Mandarin care

Lavey29

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So I've added my dream fish to my tank which is 65G DT and 15G sump with a fuge. Tank is one year and seven months old and thriving with coral and fish. I have a lot of rock which is heavily pod seeded currently. The Mandy has been cruising all over the rocks looking for pods. He is pretty elusive though with a lot of hiding spaces.

I know pods are the primary source of food but want to try and acclimate him to other foods also. Since he is in and out of the rocks what are some methods to get him to try other foods? It would be difficult to spot feed currently. Should I try some calanarus or blood worms? Baby brine shrim0 broadcast fed? My fuge has pods but I will still add more regularly. Just curious what methods you guy used to entice him to various types of food?

20220817_143820.jpg
 

sfin52

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Good luck they have to constantly eat. They don't have a stomach. So what's in comes out fairly quickly. You may be able to supplement.

Look up Paul b mandarin feeder.
 

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So I've added my dream fish to my tank which is 65G DT and 15G sump with a fuge. Tank is one year and seven months old and thriving with coral and fish. I have a lot of rock which is heavily pod seeded currently. The Mandy has been cruising all over the rocks looking for pods. He is pretty elusive though with a lot of hiding spaces.

I know pods are the primary source of food but want to try and acclimate him to other foods also. Since he is in and out of the rocks what are some methods to get him to try other foods? It would be difficult to spot feed currently. Should I try some calanarus or blood worms? Baby brine shrim0 broadcast fed? My fuge has pods but I will still add more regularly. Just curious what methods you guy used to entice him to various types of food?

20220817_143820.jpg
Mine have always eaten brine shrimp as well as pods
 

Gatorpa

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Did you spot feed them to train them?
Nope, they just figure it out, I take 1-2 frozen cubes of brine, thaw in water and pour across the top of tank. I try to go it when they are out and about but usually in evening
 
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Lavey29

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Now that i have had the fish for a few days I am completely fascinated with them. They seem to have the friendliest personality and just play at the glass with you all day long. He is just roaming the rocks and sand a lot pecking for pods. I haven't seen him eat other food but my tank is very heavily pod stocked right now for him.

20220819_183427.jpg 20220819_183423.jpg
 
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GarrettT

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You try can o cyclops?

Zoo Med 78066 Can O' Cyclops, 3.2 oz https://a.co/d/2IOKn3y

See post # 11

 
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Lavey29

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You try can o cyclops?

Zoo Med 78066 Can O' Cyclops, 3.2 oz https://a.co/d/2IOKn3y

See post # 11

Interesting concept but I wonder what else will make a home in that rock sponge.
 
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Lavey29

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Well good news is my mandarin tried some TDO pellets. Bad news is he spit it out like my kid does broccoli.
 
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Lavey29

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One thing I'm happy about is all the fish in the tank seem uninterested in the mandarin. They just let him cruise around and do his thing with no aggression at all.
 
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Lavey29

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So I have seeded my tank again with multiple types of pods and the mandarin seems to be showing normal hunting feeding behavior. He stays under the rocks during the day but hunts dawn and dusk. I tried some coral feast ova today just broadcast feeding and he sure came out from hiding quick. I think he might like that expensive caviar which sucks for my wallet.
 

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Well good news is my mandarin tried some TDO pellets. Bad news is he spit it out like my kid does broccoli.
Interesting, mine goes after TDO and LRF nano as soon as it’s in the water. I dump Tisbe pods in there every once in a while also. He ate the TDO as soon as I received him even being a very small fish. Biota mandarin
 
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Lavey29

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Here he is hunting on my trachy
 

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Lavey29

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Interesting, mine goes after TDO and LRF nano as soon as it’s in the water. I dump Tisbe pods in there every once in a while also. He ate the TDO as soon as I received him even being a very small fish. Biota mandarin
Mine spit to TDO out
 

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