Feeding a Mandarin
- Thread starter johnrigu
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Mjpisanti
Community Member
mandarins eat copeapods (spelling may be off), and the large ones may even eat amphipods. Copeapods are sold commonly in your lfs or online from anyone that sells livestock, they kind of look like micro sized shrimp. You purchase the pods in a bottle that will have eggs that you put into a small tank or your sump/refugium. It is much easier to build a refugium to harvest copeapods if you're looking to care for a mandarin than in another tank, but i've seen it done both ways. There are many forums on this site about mandarin care you can look through, but basically a mandarin will die without copeapods being added to the tank regularly because that is their primary food source. Some mandarins will accept frozen foods like brine shrimp as well but that alone wont be enough. There are many stories about mandarins starting out great but quickly going through the food supply in the tank then starving if more pods arnt added on a regular basis. Hope this helped a little
Duffam3434
**TASTE THE RAINBOW**
+1, We buy a bottle of "Tigger Pods" they are usually Sold in any LFS, the brand is "Reef Nutrition" we just add a bottle every once in a while. If we notice him looking for food more often we add another bottle.
Rale2001
Community Member
Or you can get one of those reef breeder hang on boxes that cycles the water through it, fill it up with live rock rubble some chaeto and dump your pods in there to hatch unharmed if you don't have a sump/fuge the box is external HOB and all thats in the tank is the intake tube and is powered by an air pump
newjack0000
Active Member
PaulB has a feeder that he built. Its like a tube that goes from the rim to the bottom with a round tray and something over it like mesh screen I think, Look into his threads im sure it on there. Lots of people are trying his way and its working like a charm. I think he used one of those round containers that electrical tape comes in.
Paul B
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John I think you should research a little more before you add a mandarin. It is not as simple as that.
Just my opinion, good luck.
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/fish-discussion/106089-thoughts-mandarins.html
DIY Target Feeder for Mandarinfish (and Pipefish)
Just my opinion, good luck.
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/fish-discussion/106089-thoughts-mandarins.html
DIY Target Feeder for Mandarinfish (and Pipefish)
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A mature tank should have enough pods to sustain at least one mandarin without adding any. I know of tanks that have a few mandarins without adding any pods. That will be pretty expensive if you have to add pods regularly.
So I would like to put something together like Paul B did. I think he has a good idea. But for now is there a good way to feed him other than target feeding which I'm not sure of the best way to do that even. The brine shrimp bare mostly being eaten by the other fish like my clown and the mandarin doesn't even have time to consume what he need?
Place a small jelly jar in a corner laying down and add food to it. Using a 12-15" piece if 1/2" tubing I just thawed the food and poured it down the tub , the end of which was in the jar? This is how I fed my Scooter Dragonet and she loved that jar!!! 
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This depends on the size of the tank. You will not grow enough pods in a 20 gallon to suit a Mandarin goby. The rule of thumb use to be 100lbs of live rock for 1 Mandarin, otherwise you will have to buy or grow pods to feed it.
tyler1503
2500 Club Member
Place a small jelly jar in a corner laying down and add food to it. Using a 12-15" piece if 1/2" tubing I just thawed the food and poured it down the tub , the end of which was in the jar? This is how I fed my Scooter Dragonet and she loved that jar!!!
That's a good idea. I used this trick with a small sand goby that was too slow to get some mysis. I know a bloke who did this with a large plastic colander and nori to feed his tangs. He then used the colander to catch his tangs too lol. They trusted the colander so it was easy as!
Another good one is the old turkey baster. Just shoot a small amount in front of him after distracting the other fish with food
There's a problem with all that feeding because most all Mandarin gobys will only eat live pods. Some have been known to accept frozen, but they're far and few between.... I have kinda bit my tongue while reading this and don't really wanna come across rude, but the OP doesn't even know what a pod is and I would suggest more experience in the hobby before trying to keep this fish.
