Biota mandarin not eating prepared

[Rodan]

So yeah as the post says I got a biota mandarin it’s nipping the rocks and eating pods I assume or something. It’s not eating prepared though and was just wondering is that normal. I know obviously they eat pods as their main foods source but was just curious if anyone else had their mandarin eat off the rocks fine even if you were planning to feed it prepared foods.

 

[DmitryB]

I got a Biota pair. I can't really tell if they eat prepared foods because they don't come out during feeding. They're pretty secretive, though I have seen them appear on occasion surfing on the rocks, picking things off. If they find prepared foods that settled on the rocks, I can not tell. They're alive and they've grown since I added them to the tank, so... I'm happy. I hope they start coming out more soon so I can know if they'll eat prepared foods, which they obviously did at Biota.

 

[royaleFork]

How old is your tank? If it's established and large enough, manderins do great on just pods. I have seen mine eat frozen shrimp, but I don't think it needs it.

 

[Rodan]

I got a Biota pair. I can't really tell if they eat prepared foods because they don't come out during feeding. They're pretty secretive, though I have seen them appear on occasion surfing on the rocks, picking things off. If they find prepared foods that settled on the rocks, I can not tell. They're alive and they've grown since I added them to the tank, so... I'm happy. I hope they start coming out more soon so I can know if they'll eat prepared foods, which they obviously did at Biota.

Yeah same for me he’s pretty secretive and I never really know if he’s eating the prepared foods but I guess nipping the rocks constantly is a good sign. Thanks for the info.

 

[Rodan]

How old is your tank? If it's established and large enough, manderins do great on just pods. I have seen mine eat frozen shrimp, but I don't think it needs it.

It’s a 30 gal so not huge, but it’s 4 years old with a lot of rock.

 

[kevgib67]

I got my first one from Dr. Reef and it was barely an inch. I’ve never seen it eat fromzen which is what it was fed but it’s now 2 1/2 inches and fat. So it’s getting what it needs.