Some variety for my mandarin?

swishy

swishy

Member
Hey everyone
I just got a wonderful little mandarin dragonet, he is beautiful, very blue and orange. Only problem is I have a small tank and although I have pounds of live rock swarming with copepods I am still worried that in a while he may eat all of them. Is this likely, will the copepods rejuvenate themselves? Or is there anything else my little guy may like, I have tried frozen brine shrimp, he takes them then spits them out, and he was actually scared of the live worm I tossed in. If anyone has any input that would be awesome. Thanks :happyfish
 
swishy

swishy

Member
No I have tried live brine yet, they were expensive at the pet store and I didn't want to get them and have my fish not eat them...but I should probably suck it up and get them, they would be better than the frozen. Although I just fed it with an eye dropper and he ate a few! I really hope he wont be too picky, I have only had him a few days hopefully he will adjust to eating frozen food quickly!
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
My mandrine eats live brine soaked in zoe, and frozen mysis. I suck it up into a syringe, and when i put my hand in the tank kermit comes running.
 
swishy

swishy

Member
I have gotten him to eat some of my frozen brine! :cheer: Not enough to make me feel confident he will do well, but it's a start. Luckily I am going to be able to order copepods through my marine bio teacher! Hopefully I can fatten him up on that and then wean him onto more convenient foods. The pet store kind of tricked me, they said he was normal weight, but his belly is a little concave, and they told me he would only eat at night when the lights where off so not to worry if I didn't see him eating! After reading so much about these fish I see they were full of crap, I should have researched more before getting a mandarin, but now I have one and I am going to fight to keep him alive and healthy! :happyfish Thanks for your help, I really want to keep this little guy alive, he is so colorful and interactive he swims right up to the glass and has even poked his head out of hte water! its crazy how friendly he seems!
 
M

murph1455

Guest
mandarins are great fishes .... u should have a big tank to keep one but if u can get one to eat frozen food or preparred foods then he has a chance.... in a small tank a mandarin will eat all the pods before they can multiply.... thats y they are not reccommended in a small tank.... mines in a 100g with lots of LR i have had him now for about a year and luckily mine eats frozen foods too he find lil corners in the tank where the brine and mysis shrimp falls and picks at them.... this way the other fish cant steel them from him since they are a lot faster at getting food..... they are very friendly and beautiful creatures just picky eaters and difficult to maintain but if u have the paitence and fortitude u can keep one.... so far sounds like u are willing to do what it takes... keep us informed....
heres a pic of mine :happyfish
 
swishy

swishy

Member
I just put in an order for some living copepods and brine shrimp!
they should be here in a few days. My marine bio teacher gave me a great site...www.carolina.com they have a lot of supplies and even livestock at request and it is amazingly cheap, only $6.50 for one culture of copepods, granted I have no idea how big the culture is, but my by bio teachers said it should be a one or two once jar. I wish I could send a pic of my little fella but I don't know how. I'll let you all know how the living copepod culture goes as a food source.
 
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