Mandarin care
- Thread starter Lavey29
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Lavey29
10K Club member
No wild caught.
OP
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Lavey29
10K Club member
So couple weeks in and the Mandy is still hunting pods. He has shown a little interest in fishbegg type ROE food. I have tried to order different varieties of pods online but everything arrives dead. My LFS only has Tigger pods.
From those that have beenn successfull long term is one type of pod ok or does he need variety? Other then losing weight are there any tell tale sign of distress? Not moving obviously but he seems to stay in the caves all day and comes out in low light times only to hunt.
I wish he would try some other food. My fuge is full of pods but it'd a treacherous journey for them to get back in the tank.
Anyone know any good pod stores in so cal?
From those that have beenn successfull long term is one type of pod ok or does he need variety? Other then losing weight are there any tell tale sign of distress? Not moving obviously but he seems to stay in the caves all day and comes out in low light times only to hunt.
I wish he would try some other food. My fuge is full of pods but it'd a treacherous journey for them to get back in the tank.
Anyone know any good pod stores in so cal?
john92708
Community Member
no good pod stores in so cal that I seen but I have good luck with ordering pods and nano brine shrimp from Algaebarn. they arrived alive and well. I plan to try their decapsulated brine shrimp eggs once it's back in stock. mine pair are captive bred and they're out and about all day but spend most of the time at the feeder. maybe try putting him in a breeder box to fatten him up first with live nano brine shrimps, decapsulated brine shrimp eggs, pods, frozen, TDO pellets. you might also get him to start eating frozen and pellets if you mix them with live food. it's easier to target feed, train, and monitor what he eat in the breeder box. find a low flow area to put the feeder and feed him at the same spot. mine take a few days but now they know exactly where to go for pellets and frozen after hunting for pods all day
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Lavey29
10K Club member
Yes, good suggestions. I think a feeder box will help because it is difficult to target feed him in the DT. I have ordered stuff from algae barn before and lately it is hit and miss for me. I see like 3 different types of pods in my fuge but not sure they make it to the tank on a regular basis.
boatguy
Community Member
I have 2 mandarins in my tank. The tank had a good pod population. I add more pods on a regular basis. They are pretty easy to "farm" in an ice tea container. I would do a search for raising pods. It's a bit of work but Mandarins need a good steady diet.
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Lavey29
10K Club member
Good idea and I have a bunch of chaeto that I toss every 2 weeks anyway.
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Lavey29
10K Club member
So these Mandy's are beautiful but don't seem to smart. My dottyback is basically laying on top of Mandy on the sandbed eating the caviar floating by in the water and Mandy isn't interested. It is the perfect feeding demonstration for him and he just doesn't seem to get it but he is pecking pods like crazy.
Cmon Mandy get in the game boy.
Cmon Mandy get in the game boy.
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Lavey29
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Well to update, I got some different pods from algae barn delivered and added to the tank. Mr. Mandy seems to come out now more often when food hits the water and other fish are eating. He appeared to be eating small remnants of Rods off the sandbed today just lightly scooping them up. Totally different then when he makes the cool snapping sound catching a pod. Hopefully he is starting to understand other food in the tank. His size appears good, definitely a little fatter then when I got him.
Do they typically reach 3 inches long?
Do they typically reach 3 inches long?
GarrettT
Well-Known Member
They do. Ever since I started dosing phytoplankton, my pod population exploded. Probably hard to see, but they are scattered all over my glass. I can only imagine how many there are at night. Just something to consider.
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Lavey29
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I've dosed phytoplankton since my tank started 19 months ago.They do. Ever since I started dosing phytoplankton, my pod population exploded. Probably hard to see, but they are scattered all over my glass. I can only imagine how many there are at night. Just something to consider.
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Lavey29
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I
I was dosing 30ml a day of the standard green phytoplankton but now I use phytofeast so 5ml like 3x per week. It is much more concentrated with 5 blends of phytoplankton.
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Lavey29
10K Club member
Well figured I'd give a 3 month update. Mandy is doing well. Eats a variety of frozen foods now but loves Ora Coral Feast. Hard part is he won't chase food it has to be right in front of him almost stationary and then he eats it. Mysis, brine, blood worms, etc...pods are still his favorite food that he hunts constantly for. I was adding weekly but am going to transition to monthly. My fuge is pretty loaded. Overall his health seems perfect thus far.
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Lavey29
10K Club member
Mine was wild caught so I'm glad he's adapted to other food sources now.
EpisodeMnH
Community Member
Mine FINALLY accepts frozen baby brine after over a year of owning him. And mine was captive bred and I’ve had it since it was a tiny baby fry lol. Tank was well seeded with pods before he was added but I stayed persistent in trying to get him to accept frozen just because it’s better for long term success, so I always spray some his way during every regular feeding for the rest of the fish. He just now started taking some of it as of about a month ago lol.
stanleo
Valuable Member
I have one in my 120 gallon with a DIY 55 gallon sump and fuge. I have had him for three years. I let the tank run for a year before putting him in there. My fuge is full of every micro fauna you can think of, Copepods, amphipods, mysis shrimp, ostrocods. All of which I have seen on the DT glass or swimming in the over flow box. He does great and I have never added more pods to the tank. He is a shy little critter and there are days when I don't see him. I have seen him go after frozen brine or mysis but I didn't try to get him on those, he just started eating it but I don't feed those every day and I wouldn't trust that he gets enough food from that. If your fuge has microfauna breeding in it then there is a good chance that enough is getting to the DT for your goby to thrive.
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Lavey29
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See I just don't think the microfauna can evade my skimmer and bubble trap to get to the return chamber in sufficient numbers. Another poster explained to me how he rinses his chaeto in old tank water to release all the pods then adds that to the tank.
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Lavey29
10K Club member
Try that Ora coral feast eggs. Mandy's love it and it's good for the whole tank too.
