Captive bred Mandarine Goby
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DungSl1nger
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I just received one yesterday, I made it a point to read just about everything I could find on the fish. It is the fish that made me get in to reefing. The keys to the fish from what I read is Copepod and lots of live rock, lots of live rock means a bigger tank. I have spent the past 2 months dumping Copepods in my refuge to prepare for the fish. My next step is to start cultivating them but in the mean time I order online. Yesterday I attempted to do some frozen and some pellet food. It appears that the Mandarin was not in to it (could be due to jet lag). My risk adverse personality is to always plan for the worst. In the case of this fish, live copepods or vitamin enriched live brine shrimp.
I’ve been looking to get one as well. My tank is only about 30 gallons so I don’t think I can support a mandarin unless it really does eat frozen or pellets. They are such cool fish and I would love to get one
I have a 260 DT with a 90 half sump half fuge, and around 300-350 lbs of live rock so I have a ton of pods, you see them crawling around my sand in the DT when the lights are off, and my jumbo mandarin (he's around 4" long) is doing great. I would dose pods if you don't have a lot, and make sure it will have places to hide, because IME they can be very shy.
Miller535
Valuable Member
While I think you should try and feed mainly with pods, algae barn who sells "Biota captive bred mandarins" also feed them this:
www.algaebarn.com
This is what they say about it:
AlgaeBarn regularly feeds Can O' Cyclops and Nano Brine to the Biota Captive Bred Mandarin fish at our facilities. This practice helps ensure that these mandarins will accept a readily available and storable dry food. We highly suggest that if you have any small fish, or if you have purchased a captive bred mandarin from us, that you try out Can O' Cyclops. Did you know that Mandarin fish feed in similar ways to a humming bird -- constantly eating all day. By supplementing their diet with prepared food at regular periods in the day, the mandarin fish can consume several "big" meals while constantly snacking on live copepods. This will help ensure that the mandarins are consuming a sufficient amount of calories to grow and develop.
Can O' Cyclops
Can O' Cyclops by ZooMed provides excellent nutritional value for small fish, such as the Biota Captive Bred Mandarin. These preserved copepods are similar in appearance and size to live adult copepods; therefore, encouraging a fantastic feeding response.
www.algaebarn.com
This is what they say about it:
AlgaeBarn regularly feeds Can O' Cyclops and Nano Brine to the Biota Captive Bred Mandarin fish at our facilities. This practice helps ensure that these mandarins will accept a readily available and storable dry food. We highly suggest that if you have any small fish, or if you have purchased a captive bred mandarin from us, that you try out Can O' Cyclops. Did you know that Mandarin fish feed in similar ways to a humming bird -- constantly eating all day. By supplementing their diet with prepared food at regular periods in the day, the mandarin fish can consume several "big" meals while constantly snacking on live copepods. This will help ensure that the mandarins are consuming a sufficient amount of calories to grow and develop.
I just got a BIOTA captive bred last week. He came in SMALL. Small enough that I'm Scared. He currently is living in a breeder box in my tank and eats frozen cyclops and can o cyclops by zoo med (I freeze it and cut the frozen into cubes) so far he's a tough little bugger
