Catch 22 QT question

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midiman

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Jan 13, 2005
Messages
602
Location
Poughkeepsie, NY
From what I've read, a lot of mandarin gobies starve to death in tanks that are not mature because there aren't sufficient numbers of copepods, etc., in the substrate to nourish them.

My question is this: how do you QT one for 30 days? I assume the QT tank won't have a lush menu of 'pods in the substrate. Will they also eat other foods? I've read that they are very difficult to feed and have a dismal survival rate, except in mature reef setups.
 
I was lucky enuf to be able to watch mine in a non-copper tank at the LFS for weeks. Besides, having treated with copper in my QT before, that outlook would have been grim if he had to live there I believe.

Considering I had watched him for a while, I stuck him staight into my tank. Not sure if many have QT'd them. Let's see what other responses come on this one. I'm curious too.
 
I've read on a few threads that people have benn able to get Mandarins to eat brine shrimp. Maybe it's just the captive bread Mandarins that they got lucky with though. I wish I could find that thread...
 
Thanks, DAWG ... I'll search it out, too. I'm not really looking for a mandarin right now, but the question popped into my head while doing a lot of reading about QT.
 
Mandarines are highly resistant to many types of parasites although not immune. The kicker is that even if they did get one, you wouldn't be able to do much about it. The treatment would most likely kill it just the same if not much faster than the parasite. They will not tolerate copper or hyposalinity.

Cheers
Steve
 
Thanks, steve-s. Fortunately, the LFS near me will place a fish "on hold" for 2 weeks before I have to take it home. I'm nowhere near ready for a mandarin yet, but someday ....
 
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