Mandarins, are they really a difficult fish?

[Andy Sager]

Originally Posted by slitherbomb

That coral magazine article that was posted here really went in full detail of how to do it. I'm determined to keep this guy alive and it is in better hands with me than with the lfs.

...I'm not familiar with the article. What I am familiar with is the fish. From where it comes from through how to keep it for years.

I always used the 3 strike rule. I would give any one species 3 tries. If I couldn't successfully keep it, I moved on. Gregcoyote is correct, there are a number of other easier fish to enjoy.
best of luck...

[slitherbomb]

Originally Posted by Andy Sager

...I'm not familiar with the article. What I am familiar with is the fish. From where it comes from through how to keep it for years.

I always used the 3 strike rule. I would give any one species 3 tries. If I couldn't successfully keep it, I moved on. Gregcoyote is correct, there are a number of other easier fish to enjoy.
best of luck...

In the app store if you have an iPod, iPhone, or iPad, there's an app that's called Coral Magazine which has an in depth article on mandarins and how to successfully train it to eat prepared food. Coral Magazine is also able to be purchased in real life.

[Andy Sager]

Originally Posted by slitherbomb

In the app store if you have an iPod, iPhone, or iPad, there's an app that's called Coral Magazine which has an in depth article on mandarins and how to successfully train it to eat prepared food. Coral Magazine is also able to be purchased in real life.

Thanks for the info.
Retraining animals to eat non traditional food is old news to me. If it couldn't be done, there would have been no necessity or demand for flake food

[chris brooks]

i have had my maderin for a year and ahalf fedding small brine he hasnt give no problems .

[Gregcoyote]

Originally Posted by chris brooks

i have had my maderin for a year and ahalf fedding small brine he hasnt give no problems .

What kind of setup and conditions?

[Gti_Leo]

Originally Posted by Gregcoyote

I will say this...the Mandarin is a fish worthy of research and going the extra mile to provide an environment that it will relish. I myself intend on building a system someday just for this purpose as I know it can be done.

my goal also, i think i'm goign to get one now although i may go through alot of money in bottles of pods but no one said the marine aquarium hobby was cheap and the view the beauty of a mandarine i think its money well spent

[Andy Sager]

Originally Posted by Gti_Leo

my goal also, i think i'm goign to get one now although i may go through alot of money in bottles of pods but no one said the marine aquarium hobby was cheap and the view the beauty of a mandarine i think its money well spent

... a lot of bottles of pods? Learn how to cultivate them so you only need to buy 1 bottle.

Just an idea...

[cmor1701d]

Cultivating a few species would be best. Buying hundreds of pods a day to feed a mandarin is a Lotto winner strategy

But then having a large tank with a huge amount of LR would not be a problem either.

[Gti_Leo]

Originally Posted by Andy Sager

... a lot of bottles of pods? Learn how to cultivate them so you only need to buy 1 bottle.

Just an idea...

HOB refugium :P i just ordered one but who knows if that will be enough. i also have a rubbermaid bin with some live rock that i may grow some pods in but who knows. my parents already complain about my little section of fish stuff i have in the basement, so i'm kind of gettign annoyed with that

[mwilliams]

Originally Posted by Andy Sager

... a lot of bottles of pods? Learn how to cultivate them so you only need to buy 1 bottle.

Just an idea...

Hi Andy,
How do you culitvate your pods? And what are you feeding them? I ran out of Photo-Feast and all I have is frozen rotifers & frozen cyclop-eeze will that work on feeding them? Plus I have the other cyclop-eeze made by Instant Ocean in little packets don't know how that one would work????

[Gti_Leo]

you can crush up pellets into a fine powder

[Gregcoyote]

They will eat almost anything. They survive on detritus usually. I would try to enrich them if possible.

[mwilliams]

Originally Posted by Gregcoyote

They will eat almost anything. They survive on detritus usually. I would try to enrich them if possible.

How would you enrich them? I have Selcon, Vit C made by Kent and Zoecon.
I also have a small 2"x3" patch of chaeto in there with them as well.

