biota manderin??

[geddavis]

I was thinking of getting a biota mandarin off of live aquaria because they are pre-trained to eat cyclops. I want to put one in my new 40L 15W 7H frag tank. it has a screen top LR in the back and a sand bottom along with a small pod population in the sump. it will move to a 55g when it grows up.

1 will this work
2 how much should I feed
3 do I need to change anything or consider anything else

 

[mta_morrow]

Mandarin’s will hunt for pods all day, non stop. It will still be their primary diet and the population needs to be very good.

Anything else is supplemental as the do not swim for it

 

[geddavis]

so they won't get any exercise without the pods?

 

[geddavis]

in the description it said. "were raised Frozen Cyclops, along with 360-520 micron dry food mix and supplementing with live foods"
it implied they could live without live food and it was just a supplement

 

[mta_morrow]

so they won't get any exercise without the pods?

They will wither away without the pods.

 

[geddavis]

even if you see them eating the Cyclops and other frozen food

 

[davocean]

It's more about their metabolism, similar to a hummingbird that must feed all day.

A mandarin eats 1-3 pods per minute all day.

That must be provided or replicated in some manner, usually a tank big enough to hold enough rock and surface area for pods, or someone adding pods to a system that may be too small, which can become costly if you are not culturing pods.

It can take a while for a mandarin to starve which may fool some people for a while.

 

[geddavis]

what if you used a dosing pump to dose thawed frozen food all day

 

[408Dartfish]

I wouldn’t buy a captive mandarin even the tiniest one eat thousand upon thousands of pods. Unless your tank is crawling with pods. My biota mandarin wouldn’t eat anything but pods. I ordered a biota mandarin from live aquaria and algaebarn.

 

[reeflover_3303]

Why not just take the advice these great people are giving you ? You will benefit form it in the long run !!

 

[davocean]

what if you used a dosing pump to dose thawed frozen food all day

They may not eat it for one, and while maybe there could be a way to safely dose frozen on a feeder, for that much effort I would just go the for sure route and just culture pods I think, if I were to try to do something like this, which I would not, just not practical for me, but if you have more time than real estate I guess it could be an option, maybe.

That's my best attempt to think positive on an alternative to the standard minimum tank size, rock, and fuge suggestions that we do know normally work best

 

[jd371]

It's more about their metabolism, similar to a hummingbird that must feed all day.

A mandarin eats 1-3 pods per minute all day.

That must be provided or replicated in some manner, usually a tank big enough to hold enough rock and surface area for pods, or someone adding pods to a system that may be too small, which can become costly if you are not culturing pods.

It can take a while for a mandarin to starve which may fool some people for a while.

Ain't that the truth. My tank(75g) had been set up and running for over 3 years with a sump and refugium with a lot of rock rubble. Bought a Spotted Dragonet last year around Thanksgiving, watched him like a hawk the first couple of days and was happy to see him pecking at pods every couple of seconds. Besides the pods he ate Brine Shrimp and live Black worms so I though he was getting enough. I never noticed him losing weight until a month ago and ordered pods right away, but it was too late and he passed a short time after. You need to have a massive tank with plenty of rocks and refugium and no other competitors for pods and or willing to culture pods. I really think these types of fish should be left in the wild, breaks my heart to see them in tanks at the lfs and know most of them are going to starve.

 

[davocean]

Ain't that the truth. My tank(75g) had been set up and running for over 3 years with a sump and refugium with a lot of rock rubble. Bought a Spotted Dragonet last year around Thanksgiving, watched him like a hawk the first couple of days and was happy to see him pecking at pods every couple of seconds. Besides the pods he ate Brine Shrimp and live Black worms so I though he was getting enough. I never noticed him losing weight until a month ago and ordered pods right away, but it was too late and he passed a short time after. You need to have a massive tank with plenty of rocks and refugium and no other competitors for pods and or willing to culture pods. I really think these types of fish should be left in the wild, breaks my heart to see them in tanks at the lfs and know most of them are going to starve.

Sometimes things happen along the way w/ chemistry or other methods that might even affect us even when we do have the minimum tank size rock and fuge, and you pointed out another factor in pod competition. I don't keep certain wrasses for this reason, even with plenty of space and rock/fuge.

Given a proper set up they can actually be easy to keep, I've had several mated pairs over the years even, but bottom line their metabolism needs must be met one way or another.

 

[mta_morrow]

Ain't that the truth. My tank(75g) had been set up and running for over 3 years with a sump and refugium with a lot of rock rubble. Bought a Spotted Dragonet last year around Thanksgiving, watched him like a hawk the first couple of days and was happy to see him pecking at pods every couple of seconds. Besides the pods he ate Brine Shrimp and live Black worms so I though he was getting enough. I never noticed him losing weight until a month ago and ordered pods right away, but it was too late and he passed a short time after. You need to have a massive tank with plenty of rocks and refugium and no other competitors for pods and or willing to culture pods. I really think these types of fish should be left in the wild, breaks my heart to see them in tanks at the lfs and know most of them are going to starve.

Sadly you’re right. Although there are some exceptions and those are typically well established, larger tanks.

I chose the alternative in my prior tank and went with a ruby red scooter dragonette. Much easier IMO and similar behavior.

I will add a pair sometime next year

 

[geddavis]

how long would it take to set up a culture and a large enough culture

 

[PiggyPuffin]

I've heard that Tisbe and Apo pods can be batch cultured easily with nothing more than fish food pellets and dried powdered spirulina, respectively. Add an air pump and you are all set. I've just started to try this myself so can't provide first hand experience yet.