View Full Version : Supporting Mandarinfish
amanda_
02-25-2008, 8:00 PM
I recently got a mandarinfish and grouper. I have lots of live rock and had many colonies of little shrimps, etc but since I got these fish the amount has declined quite a bit. How can I increase the colonies? Also, I have heard that mandarins love to eat copepods but I'm not sure what they are and how to get them. I've checked some books and sites but haven't found anything very helpful. Thanks in advance for your help!
scootrnerd
02-25-2008, 8:03 PM
do you have a refugium? some manderans will also eat cyclop-eeze
mandy21
02-25-2008, 8:03 PM
is your mandarin eating anything? are you visibly seeing it eat something. pods are generally the main source of food for mandarins. they are not recommended for a tank younger than 9 months. A very small number of people get lucky with a mandarin that will eat prepared foods, but most wind up starving to death due to lack of live food (pods). I'd suggest returning the mandarin if you are not getting it to eat prepared foods and do not have a sump/fuge to allow for pod population to be sustained.
copepods ARE those colonies of little shrimp on your rocks. Only way to sustain them is to have a dense rubble rock pile that the little shrimp can live and breed in without any fish eating them. Some big tanks can do this, most others need a separate refugium to grow the pods safely.
You can buy Arctipods and cyclop-eeze as a suppliment to live pods and see if your mandarin with eat them. No guarantee, but the food is made for picky fish like mandarins so it is one of your best bets for an alternative.
amanda_
02-25-2008, 8:38 PM
the mandarin has eaten brine shrimp and i've only had it for a day. its doing quite well. i'm just concerned about the population of live food in my tank declining. i'll create a little rock pile that fish can't get into to create a safe place for the shrimp to breed.
Yup, sounds like you got a keeper if it's eating brine the first day home.
scootrnerd
02-25-2008, 8:54 PM
isn't brine more like a snack? if they are not fresh there nutritional value is low correct?
amanda_
02-25-2008, 9:06 PM
there isn't as much nutritional value as there is in fresh, but its still very good for them to be eating frozen food (especially since they can be pretty picky).
I've seen him picking and darting at the sand so i'm sure hes eating things in there. i would just like to make sure there is ample live food. any other suggestions? how do i know if hes not getting enough?
mandy21
02-25-2008, 9:08 PM
isn't brine more like a snack? if they are not fresh there nutritional value is low correct?
I do believe you are correct. Low in nutritional value, should be supplemented with something like selcon, if it's all it will eat. someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I've never seen a suggestion to feed a fish brine shrimp for them to do anything other than survive. I don't want fish to merely survive; I want them to thrive.
My mandarin seems to be getting very picky on his daily food recently. One day he loves cyclop-eeze, next day arctipods, then blood worms, now he is on a spirulina shrimp phase. Good thing I have just about every type of frozen/refrigerated food on the market, because each day I gotta taste test the water to see what he wants. Things you gotta do to make your fish happy I guess. Definately the pickiest eater I have ever dealt with. All day long he is picking at the rocks as well so I assume he is getting live pods. I threw in 2 bottles of tiggerpods when I bought him as well as had my tank setup for over 5 years with a fuge.
scootrnerd
02-25-2008, 9:25 PM
my clown goby only eats the white specks found in frozen cyclop-eeze weirdo lol
LOL, funny avatar, clown goby sitting on a richordia. Thats a new one for me. hahaha
there isn't as much nutritional value as there is in fresh, but its still very good for them to be eating frozen food (especially since they can be pretty picky).
I've seen him picking and darting at the sand so i'm sure hes eating things in there. i would just like to make sure there is ample live food. any other suggestions? how do i know if hes not getting enough?
How large is your tank and how long has it been running? Dragonettes go through pods astonishingly fast. Sometimes one every 5 seconds. If one does the math you can see how fast they'll deplete a tank of them unless care is made to help pods propogate and thrive as well.
Although it is good that it is eating frozen food, I'd sure not select brine. It isn't that it has less nutritional value, it is that it has next to none. It would be like a human living trying to live their life eating only cotton candy.
Do you have a photo of the dragonette? We can perhaps point out where you'll be able to look for weight loss, which many of them have even when purchased.
Aw crap.. up until now no one ever said my cotton candy diet was bad. Had to go and ruin it for me Grins.. lol.
So, on topic, what do others feel about the other shrimp out there as food? Mysis and sprulina mainly. Are they any better in nutrional value than brine? I am sure none of them can replace real live copepods.. but just wondering. Since it seems now bloodworms AND brine are now on the no-no list for food.. the options are getting limited for the people that just go to places like PetSmart to get their frozen food.
Like back in the day when I was told porcupine puffers only eat goldfish in aquariums... when I first got into reefs, Brine was the only thing told to feed a SW tank. Seems that info is just as outdated and wrong as the goldfish advice I was given back in '96. Not that I only feed brine in my tank, actually, I usually only use 1 cube of brine a week. Mysis, spirulina, and Ocean Nutrition Prime Reef is my "main" diet for my fish.
Aw crap.. up until now no one ever said my cotton candy diet was bad. Had to go and ruin it for me Grins.. lol.
I feel you. I remember the sad day when mom explained I couldn't live off chocolate chip cookies. <sniffle>
So, on topic, what do others feel about the other shrimp out there as food? Mysis and sprulina mainly. Are they any better in nutrional value than brine?
In general? Yes. In regards to a dragonette I'd still want them to have a healthy supply of pods in addition.
Ocean Nutrition Prime Reef is my "main" diet for my fish
My fish abhor the Prime Reef, it is a shame because its a great food.
Umbra_Vipera
02-26-2008, 6:41 PM
Since this is one of the fish that I so desperately want to support in my system I have researched the (you know what) out of it.
First, for a general overview with some photos of a nice specimen and a starving one, go to http://www.wetwebmedia.com/mandarins.htm (http://www.wetwebmedia.com/mandarins.htm). One of the references cited there will lead you here http://www.marineaquariumadvice.com/synchiropus_splendidus_series_1.html (http://www.marineaquariumadvice.com/synchiropus_splendidus_series_1.html). Next...you'll probably want to supplement your natural food source so check these out. http://oceanpods.com/ (http://oceanpods.com/) and http://www.ipsf.com/ (http://www.ipsf.com/). Make sure that you check out Ocean Pods first as the FAQs have a description of copepods and amphipods with a photo to show the difference. Also note that Ocean Pods is for copepods and IPSF is for amphipods.
As of right now, I have not ordered from either source (the tank is still cycling) but both are mentioned numerous times on WetWebMedia.com.
Hope this helps a little... :)