[Gregcoyote]

You might do a search on what is the most beneficial thing to feed them. You would enrich them by whatever they had in their gut when eaten.

http://www.brineshrimpdirect.com/c90...pods-c199.html

[mwilliams]

Thanks you for the link I have just booked marked it so I can read it some later on.

[Andy Sager]

Originally Posted by mwilliams

Hi Andy,
How do you culitvate your pods? And what are you feeding them? I ran out of Photo-Feast and all I have is frozen rotifers & frozen cyclop-eeze will that work on feeding them? Plus I have the other cyclop-eeze made by Instant Ocean in little packets don't know how that one would work????

To be honest, I have never needed to cultivate copepods seperately to feed other fish because I always had alternatives. I kept my mandarins in the invert sections at the shop (which always seemed to have pods swimming around) or in tanks with live rock at home. (One good thing about the undergravel filter was that it was a great place to cultivate these organisms allbeit not making the tank the cleanest place in the world.) I would feed vitamin saturated Live Brine Shrimp and other natural foods if I saw the fish getting skinny. Today, there a number of foods available that I haven't heard of or are replicating a food we used to make in our pet shop to feed our fish. (This food contained algae, fish, shrimp, crab, lobster eggs, squid, fish eggs, scallops, krill, zooplankton, plus other natural foods when available. This was a one stop food that fed most any fish.)
I'm sure if you googled "cultivating copepods", you will find articles on how to do this. This was one result I got when I looked. It seemed fairly simple to do. How to Cultivate Copepods & Amphipods | eHow.com

Hope this helps...

[Gregcoyote]

The trick is getting them to reliably feed on anything but live foods. The next trick is buying a healthy one.

[Andy Sager]

Originally Posted by Gregcoyote

The trick is getting them to reliably feed on anything but live foods. The next trick is buying a healthy one.

There is no trick involved with picking a healthy fish.
You want to watch the fish in the tank he's in. Is he swimming normally? Picking at food? Breathing relaxed? acting normally? etc.
Ask your dealer to put some food in the tank. (If they won't, maybe you need to find another dealer.) Does the fish eat? Does the fish try to eat? (Sometimes a fish will not like what it's being fed but tastes the food being offered. This is a good sign!)
Next, there should be muscle/meat behind the head and a full stomach. If the stomach is pinched, not a good sign.
If the fish is doing fine in the store but not in your tank, the problem most likely is not the fish. It's your tank. A healthy, eating fish will not just shut down for no reason. How you're keeping them is usually the problem.
Now, I know this may piss off the internet sellers but if you want a better guarantee of getting a healthy fish, GO PICK IT OUT YOURSELF and follow the guidelines I just laid out!!!! Yes, you WILL PAY MORE for this but how many dead fish you will buy sight unseen vs healthy fish you buy following my guide will offset the difference.
I've been very successful at raising tiny fish into full grown adults because I followed this same system. Sometimes you have to wait for the right fish. Be patient!!! If you reduce your risk, you raise your success. Buy a healthy fish from the start.
See, there's no trick to it.

[mwilliams]

We have both Ora Mandarins and the Non-Ora Mandarins here in Houston. One store that has the Ora's they run at $50 and the Non-ora's are running around $20 which actually isnt to bad and I saw a very nice fat non-ora ine eatting live brine shrimp but I did not get him till I am for sure that my tank has plenty of pods on there.

[Andy Sager]

Originally Posted by mwilliams

We have both Ora Mandarins and the Non-Ora Mandarins here in Houston. One store that has the Ora's they run at $50 and the Non-ora's are running around $20 which actually isnt to bad and I saw a very nice fat non-ora ine eatting live brine shrimp but I did not get him till I am for sure that my tank has plenty of pods on there.

...You can contuinue feeding the live brine until it does. You could also try adding some fish eggs or lobster eggs and see if he'll go for that as well. (Small food with high nutrition. Hmmmm)

Just a thought..