Mandarin owners' queston

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

Hey so boughtba couple pre quarantined aquacultured mandarins. I bet they'll be very small. Wondering if putting them in a refugium with all kinds of food at first is a good idea?

It's a small refugium. I could add a couple clam shells for them to hide under.

Just wondering thoughts on this idea to help these guys grow out a bit before venturing into reef tank?

Pics of refugium:

 

[NowGlazeIT]

That looks okay to me. I had a pair from biota and they were tiny at first. I put them in a ten gallon to get them trained on a feeder before adding them to my display. They really don’t use up a whole lot of swimming space, so I think your idea would work well to fatten them up before tossing them in the display.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

That looks okay to me. I had a pair from biota and they were tiny at first. I put them in a ten gallon to get them trained on a feeder before adding them to my display. They really don’t use up a whole lot of swimming space, so I think your idea would work well to fatten them up before tossing them in the display.

Cool. Were you able to get them to eat prepared foods? If so, how? And thanks for the quick reply!

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Cool. Were you able to get them to eat prepared foods? If so, how? And thanks for the quick reply!

Yes of course I’m happy to help. I was able to get them eating prepared foods. All small particle sized food like callanus,Roe,babybrine
I had them for two years before my tank was hit with velvet.
I was able to accomplish this by using a Paul B inspired mandarin feeder. Made of tubing, I crafted to with a small opening on one side to keep other fish from going in. Took about a week for the mandarin to get completely comfortable going in to use the feeder.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

Way cool!! Anyone make those commercially or should i make one myself?. Maybe ill add to the refugium just let them get use to it?

Really helpful! Thank you!

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

The reef tank is covered with copepods. They cover the glass and i assume the rocks/sand but hard to see there.

Were your mandarins ever able to eat off/with broadcast feeding and the living stuff in your tank? Or always spot fed?

 

[aurora.k]

I think that would work too, but I put my aquacultured pair right in the Red Sea 250 reefer - I dosed a ton of pods at first (like two bottles 1x week) because they were sooooo tiny, but they are frozen/dry too from the start. They are little fatties now. Definitely a favorite of visitors - now they are in my 900xxl - definitely make it a point to feed their rock with my mix of ROE, mysis, oyster feast etc when I do that a couple times a week, but now I only dose pods like once a month, if even.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

I think that would work too, but I put my aquacultured pair right in the Red Sea 250 reefer - I dosed a ton of pods at first (like two bottles 1x week) because they were sooooo tiny, but they are frozen/dry too from the start. They are little fatties now. Definitely a favorite of visitors - now they are in my 900xxl - definitely make it a point to feed their rock with my mix of ROE, mysis, oyster feast etc when I do that a couple times a week, but now I only dose pods like once a month, if even.

Thank you!

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

They get here the end of August. I'll update progress!

 

[NowGlazeIT]

The reef tank is covered with copepods. They cover the glass and i assume the rocks/sand but hard to see there.

Were your mandarins ever able to eat off/with broadcast feeding and the living stuff in your tank? Or always spot fed?

My mandarin would only eat the broadcast feedings if I turned off all the water movement. I never liked that, so I spot fed the mandarin and broadcast the other fish. Other fish always outcompeted them while the pumps were on.

 

[elorablue]

Just a thought but wouldn't it be a step backwards to introduce them to the fuge and have them 'fatten' up on their natural food then have to "retrain" them to eat prepared foods once they're in the dt? Just thinking out loud here, I don't know the answer.

 

[olonmv]

My mandarin would only eat the broadcast feedings if I turned off all the water movement. I never liked that, so I spot fed the mandarin and broadcast the other fish. Other fish always outcompeted them while the pumps were on.

I do the same but got a kick outta my mandarin looking like he was chasing his tail when he was trying to catch a mysis that was circling him. I broadcast feed first so that the mandarin has a chance at food.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

Just a thought but wouldn't it be a step backwards to introduce them to the fuge and have them 'fatten' up on their natural food then have to "retrain" them to eat prepared foods once they're in the dt? Just thinking out loud here, I don't know the answer.

I hear you there. Totally open to suggestions. My thought was that getting them bigger was the most important priority. Small fish in the reef tank are going to have a hard time? MP 40's are death, bigger fish are scary, etc--they hide and never seen again?

