Leslie Tabor
Valuable Member
I am so sorry to see he didn't make it. 
Another mandarin thread
- Thread starter DLHDesign
- Start date
- Tagged users None
melypr1985
totally addicted
I'm sorry for your loss
If you ever try again, try target feeding frozen mysis or blood worms. I moved my tank and lost a lot of pods and had no choice but to try and my mandarin eventually took to the stuff. Keep in mind I had to target feed with a turkey baster Bc my tang and fox face would put compete the mandarin. Mandarins are slow as sloths when eating so accomplishing this is not easy but if you just keep target feeding hopefully they'll pick it up. Side note: seems like the blood worms work slightly better Bc they're smaller and contrast against the sand, the fish can see them better than the mysis. Best of luck.
Yes. So sorry to hear.
Philt56
Active Member
I was going to say the same. My spotted mandarin swims all over when I feed my tank. Ussually LRS reef frenzy. He'll chase down in open water in the middle of the tank (i.e., doesn't stay close to sand) whatever pieces are in the water column. Totally not intimidated with my emperor angel going after the same food
Todd A.
Community Member
Sorry he didn't make it. I've read soooo many threads on how hard Mandarins are to keep, but I got lucky, really lucky. About 10 months ago I started a new job where we have a 150gal DT in our little "lobby". It was about 7 -8 months old with a few small fish (one Clown, a Damsel, Coral Beauty and a Hippo Tang) and I thought I'd give them a few friends. So I went down to the local LFS and bought three. One of those was a spotted Mandarin. At no time did the LFS inform me of the difficulties in caring for these fish and I was just too giddy about purchasing these amazing creatures to ask. Thankfully I had enough sense to research the fish the next day, and freaked. I was convinced I had given this fish the death sentence. I had no idea what pods were but scrambled to track down the proper food for my new fish. And like I said, I got lucky. 7 months later and all of the fish are doing great and the Mandarin has at least doubled in size, maybe more. I certainly learned a lot from that experience (and from reading R2R posts everyday) and now have a DT of my own at home. But no Mandarins. Not until I know the parameters and food supply are more than sufficient. And maybe not even then as I have become very leery of the Mandarins I see at the LFS. It makes me sick to think of how many they sell every week to individuals like me, uneducated on how to properly care for them. Anyway, here he is. And although he has learned to eat frozen foods, we still keep the tank stocked full o'pods
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eliramos
Valuable Member
In my opinion the best shot is to make sure they are eating frozen food at the store. If not acclimation is very difficult.
Of course they can be weaned but that's going to require time and effort.
When I first got mine, I would dose pods monthly to my 90gallon dt. I also feed my other fish heavily.
She used to only eat sparingly the food I fed. But now I noticed she attacks the food when I feed and she's getting fat.
I'm tempted to get a male but I really don't think my tank can handle two mandarins. Such beautiful fish and so inexpensive but are as fragile as a the most expensive as fish and should be treated as such!
Of course they can be weaned but that's going to require time and effort.
When I first got mine, I would dose pods monthly to my 90gallon dt. I also feed my other fish heavily.
She used to only eat sparingly the food I fed. But now I noticed she attacks the food when I feed and she's getting fat.
I'm tempted to get a male but I really don't think my tank can handle two mandarins. Such beautiful fish and so inexpensive but are as fragile as a the most expensive as fish and should be treated as such!
Todd A.
Community Member
Yeah, I started out with dosing our 150g DT with a bottle of Trigger Pods monthly and also feeding the frozen cubes of pods and our Spotted Mandarin was clearly feeding off of those but didn't touch the other frozen foods like mysis for several months. But now he goes for anything dropped in the tank and it clearly shows just in how fast he is growing. It obviously has just as much to do with the condition of the fish when purchased as the amount of pods in the tank when added, since we had never introduced any sort of pods to our DT prior to purchasing the Mandarin.
Here's a question I'll throw out there for others;
Has anyone ever had an LFS tell you that they "can't just feed the fish every time someone asks", or come up with some other excuse? I personally have not had that particular experience, but I've seen fish not eat and have been given all sorts of excuses why they aren't feeding.
IMO that's the key to picking out the right fish as I've never had a fish that ate at the LSF refuse food once I brought it home. Certainly not a fool-proof plan, but certainly a requirement everyone should follow.
Here's a question I'll throw out there for others;
Has anyone ever had an LFS tell you that they "can't just feed the fish every time someone asks", or come up with some other excuse? I personally have not had that particular experience, but I've seen fish not eat and have been given all sorts of excuses why they aren't feeding.
