My Mandarin just did the abnormal...

[reefbound]

After feeding my tank I usually walk away so my Royal Gramma will come out to feed,but today I stuck around and witnessed my Mandarin eat Ocean Nutrition marine pellet with garlic... not once or twice but nine pellets before I started jumping up down... if this was not a fluke then he just increased his survival rate better than all the copepods I could throw in the tank which I will continue to do until Im sure this is what he is doing... What a happy day...

[Brenden]

Eating pellets etc is great but they need a constant food supply. It will not survive without pods regardless. It is rare though. Good luck

[reefbound]

Originally Posted by Brenden

Eating pellets etc is great but they need a constant food supply. It will not survive without pods regardless. It is rare though. Good luck

I know they need constant feeding, thats why I have the pod propagation tank going... but with the pellets I know he is eating a little better.

[Brenden]

Every little bit helps. What size is the main and how are you growing pods? Is the pod tank attached to the main? Not getting on you just trying to understand your setup. I have seen some of mine eat cyclopeeze etc on occasion also.

[reefbound]

Originally Posted by Brenden

Every little bit helps. What size is the main and how are you growing pods? Is the pod tank attached to the main? Not getting on you just trying to understand your setup. I have seen some of mine eat cyclopeeze etc on occasion also.

This is the procedure I use for the pod population along wih the HOB fuge... just click the my info button for more.:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu...3/breeder2.htm

(just scroll half way down)

didnt even think you were getting on me, its cool,I know how everyone gets when it comes to Mandarin's. I can asure you mine is fat an happy.

[ctmedman]

Reefbound: SWEET. Great that he eats the pellets! My green mandarin eats KM reef carnivore pellets w/o garlic soaking. I throw them in, they sink to the bottom, and he gobbles a good number of them up. I have a mated pair but only the male will eat the pellets interestingly. Maybe a mouth size issue. It's funny to watch the female try to eat mysis shrimp. She swallows the whole thing but it ends up being too big for her so she spits it out a bunch of times to break it up and then gobbles up the pieces.

Do you have a male or female?

Brenden: Is it a metabolism issue with them needing to eat all the time? Don't worry, I have a good pod population in my tank but I was wondering if they constantly look for food b/c 1) each little pod only has so much protein/nutrition thus making them constantly forage or 2) it is enough nutrition but their metabolism is fast.

Since other fish survive well only eating once a day or every other day perhaps if the mandarin is eating pellet and frozen mysis that it should be okay without pods. A possibility????

[angelscrx]

Congratulations. You have one of the few. I have a obese spotted mandarin who does a little dance in front of the glass for me if I sit in front of the tank too long! I have never seen her eat anything other than pods and when I got her from a friend's tank she was a little thin. My tank has a ton of pods plus I grow them in the fuge. I'd be jumping up and down too if i caught mine doing that.