Biota mandarins

[AUSXMD]

My WC Mandarin will eat Pellets and Frozen Food, however that does not mean you will be successful keeping one. My main problem is all my fish have become wise to my Pipet I use to Target feed my Mandarin and are real pains. I have to attempt to distract them because Mandarins are slow feeders and need to inspect every morsel. I could dump a large amount of food in, but my nutrients are already high, and 6" fish can eat a lot of pellets in short order.

Yeah, it will definitely be a new and probably challenging addition to what Im used to. I bought the pellets theyve been feeding him, but I also have lots of other voracious eaters in the tank. Fingers crossed

 

[AUSXMD]

I ordered a yellow tang from Biota last week. He arrived quite small, but totally healthy. He was white when he arrived but is rapidly turning yellow and fitting in with his tankmates in my 230 gallon tank. I never considered a mandarin because of the notorious reputation they have in keeping them. Well, I ended up getting one from Biota mainly because they feed off pellets and I dont have to mess with live food (although I have a large fuge, maybe I should add a bunch just to have them. Do all fish feed on pods?). I got what they call a "large" male soley for the coloration and it only upped the cost 45 bucks. It will arrive Tuesday and I'll let you all know how he's doing. I think I'll get all my future fish from Biota. It's a bit more money, but they seem legit and very kind and helpful. More than I can say for LiveAquaria who ripped me off 200 bucks during whatever crisis they were having late last year. Of well. F 'em. I won't do business there ever again. Anyway, I hope everyone's tanks and mandarins are healthy and thriving. Take care.

Mine eats TDO B2 Pellets like a Champ B2 is the pellet size. As for Pods. I would try to add some tisbe pods to the sump as they live on surfaces and are the ones that Mandarins eat a lot of as some stay in the water column which Mandarins will not really go for. All fish eat pods but some are more aggressive towards them like many wrasses and can dwindle their population. If you dose phyto that can help too to keep the pod population up. If the tank is new get some tisbe pods and dose phyto, if not you probably have plenty of pods and I would just throw TDO B2 pellets in once a day. They are small so other fish will ignore it.

MOST IMPORTANT THING: Do not drip acclimate the Mandarin. They put something in the water and it will die if you drip acclimate it. It comes in 1.026 water so nothing to worry about there, just float, drain the bag outside the tank and add him in.

Thanks for all of the info. Yeah, the instructions that came with tbe tang said not to drip acclimate him. The tank is 3 years old and I have a variety of mostly peaceful fish. I have a large melanuras wrasse that can seem aggressive, but I think he's just more of a very active fish. All the fish have voracious appetites. Maybe I'll get pods tomorrow so they are somewhat established before the mandarin arrives. Thanks again for your help.

 

[AUSXMD]

I ordered a yellow tang from Biota last week. He arrived quite small, but totally healthy. He was white when he arrived but is rapidly turning yellow and fitting in with his tankmates in my 230 gallon tank. I never considered a mandarin because of the notorious reputation they have in keeping them. Well, I ended up getting one from Biota mainly because they feed off pellets and I dont have to mess with live food (although I have a large fuge, maybe I should add a bunch just to have them. Do all fish feed on pods?). I got what they call a "large" male soley for the coloration and it only upped the cost 45 bucks. It will arrive Tuesday and I'll let you all know how he's doing. I think I'll get all my future fish from Biota. It's a bit more money, but they seem legit and very kind and helpful. More than I can say for LiveAquaria who ripped me off 200 bucks during whatever crisis they were having late last year. Of well. F 'em. I won't do business there ever again. Anyway, I hope everyone's tanks and mandarins are healthy and thriving. Take care.

Mine eats TDO B2 Pellets like a Champ B2 is the pellet size. As for Pods. I would try to add some tisbe pods to the sump as they live on surfaces and are the ones that Mandarins eat a lot of as some stay in the water column which Mandarins will not really go for. All fish eat pods but some are more aggressive towards them like many wrasses and can dwindle their population. If you dose phyto that can help too to keep the pod population up. If the tank is new get some tisbe pods and dose phyto, if not you probably have plenty of pods and I would just throw TDO B2 pellets in once a day. They are small so other fish will ignore it.

MOST IMPORTANT THING: Do not drip acclimate the Mandarin. They put something in the water and it will die if you drip acclimate it. It comes in 1.026 water so nothing to worry about there, just float, drain the bag outside the tank and add him in.

Thanks for all of the info. Yeah, the instructions that came with tbe tang said not to drip acclimate him. The tank is 3 years old and I have a variety of mostly peaceful fish. I have a large melanuras wrasse that can seem aggressive, but I think he's just more of a very active fish. All the fish have voracious appetites. Maybe I'll get pods tomorrow so they are somewhat established before the mandarin arrives. Thanks again for your help.

And I should add he coming with the pellets they recommended, that he's been eating all along.

 

[slingfox]

I ordered a yellow tang from Biota last week. He arrived quite small, but totally healthy. He was white when he arrived but is rapidly turning yellow and fitting in with his tankmates in my 230 gallon tank. I never considered a mandarin because of the notorious reputation they have in keeping them. Well, I ended up getting one from Biota mainly because they feed off pellets and I dont have to mess with live food (although I have a large fuge, maybe I should add a bunch just to have them. Do all fish feed on pods?). I got what they call a "large" male soley for the coloration and it only upped the cost 45 bucks. It will arrive Tuesday and I'll let you all know how he's doing. I think I'll get all my future fish from Biota. It's a bit more money, but they seem legit and very kind and helpful. More than I can say for LiveAquaria who ripped me off 200 bucks during whatever crisis they were having late last year. Oh well. F 'em. I won't do business there ever again. Anyway, I hope everyone's tanks and mandarins are healthy and thriving. Take care.

With that size tank you could likely very easily accommodate a pair of mandarins. I originally got a male mandarin from Biota and ended up getting a female a few weeks later. I have a 110g display tank with a 20g sump. The pair found each other very quickly and now hang out with one another most of the time. I never feed anything directly to the mandarins and they have been rapidly. They do well just scavenging around for pods.