Kermit my Green Mandarin

[Paul B]

I love mandarins and have a breeding pair. They are long lived, very beautiful fish that I have been keeping for many years but there is no reason to go broke feeding them as they are a pretty easy fish to take care of but require different methods than most fish.
Kermit is a little thin and IMO you are not feeding him correctly. I know you are spending more to feed him then your spouse but they can and will live fine on New Born Brine shrimp. But you can't just throw them in the water, you need to make a feeder. I would also eliminate those pellets and you can eliminate the Nutrimar if you feed correctly.
A mandarin needs to eat every few seconds and although Nutrimar is an excellent food, your mandarin will digest it in a few minutes and need something else.
I wrote a couple of articles on them if you are interested. Good luck, I love mandarins.
http://www.saltwatersmarts.com/?s=mandarin

http://www.saltwatersmarts.com/diy-target-feeder-mandarinfish-pipefish-2804/

And a video.

 

[Zack K]

I am glad to hear Kermit is doing good! Such a relief. And Paul B is 100% correct in the feeding. I have seen them and they work great. Also cheaper[emoji6]

 

[Gaines69]

I love mandarins and have a breeding pair. They are long lived, very beautiful fish that I have been keeping for many years but there is no reason to go broke feeding them as they are a pretty easy fish to take care of but require different methods than most fish.
Kermit is a little thin and IMO you are not feeding him correctly. I know you are spending more to feed him then your spouse but they can and will live fine on New Born Brine shrimp. But you can't just throw them in the water, you need to make a feeder. I would also eliminate those pellets and you can eliminate the Nutrimar if you feed correctly.
A mandarin needs to eat every few seconds and although Nutrimar is an excellent food, your mandarin will digest it in a few minutes and need something else.
I wrote a couple of articles on them if you are interested. Good luck, I love mandarins.
http://www.saltwatersmarts.com/?s=mandarin

http://www.saltwatersmarts.com/diy-target-feeder-mandarinfish-pipefish-2804/

And a video.

I'm a little confused. 1 I dont feed pellets and 2 I don't have a spouse. I feed frozen and freeze dried brine shrimp along with Nutrimar and live copepods. I set up a hob refugium specifically to breed copepods. I'm not sure why you think he is thin. He's nice and full. I watch him eat the brine shrimp and nutrimar. Plus he always eating off of the sand bed and live rock. I haven't posted pictures in a while. I am hatching brine shrimp right now. Thanks for the info. I will def be reading your articles.

 

[Gaines69]

Oh I also target feed Kermit to make sure he eats twice a day. Plus he is constantly eating stuff from sand and rocks.

 

[Paul B]

I'm a little confused. 1 I dont feed pellets and 2 I don't have a spouse. I feed frozen and freeze dried brine shrimp along with Nutrimar and live copepods. I set up a hob refugium specifically to breed copepods. I'm not sure why you think he is thin. He's nice and full. I watch him eat the brine shrimp and nutrimar. Plus he always eating off of the sand bed and live rock. I haven't posted pictures in a while. I am hatching brine shrimp right now. Thanks for the info. I will def be reading your articles.

Sorry about the spouse remark. I don't even know if you are boy, girl, man or woman . I just love mandarins, even Kermit. (still looks a little thin but those are lousy pictures , It sounds like you are taking good care of Kermit and he seems happy.
I love it when people love their mandarins.

 

[Katrina71]

I'm a little confused. 1 I dont feed pellets and 2 I don't have a spouse. I feed frozen and freeze dried brine shrimp along with Nutrimar and live copepods. I set up a hob refugium specifically to breed copepods. I'm not sure why you think he is thin. He's nice and full. I watch him eat the brine shrimp and nutrimar. Plus he always eating off of the sand bed and live rock. I haven't posted pictures in a while. I am hatching brine shrimp right now. Thanks for the info. I will def be reading your articles.

He knows his stuff. Look at his thread. 40+ year old tank. Impressive.

 

[Gaines69]

Sorry about the spouse remark. I don't even know if you are boy, girl, man or woman . I just love mandarins, even Kermit. (still looks a little thin but those are lousy pictures , It sounds like you are taking good care of Kermit and he seems happy.
I love it when people love their mandarins.

I know the pictures are bad. Lol. Wish I had a good camera. I do love this crazy fish. That's why my tank has so few fish and why I'm attempting to cultivate copepods etc. I talk to my fish every day. Lol. I am going to read the articles as soon as I get home later tonight. I am a research freak and I like to learn as much as I can about the animals I own. I just want them to be happy and healthy.

 

[Gaines69]

One of the first pictures I took in early April.

 

[Gaines69]

I love mandarins and have a breeding pair. They are long lived, very beautiful fish that I have been keeping for many years but there is no reason to go broke feeding them as they are a pretty easy fish to take care of but require different methods than most fish.
Kermit is a little thin and IMO you are not feeding him correctly. I know you are spending more to feed him then your spouse but they can and will live fine on New Born Brine shrimp. But you can't just throw them in the water, you need to make a feeder. I would also eliminate those pellets and you can eliminate the Nutrimar if you feed correctly.
A mandarin needs to eat every few seconds and although Nutrimar is an excellent food, your mandarin will digest it in a few minutes and need something else.
I wrote a couple of articles on them if you are interested. Good luck, I love mandarins.
http://www.saltwatersmarts.com/?s=mandarin

http://www.saltwatersmarts.com/diy-target-feeder-mandarinfish-pipefish-2804/

And a video.

