It's been stated below, but they eat constantly. Think of them as the hummingbirds of the fish tank, they constantly "hover" and flap their fins and need nutritional intake constantly to cover their metabolism."Mandarins need to be fed 3-4 times a day or they'll starve!"
Is that true?
Or is it only true based on a diet of mass consumption of low nutrition copepods?
TDO pellets and mysis are much, much more nutritional.
Short digestive system or not - do captive bred, prepared/frozen fed mandarins have the same requirements for success?