and be sure he eats enough.
good luck
BTW, how many of those who responded to this post have actually owned a mandarin?
Ill start,
I did for 3 years... about 15 years ago... he went to a new home when I moved my tank.. one of many times!!!
trainfever
Active Member
I was kinda in the same boat asy you. The difference was that I bought a scooter blennie. The LFS told me that he would eat brine shrimp. In two weeks time, I only saw him eat 1 brine shrimp. I orderd pods online and built a refugium in my sump. I've learned that it will take close to a year before my live rock will be mature enough to support pods. So in the mean time, I stock my refugium with pods and every once in a while I scoop some pods out and put them in the main tank. Also, I place the blennie in the refugium for a few days and let him stuff his belly and then put him back in the main tank. So far he is doing great.
reefnut
Active Member
Originally Posted by sammiefish
how many of those who responded to this post have actually owned a mandarin?
Although I hate to admit, I killed 2 before realizing my errors
. It was in my first 55g, had about 55# of LR. One starved for about 3-months and the other about 6-months. I have not tried one sense although I do have a tank that could support one now...
how many of those who responded to this post have actually owned a mandarin?
Although I hate to admit, I killed 2 before realizing my errors
1journeyman
Active Member
Originally Posted by sammiefish
BTW, how many of those who responded to this post have actually owned a mandarin?
I have, several years ago before I got my degree (in Biology with a marine emphasis..) Lost two before I started trying to figure out why...
I'll see your question and raise it: How many of you have worked/volunteered/been associated with public aquariums that keep dragonets? (I've been at two; And you know what? There are a plethora of posters here that know tons more about SW aquarium husbandry than I do)
Knowledge does not neccessarily come from experience. You CAN and SHOULD learn from mistakes made by others.
BTW, how many of those who responded to this post have actually owned a mandarin?
I have, several years ago before I got my degree (in Biology with a marine emphasis..) Lost two before I started trying to figure out why...
I'll see your question and raise it: How many of you have worked/volunteered/been associated with public aquariums that keep dragonets? (I've been at two; And you know what? There are a plethora of posters here that know tons more about SW aquarium husbandry than I do)
Knowledge does not neccessarily come from experience. You CAN and SHOULD learn from mistakes made by others.
sammiefish
Member
I agree as well.. the fact that I am a professor of biology absolutely does not qualify me as an aquarium expert.
simply reposting the statements of others which "have done the research", while informative, should also be qualified with the resource.
I think I am trying to be as constructive as possible to someone that has now found themself in a position that they may not have planned.... ie. try to feed it and if it eats, do "x", and if it doesnt, do "y". I felt bad for the poster to think that some think it is appropriate to simply say "take it back" even though that may indeed be the best course of action.
I am very interested in comments from those that have kept these beasts and the reasons why they felt they were successful or not...
simply reposting the statements of others which "have done the research", while informative, should also be qualified with the resource.
I think I am trying to be as constructive as possible to someone that has now found themself in a position that they may not have planned.... ie. try to feed it and if it eats, do "x", and if it doesnt, do "y". I felt bad for the poster to think that some think it is appropriate to simply say "take it back" even though that may indeed be the best course of action.
I am very interested in comments from those that have kept these beasts and the reasons why they felt they were successful or not...
cbarnes
Member
I also got a mandarin before learning of the heartache of feeding them. I have been told in the begining to feed them live food. Live brine shrimp or black worms. But it was stressed to me the best way to adapt them to your tank is start with live food then move to frozen or existing food in the tank. Unfortunately they like to eat often.
:happyfish
:happyfish
motameto
Member
I have two mandarins. Both will eat live brine, frozen blood worms, and live black worms. Wasn't the easiest thing in the world to do, but with a whole lot of patience It can be done. I have had mine for about a year now. I set up a 29 with lots of little bugs, then put them in, but the mandarins would rather eat the frozen blood worms. I also have a 5 gal. just for raising bugs.
pontius
Active Member
Originally Posted by trainfever
I was kinda in the same boat asy you. The difference was that I bought a scooter blennie.
actually, there's not much difference at all. a Scooter "Blenny" is not a true blenny, and is more closely related to mandarins.
as far as the "have you owned one" question, yes, unfortunately. the lfs had this guy for months. he was very fat and healthy, eating frozen food. I bought him, and he was dead in a month. and I have a 72 gallon with 140 pounds of lr and 60 pounds of live sand. they just aren't hardy fish, imo
I was kinda in the same boat asy you. The difference was that I bought a scooter blennie.
actually, there's not much difference at all. a Scooter "Blenny" is not a true blenny, and is more closely related to mandarins.
as far as the "have you owned one" question, yes, unfortunately. the lfs had this guy for months. he was very fat and healthy, eating frozen food. I bought him, and he was dead in a month. and I have a 72 gallon with 140 pounds of lr and 60 pounds of live sand. they just aren't hardy fish, imo