Ok. I read the articles and I'm gathering the stuff to make a feeder. I'm hatching the brine shrim right now. Thinking it's time to remove them from the hatchery and set them up in a small tank so the can grow some too. I'll try the feeder tomorrow. I have the perfect spot in my tank and I'm making it a little smaller so I can leave it in there all the time. The amphipods are going crazy in my tank. Every few days I take the filter cartridges out and get the pods of of them cartridge and put them in my refugium. Today I put them directly in the tank with the filter turned off so they have time to hide in the rocks. Should I feed the brine shrimp spiralina powder so they are better for Kermit and the other fish I have in the tank? I read that brine shrimpnare not the most nutrious little critter. Thanks again for the suggestions. I'll try my best to get a better picture of Kermit. Any hints on what to look for to see if he is too thin? I want to have healththy fish.

 

[Paul B]

You do not need to feed the shrimp. They are born with a yolk sack and don't eat. But as they age, in a day or so, they absorb that yolk so you should feed them to your fish as soon after they are born as possible. They lose nutrition as time goes by. After a couple of days, they have little nutrition. Adult brine shrimp are not a good food for any fish.
Don't just put the shrimp into the tank without the feeder because the mandarins don't eat at the surface and the shrimp will head for the light on top.

 

[Gaines69]

You do not need to feed the shrimp. They are born with a yolk sack and don't eat. But as they age, in a day or so, they absorb that yolk so you should feed them to your fish as soon after they are born as possible. They lose nutrition as time goes by. After a couple of days, they have little nutrition. Adult brine shrimp are not a good food for any fish.
Don't just put the shrimp into the tank without the feeder because the mandarins don't eat at the surface and the shrimp will head for the light on top.

Thanks so much. I think they hatched a couple days ago so that's a bust. I have another batch of eggs. I'll hatch them tomorrow. Should I feed these to the fish anyway or trash them?

 

[Paul B]

I would feed them to the fish anyway. I am sure they have some nutrition, but new borns are much better.

 

[Gaines69]

I would feed them to the fish anyway. I am sure they have some nutrition, but new borns are much better.

Thank you.

 

[Katrina71]

Happy to see Kermit posts someday maybe you will be walking us through feeding tips. This is the fish that started the whole love affair for my son.

 

[Gaines69]

It sure is hard to get a good picture of Kermit. He always swims away when I go to snap a photo. He is beautiful though. Just look at the blue on him.

His tank mates.

 

[wowkingjames]

Paul B. you bred them mandarins are you successful in raising them to adults?

 

[Paul B]

No, I never tried to catch them or raise them. They spawn every few weeks in my 100 gallon reef. There is no way to catch them.
All my paired fish spawn, I just call it food for the tank.
Years ago I used to raise fish in a separate tank and it is fun. It's also very time consuming but very rewarding if you can get even some fish to adulthood.

 

[Gaines69]

I have the hardest time getting a good picture of Kermit he will be up front in the perfect position and as soon as I pick up my phone to take a picture he decides to swim behind a rock. Now that I added the little clown he loves to photo bomb almost every pic I take. Fortunately he is s doing good. Eats all the frozen food I offer. He even eats it before it hits the sand. I'll keep doing updates from time to time. I truly appreciate any and all advice. Even if it's not what I want to hear. Lol. Keep it coming.

 

[NanoCrazed]

I know my tank hasn't been up and running very long but I went ahead and purchased a green mandarin from my lfs. This was with the understanding that if he didn't do well and started to get thin I could return him for store credit. A frozen food made specifically for mandarins, pipe fish and sea horses was recommended. I purchased the frozen food along with a bottle of live copepods. I have had him for over two weeks and I have been watching Kermit like a hawk and he's doing great. Not only does he move around the live rock eating I have personally seen him eat the frozen food as well as frozen brine shrimp. I have purchased a total of three bottles of live copepods and I'm the process of raising live brine shrimp. I will be adding a hand on back fish breeding box so that I can make it into a small refugium so that I can cultivate my own copepods. Kermit is a bit spoiled. Because I want to make sure he eats every day I turn off filter and target feed with a pipet. As the frozen food falls slowly to the bottom Kermit proceeds to move around and eat whatever lands around him. I'm also watching my goby eat because it's the only time I see him. This has become an addiction. I sit every morning and just watch all of the activity and I'm amazed at the new discoveries I make. I have a feeling that my one aquarium isn't going to be enough. I may need a second job.

Here is a picture of Kermit and the food I'm feeding him.

Something to think about... Consider building a pod hotel. It'll help keep the pod dosing to a minimum as it gives a safe place for the pods to multiply and grow.

Pretty cheap to make and virtually zero maintenance. If you're interested in some ideas, check out my other threads in the DIY section.

 

[Gaines69]

I ended up adding a hob refugium strictly for pods. It's working great. I have copepods as well as amphipods thriving in there. Getting ready to make a live brine shrimp feeding station. We shall see how that goes. Thanks for the suggestions.