Mandarin behavior

[3littlefishies]

My apologies in advance if this question seems silly. I’ve had my mandarin Harry for about 2 weeks and he only comes out of his usual hiding spot when the lights are on in the tank.

My 32 gallon Biocube is 2 months old but I did a great deal of research before buying a mandarin. I’m fully stocked with 2 clowns, 2 blood shrimps and Harry the mandarin. They all seem to be getting along fine. The lights are usually off unless I’m checking for things as I wanna keep them off for a few months until the tank is a bit more established. I’ve noticed that Harry only comes out of his usually hiding spot and freely roams as soon as I turn on the lights. Once off, right back to his hiding spot. I’ve tried keeping them on longer and the same thing happens. Seems odd.

The tank is full of live rock and live sand. I put copepods in a few days before I got Harry and used a turkey baster to squeeze the copepods into all the rock and a little rubble pile on the corner. I also did it at night in hopes of a better outcome. I just started culturing too, so I should have more in a few weeks, fingers crossed.

I’m just curious about the lights thing if anyone has any insight. Thought it was better to keep them off for awhile but if it’s making Harry happy should I reconsider?

 

[Uncle99]

Mine does this.
However, on occasion he goes for a hunt in twilight.
Normal IMM. Keep the lights cycling.

 

[LukeC]

You need to have a well established pod colony. Mandarins will wipe them out in no time. A sign there isn’t anything for them to eat is when they just don’t do anything.
If you had to manually add them, your tank probably wasn't ready for a Mandarin just yet. You would have to dose pods constantly until you some huge in the tanks (attached a photo of one next to a hermit, I have 100’s this big which usually means 1000’s of babies)
Edit: added more info and a photo

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I think your lights should be a regular cycle not turn on and off randomly. I’ve always believed that aquarium fish do better with a schedule otherwise they can be stressed.

 

[Jekyl]

Good advice in both posts above. With that size tank you'll need to ensure a steady supply of pods. What ever you added from a jar will get eaten in short order. Mandarins will hunt all day long as they have a fast digestive system.

 

[fandaga]

My male and female that I purchased from Biota are most active just when the lunar lights come on. They eat frozen food and pellets but definitely are also hunting pods. I culture pods and add separately once a week.

 

[Jmp998]

My mandarin (from Biota) doesn't seem to feed unless there is some light-they seem to be mostly visual hunters so this makes sense. It sounds like you are trying to keep lights off in a new tank to prevent nuisance algae/ugly phase, is that right?

As I understand mandarins need to feed most of the day, they are not 'designed' to have just one or two big meals and then fast the rest of the day. You might try dim lights that would not grow algae-either adjust your tank lights, or maybe add a lamp next to the tank, and see if you can find a balance that is enough light for your mandarin to hunt food without making algae problems worse. I worry that if your mandarin can only eat 1-2 hours a day, it will not get enough food no matter how many pods you have.

Also as said above, if your tank is new and only 32 gallons, there are probably not enough pods to sustain your mandarin without supplementation. You said you are trying to culture pods, are you also adding phyto to the tank to support growth of the pod population? Unless of course your Mandarin eats pellets (mine still likes the TDO pellets he was eating at Biota).

 

[OrionN]

The animals, fishes, corals and other inverts need day and night cycle. Why do you turn off your light? A lot of the fauna in the tank requires flora to live. Flora requires light. Your tank will not cycle well without light. Sure the nitrogen cycle will go it course but there is a lot more to reef tank than the nitrogen cycle. Animals, and fish wake up and eat during the day and go to sleep at night (nocturnal fish are different but they also need day and night). What you do is to force your mandarin sleep all the time and won't leave him enough time to hunt and eat. Mandarin Dragonettes are methodical feeder and slowly eat all day lone. They need 12 hrs. of eating.

Turn your tank light on normal day, night cycle, then your Mandarin and other animal will act normally, and your tank will cycle normally.