Also, i think they will always have live copepodes to eat, in the reef or refugium. There are just so many of them, so i think it will always be a combo of live and prepared foods?

Maybe i give prepared foods in the refugium too?

 

[elorablue]

I hear you there. Totally open to suggestions. My thought was that getting them bigger was the most important priority. Small fish in the reef tank are going to have a hard time? MP 40's are death, bigger fish are scary, etc--they hide and never seen again?

Also, i think they will always have live copepodes to eat, in the reef or refugium. There are just so many of them, so i think it will always be a combo of live and prepared foods?

Maybe i give prepared foods in the refugium too?

I think the fuge idea has a lot of merit, but yes, I think I would start the prepared food training in there as well. Might help them longterm. I'll be interested to hear how this turns out for you. Good Luck!!!

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

Mandarins have landed!

As a game time decision, i just put them in the main display. They are small, but not tiny. Theoretically they could get nailed by a mp40 but they've been such bottom dwellers its unlikely.

Dosed a few bottles of pods and got some smaller sized frozen food.

It's been about a week and all is well. Starting to see them more. The rock work has plenty of caves and hiding spots. Replaced most sand with calcium reactor media as i am running MP40's at 90% at night for flow and detritus removal. The calcium reactor media provides good hiding for pods it seems.

 

[GHOSTLY]

Captive bred mandarin gobie keeper here. Mine take to prepared food but assuming your fuge Is filled with pods they should be fine. Maybe add the odd crushed pellet here and there

 

[davidcalgary29]

Just a thought but wouldn't it be a step backwards to introduce them to the fuge and have them 'fatten' up on their natural food then have to "retrain" them to eat prepared foods once they're in the dt? Just thinking out loud here, I don't know the answer.

My mandarin cleared out the 'pods in my Evo XII, and then moved on to mysis and grindal worms, just like orchid dottyback pair in the tank. I just broadcast food as well, and don't turn off the return while feeding. There doesn't seem to be a lot of competition for the food, as the dottybacks eat from the water column, while the mandarin picks food out of the substrate and off the aquascape.

 

[elorablue]

Mandarins have landed!

As a game time decision, i just put them in the main display. They are small, but not tiny. Theoretically they could get nailed by a mp40 but they've been such bottom dwellers its unlikely.

Dosed a few bottles of pods and got some smaller sized frozen food.

It's been about a week and all is well. Starting to see them more. The rock work has plenty of caves and hiding spots. Replaced most sand with calcium reactor media as i am running MP40's at 90% at night for flow and detritus removal. The calcium reactor media provides good hiding for pods it seems.

Glad it’s so far so good!
Mp40s at 90%. ? ! For how long? How many do you have?
that would be like living through a tsunami every night.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

Glad it’s so far so good!
Mp40s at 90%. ? ! For how long? How many do you have?
that would be like living through a tsunami every night.

The modes are reefcrest and lagoon and the like, so it cycles. There are three MP 40's mounted on the back. They have occasional feed modes programed at night, so all the pumps are not always on at the same time. Even at 90% the rockwork has plenty caves and deader areas that fish find sanctuary in. But, yes venturing out into the open areas is a work out. Even then, the tangs will swim directly into the MP 40's at 90% for fun. They genuinely like it and have no problem staying (staring!) an inch or two from the wavemaker. That's the nice thing about mp 40's--very broad flow so even if a fish or coral is right in front of it--it's not like laser beam of flow like return nozzle or the like.

At the back of the tank, the flow is quite modest (where hammers, torches, and gonnies reside), just the way MP 40's work--they suck water in and blow it out in a dispersed way. The front of the tank and directly in front of the pumps is where hard flow is.

EDIT: I honestly don't think you can have too much flow in a reef tank, even for LPS and softies. Too harsh of flow for a particular coral as to its placement in near a wavemaker, yes, but too much flow overall--no. The trick with a mixed tank i think in regard to flow is coral placement and rock work. Hammer the tank with as much flow as you can (hence three mp 40's), i think, but provide random flow and carefully placed rockwork that protects corals that do not want harsh or linear flow is what i think works best. Then dial the flow up at night when many corals polyps are not fully open. During the time the lights are on, the MP 40's are at a maximum of 25%. That way they get good polyp extension to suck up light and grow but lighter to moderate flow.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]