EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal
Just another girl who likes fish
What does that even mean?
mandarin goby thread
- Thread starter melonheadorion
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Yea before he bought the fish tank needed 6 months of pods in it, now he's going day by day, it takes time dont be in a hurry even with fish
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melonheadorion
Well-Known Member
i have plenty of patience. my sailfin/algae blenny was testing my patience at first. he is definately an adult. i didnt want one so big, but bought it anyway. he didnt want to eat anything that i put in the tank, regardless of what it was. he only ate algae that was on the rocks, and it was starting to look bleak for him, because he was picking over the same spots every day. eventually, after 2 weeks, he randomly starting eating flakes, then he started going for pellets, and within days, he has learned to eat anything. since he is a big fish, he tends to outcompete my diamond goby for frozen food and flakes, so i spot feed those two anyhow, so im not too worried about spot feeding, or doing special things to teach a fish to eat, or have special feeding conditions
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melonheadorion
Well-Known Member
its the assumption that i didnt already have a pod population. that first purchase of pods wasnt the only pods i had. that was just my first purchase of pods from a retailer, such as algae barn
EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal
Just another girl who likes fish
If you’re referring to me, I’m not a “he”. And i didn’t stock 6 months of pods, FYI. I agree that buying captive bred fish is a much better idea than getting wild caught, but you don’t need to beat people over the head with it. The OP is doing the best they can for the fish they have (as did I). They are looking for constructive advice for moving forward, and negative or shaming comments aren’t helpful.
blaxsun
10K Club member
There's no harm in buying wild caught fish. What the aquatics industry takes out pales in comparison to the tens of thousands of drift nets out there every day...
And not all captive bred mandarins eat frozen or pellets. Just because they're sold like that doesn't mean you don't occasionally get a fish that won't eat anything but pods.
I had two wild caught mandarins. They both ate frozen within days of getting them.
And not all captive bred mandarins eat frozen or pellets. Just because they're sold like that doesn't mean you don't occasionally get a fish that won't eat anything but pods.
I had two wild caught mandarins. They both ate frozen within days of getting them.
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melonheadorion
Well-Known Member
its too soon for me to tell, but im hoping that mine will eat frozen. the reaction i saw soon after tank into has me hopeful, but i am also expected that i may have to try to teach it/trick it to do so. at the same time, i am also with the understanding that these fish are hard to keep,and may lose the fish. i know i will need to be diligent to feed it, and prepared to do so.
im not in the business, or practice of just letting fish die. im am attached to any fish i buy, so if anyone has any other ideas, thoughts, or whatever, i am more than open to hear them, and will of course keep updates going as i go so that it is informational for anyone else trying to do the same.
blaxsun
10K Club member
I started mine on calanus, moved up to brine and then finally mysis. A feeder tube helped to ensure I could get some food right in front of their snout to check out.
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melonheadorion
Well-Known Member
how often would you say you add? and how much? other than what they feed on within the tank, and with prepped foods, i assume that you only add the pods to make sure the tank stay stocked, which is what my intent is really going to be
I may have missed it but there is one other thing to consider that is very important and that is what other fish are in the tank. I don't care how varied the diet of captive bred mandarins are, they will not survive in a tank with large numbers of voracious feeders like wrasses. They are simply to slow of feeders to ever get enough to eat. If you have lots of wrasses you will also understand why spot feeding won't work.
Karen00
2500 Club Member
I always ask the seller what they've been eating and I make sure I have that on hand (or buy) until I can hopefully get them transitioned to my stuff. I also ask if they're wild caught or captive bred (with any fish) simply because there could be differences in feeding, etc. I'm also trying to go captive bred as much as possible.
Also, I saw a member had designed a bottom dwellers feeder. I remember the video shows a mandarin and some blennies on it. Who was that? It looked like a transparent petri dish but I couldn't figure out how the top was made to allow the fish to eat.
Also, I saw a member had designed a bottom dwellers feeder. I remember the video shows a mandarin and some blennies on it. Who was that? It looked like a transparent petri dish but I couldn't figure out how the top was made to allow the fish to eat.
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melonheadorion
Well-Known Member
How much of a pod population do you think you have before adding?
Also, my intent is to spot feed at least 3 times a day. How often do you direct feed?
I feed once a day, LRF nano, a few small pieces which I stir up before dumping in the tank with tank water, also every couple of days I add TDO small pellets, not a lot of that. There are 3 fish, the mandarin, a court jester goby, white Wyoming clown. They all eat the same food. Pod population I’m not sure how many. At times the glass is covered in them.
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melonheadorion
Well-Known Member
day 4. still early of course, but still shows good weight. i have seen him eating. he isnt as active as i would think he would be. generally hangs out in the same area, and only swims up maybe 3 inches to perch on a rock. he definately has not explored the whole tank yet, which is expected being new still.
his eating habit is what concerns me though. its going to the common post that i find of, which is the "not very active not looking for food" type of thing. i see him peck every now and then, but it is not what i would expect of a mandarin. there is plenty of pods still, as i have checked at 2am last night, he still has very good weight, but i know he should be actively seeking food through the whole day, and im just not seeing it.
the only other thing im seeing that is concerning is that when he breathes, its full mouth open once per second, so every breath taken is mouth wide open. i wouldnt say its fast breathing, but with other fish, that type of breathing wouldnt be normal, so im not sure what to attribute that to, and perhaps this is tied to it, but he isnt scared of my feeding baster. which is no surprise, but i would suspect that i shouldnt be able to touch him with it, when he lets me, and he moves slightly to the side when i do
i attribute it to being a new environment, so i guess we will see. its definately not lack of food at this point, and im hoping its just new environment related
his eating habit is what concerns me though. its going to the common post that i find of, which is the "not very active not looking for food" type of thing. i see him peck every now and then, but it is not what i would expect of a mandarin. there is plenty of pods still, as i have checked at 2am last night, he still has very good weight, but i know he should be actively seeking food through the whole day, and im just not seeing it.
the only other thing im seeing that is concerning is that when he breathes, its full mouth open once per second, so every breath taken is mouth wide open. i wouldnt say its fast breathing, but with other fish, that type of breathing wouldnt be normal, so im not sure what to attribute that to, and perhaps this is tied to it, but he isnt scared of my feeding baster. which is no surprise, but i would suspect that i shouldnt be able to touch him with it, when he lets me, and he moves slightly to the side when i do
i attribute it to being a new environment, so i guess we will see. its definately not lack of food at this point, and im hoping its just new environment related
I should’ve added this mandarin is captive bred, tiny upon arrival. He was eating the x -small TDO pellets then and pods. He’s been going after the frozen for quite some time. All three fish go after the TDO pellets also. Over two years and going strong.
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melonheadorion
Well-Known Member
You will probably get a mixed bag of answers, and I don't have a good answer myself. You're going to have some that say you need a bigger tank, and those that have tanks our size, or smaller that have a mandarin and are doing fine. With everything I've researched, myconclusionwill come down to food sources, which will be dependent on amount of live rock, does it eat frozen food, and is there anything to compete for the food source.
When I took this on myself, I took it with the knowledge that it may not take to frozen or prepped food, so my intent is to keep a pod population large enough for a sole food source. A wrasse will compete with a mandarin for food, so I personally am not going to even think about adding a wrasse to mine. I dont know what your setup is like, but my journey in this, I dont want to have to work that much harder to feed a mandarin simply because of another fish like that
Uncle99
7500 Club Member
They compete for much the same food source.
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