Mandarin still wont eat

[vcnt]

Ive had her for about 2-2.5 weeks, added a bottle of copepods directly into her corner, during the night with pumps off along with 10 Ml of phyto nearly every day, also with pumps off for .5-1 hour. My mandarin does not go after the mysis i put in, and pecks at the rock she hangs out by very little.

I dont want her starving, what else should i try?

 

[Channas]

Ive had her for about 2-2.5 weeks, added a bottle of copepods directly into her corner, during the night with pumps off along with 10 Ml of phyto nearly every day, also with pumps off for .5-1 hour. My mandarin does not go after the mysis i put in, and pecks at the rock she hangs out by very little.

I dont want her starving, what else should i try?

I would just keep at it but over feed with live copepods just to ensure she gets enough, as long as you dont see her belly get flat or sunken in, she is fine.

 

[vcnt]

I would just keep at it but over feed with live copepods just to ensure she gets enough, as long as you dont see her belly get flat or sunken in, she is fine.

I dont have any more bottles of copepods, I put 1 in 1.5 years ago and another one in last weekend

 

[bcastro89]

I would just keep at it but over feed with live copepods just to ensure she gets enough, as long as you dont see her belly get flat or sunken in, she is fine.

I dont have any more bottles of copepods, I put 1 in 1.5 years ago and another one in last weekend

For a mandarin dosing pods once or twice isn’t going to be enough. You will have to dose pods for as long as you have the mandarin. I dose on a monthly basis for mine.

 

[vcnt]

For a mandarin dosing pods once or twice isn’t going to be enough. You will have to dose pods for as long as you have the mandarin. I dose on a monthly basis for mine.

The thing is as ive said b4 i dont have a refugium...

 

[bcastro89]

For a mandarin dosing pods once or twice isn’t going to be enough. You will have to dose pods for as long as you have the mandarin. I dose on a monthly basis for mine.

The thing is as ive said b4 i dont have a refugium...

I don’t either. I have an aio and just dump them into display at night on a monthly basis. They’ll go into your sand and rock. From there your mandarin will graze on them throughout the day.

 

[Uncle99]

Depends on the tank size and age.

 

[vcnt]

Depends on the tank size and age.

110, 4x1.5x2.5 and 2 years, but I have not been adding things into the tank as one would normally do, ive just had these three fish for 1.5 years but past 1.5 month ive added 4 fish and 2 corals

 

[Uncle99]

110, 4x1.5x2.5 and 2 years, but I have not been adding things into the tank as one would normally do, ive just had these three fish for 1.5 years but past 1.5 month ive added 4 fish and 2 corals

Is that a biota or wild?
Two years and lots of rock and sand?
Is a big dusk dawn hunter.
A two year old 110 with rock would be producing enough pods on its own for one Mandarin.
Maybe it eats when your not around?

 

[vcnt]

Tank shot
I have a decent amount of rock I believe

Here is my tank

I see it eating sometimes, but from what i heard being 6-10 seconds per peck my fish is not doing that

 

[Uncle99]

Here is my tank

I see it eating sometimes, but from what i heard being 6-10 seconds per peck my fish is not doing that

Nice.
Is that Captive Bred or Wild caught?
Spotted or Green/Blue?
Any other exclusive pod eaters in there?

 

[DaJMasta]

As said, in a seasoned 110 without other copepod eaters you should be fine even if it doesn't eat prepared at all. Maybe even with a second (not a guarantee.)

It may take prepared foods in time, but if you want to train it onto them, you really need a smaller space. When they don't know what to look for, it's a numbers game as to when they may accidentally eat one and start realizing that it's food, so you would want to confine it in a much smaller space (like a mesh breeder box that can hold the food in) and feed it in there. Even then, with twice daily feedings of prepared and some copepods/artemia to entice feeding, it will rarely take less than two weeks to see them eat, and i generally wouldn't let them into the display until another week to be sure and to get them better fed.

 

[vcnt]

Nice.
Is that Captive Bred or Wild caught?
Spotted or Green/Blue?
Any other exclusive pod eaters in there?

I think this guy is a pod eater too

Can someone judge if she looks skinny?

 

[DaJMasta]

To get a good view of the stomach, it really helps to get a brighter background, but also, they are very often somewhat thin when they are sold because of limited food during handling and shipping. It doesn't look emaciated, to me, so it could be getting enough to eat even if it looked a little thin.

If the wrasse eats regular prepared foods it's impact on the copepod population will be much less.

 

[vcnt]

w

To get a good view of the stomach, it really helps to get a brighter background, but also, they are very often somewhat thin when they are sold because of limited food during handling and shipping. It doesn't look emaciated, to me, so it could be getting enough to eat even if it looked a little thin.

If the wrasse eats regular prepared foods it's impact on the copepod population will be much less.

wrasse is a very strange guy

mandarin was bought at lfs

Will get better photos tomorrow afternoon

 

[Mandarinkeeper]

Hope you can tell by my screen name that I’m a mandarin lover.
The ultimate key is to get your mandarin eating pellets. It can be done. It’s just a disciplined routine to get the mandarin to recognize and accept it for food. Some do so easier and quicker than others. First is to turn off all pumps and start target feeding the area that the mandarin is in. PEMysis usually elicits it’s a feeding response. If a few pieces are broadcast fed near the Mandarin, they often will at least examine it. Once they’ve eaten a few pieces, the process of slowly getting them used to PE pellets and other pellet foods is fairly straightforward. You just start mixing pellets in with the music shrimp. If they won’t take the frozen, you can start with live Brine. I would load that with phytoplanktonfirst so that it’s somewhat nutritious. New mandarins or mandarins that are being trained to eat often require multiple feedings throughout the day unless your pod population is extremely heavy. I find that the pods are a supplement, but I rely on frozen foods and pellets to sustain the mandarin. I have a pair of blue greens that are thriving. They are wild caught, and I trained them the way that I described above. One thing you can try is a glass pipette feeding tube that you can buy on Amazon that can stay in the tank and you can feed frozen food down through it so that it’s slowly dispenses food near the sand. The key is to feed the other fish in the tank separately so that the mandarin has the ability to slowly examine and ultimately pick at the offerings. Good luck!

 

[revhtree]

How's she doing today?

 

[vcnt]

How's she doing today?

just got home a little while ago.. still doing the same in my few minutes looking, pecking 1-2/minute

 

[Freenow54]

The thing is as ive said b4 i dont have a refugium...

Check through Paul Bs threads I believe there are instructions as how to raise them in a tub. Also have you tried black worms ? white worms too but apparently cant feed them every day

 

[W31Olds]

Although I can't judge body condition from your Pic, if she's pecking 1-2 times a minute she's eating Pods. Mine eats Frozen and Pellets and I rarely see her pecking at my Rocks, mainly because my Pod population is low. She's not thin though and frequently hunts.