OP
OP
I was worried about getting this answer when asking for a fish to be fed. Or rather; I was worried about causing harm to their tanks by asking (eg; I didn't want them to overfeed and have chemical problems). Then I thought about how much water they have moving through their displays and how much filtration is at work; now I have no problems asking when I'm seriously considering buying something.
I've never gotten an excuse before, but at this point, I would personally not buy a fish that didn't eat. Excuses are fine and may very well be accurate and true, but a non-eating fish is a challenge I'm not up to solving at this point. I hope, some day, to have the time and knowledge to take on difficult/sick fish and help them, but I'm not there yet.
eliramos
Valuable Member
I have had them say "we just fed them so he may not eat. But my in my experience most fish always always always eat! You have to be an opportunistic feeder in the wild since you never know when a meal is coming. And almost all marine fish are grazing/hunting/scavenging. All day long. Not worth wasting money in an already expensive hobby on an "excuse" imo.
Todd A.
Community Member
I totally agree. I honestly believe I could feed my fish 15 times a day and they would still go for the food.
And if I plan to spend my hard earned money at any particular LFS, I expect to them to at least humor me and drop a little bit of food in the tank.
Watching how a fish behaves when food is introduced seems to be a good indication on its health.
Paul B
10K Club member
Excellence Award
Reef Tank 365
Reef Of The Month
Article Contributor
Rock Pool Reef Keepers
I realize many people have problems with mandarins and there is no reason to. They are a very easy fish to keep and they constantly spawn. Unlike most fish a mandarin should not be "trained" to eat frozen food. You are not training him, he is training you because you won't provide him with the proper food. It is not even the food but the frequency. A mandarin was built to eat a pod every 10 seconds. If you want to feed it frozen food you will have to do that every 10 seconds so forget about having a social life.
Here are some videos of my mandarins eating at a feeder.
You will also notice those pipefish are, like the mandarins pregnant.
Here the mandarins, pipefish and ruby red dragonettes are all pregnant. That is the normal condition for all those fish. But they need to be fed correctly or forgetaboutit.
Here are some videos of my mandarins eating at a feeder.
You will also notice those pipefish are, like the mandarins pregnant.
Here the mandarins, pipefish and ruby red dragonettes are all pregnant. That is the normal condition for all those fish. But they need to be fed correctly or forgetaboutit.
jsker
Reefing is all about the adventure
Thank you Paul, I was reading through the thread and going to say you made a feeder.I realize many people have problems with mandarins and there is no reason to. They are a very easy fish to keep and they constantly spawn. Unlike most fish a mandarin should not be "trained" to eat frozen food. You are not training him, he is training you because you won't provide him with the proper food. It is not even the food but the frequency. A mandarin was built to eat a pod every 10 seconds. If you want to feed it frozen food you will have to do that every 10 seconds so forget about having a social life.
Here are some videos of my mandarins eating at a feeder.
You will also notice those pipefish are, like the mandarins pregnant.
Here the mandarins, pipefish and ruby red dragonettes are all pregnant. That is the normal condition for all those fish. But they need to be fed correctly or forgetaboutit.
@DLHDesign I have had two that passed for the same reason, I did not understand how to feed them and if I do get another mandarin I would use the Paul B method
PaulB Melev and Bob Fenner are where I learned.
OP
OP
Thanks Paul; appreciate your input here for sure.
I actually built one of the feeders and kept it populated with fresh-hatched brine shrimp for several weeks during QT. The mandarin I had never paid it any mind - usually choosing to hang out on the other side of the tank from it, in fact. When I moved the feeder to that side, the fish would go to the other and stay there instead. It was quite frustrating for me, to say the least.
I say this not in doubt of your feeder, knowledge, or methods - obviously your results speak for themselves and far outweigh my singular experience. I think I just got a highly picky individual. Or else I was doing something wrong with the handling of the brine shrimp. Or any number of other things I was doing/not doing that you don't do/do...
I also built this in order to make sure that I had the brine shrimp ready at all times:
(I've cannibalized a few of the pieces for other projects now that I don't need it, but you get the idea.)
Cheers. I think I would do the same thing - likely starting with a smaller QT so that the fish pretty much has to sit on top of the feeder (or near it, at least). Perhaps that would get it to recognize it as the food source de-jour...
Paul B
10K Club member
Excellence Award
Reef Tank 365
Reef Of The Month
Article Contributor
Rock Pool Reef Keepers
Mandarins, and all fish are wary of new , clean things so it may have to get some age on it before they lost their fear of it. I leave it in the tank and it is covered in coralline algae and other growth.
OP
OP
Makes sense, for sure! I'll be sure to "age" it before I get my next mandarin; thanks!
