Mandarinfish feeding question.

[olonmv]

Over the weekend I bought a mandarin. I know that these are finicky eaters and one of the 2 reasons I got him was because I was told AND shown that he was already trained for frozen brine and 2 I felt confident about my pod population being able to sustain him in between feedings. I’m worried that he isn’t eating the brine I put in for him. He does steadily peck away at the sand and rock all day. I’m more than ready to go get bottled or cultured pods but I also want to know if his weight looks within normal allowances. I’m good and ready to take on the job of fattening him up I just want to know that he is healthy at the moment. If not, what can I do in lue of pods if I don’t find pods locally? I have frozen pe mysis, pe mysis pellets (small ones) and reef-roids. This is him at 4:30 am this morning when he's kinda waking up (my day starts early) I feed with all flow off and pipete the food next to him. He kinda ignores it and slowly starts to peck at the sand glass and rock. Am I overly worried? I’m confused on what a healthy mandarin looks like. I know what a fat one looks like though. This is him 3 days into being with me. He pretty much has a routine of pecking away throughout the day.

 

[Hermie]

not normal at all for a healthy fish it's severly underfed imo could be suffering from internal parasites but that is a pure guess as to a cause of the fish's weight.

The bones on the side should not be as apparent as they are. IMO you need to get live copepods like tigropius (some benthic species) but any species is good, and increase your nutrient load in the tank to increase copepod population (microalgaes).

Some may disagree with my recommendation to increase algae but I am looking at the health of the fish first and foremost.

 

[Hermie]

not normal at all for a healthy fish it's severly underfed imo could be suffering from internal parasites but that is a pure guess as to a cause of the fish's weight.

The bones on the side should not be as apparent as they are. IMO you need to get live copepods like tigropius (some benthic species) but any species is good, and increase your nutrient load in the tank to increase copepod population (microalgaes).

Some may disagree with my recommendation to increase algae but I am looking at the health of the fish first and foremost.

Oh and check out Paul B's feeder, do that ASAP imo (make one) and hatch some brine shrimp. It has very good success stories.

 

[eggplantparrot]

consider culturing white worms.

very easy to do in dollar store plastic containers with some sifted dirt. no smells and can be kept in cool dark place. piece of bread with optional yogurt will get the popoulation booming.

since my baby mandy got used to the worms, he's been gorging himself until his belly is round every day.

 

[ChaosAquaculture]

The fish does look underweight, have you seen him eat at all? Does he show interest in food? Have you seen him poop? - kali

 

[olonmv]

not normal at all for a healthy fish it's severly underfed imo could be suffering from internal parasites but that is a pure guess as to a cause of the fish's weight.

The bones on the side should not be as apparent as they are. IMO you need to get live copepods like tigropius (some benthic species) but any species is good, and increase your nutrient load in the tank to increase copepod population (microalgaes).

Some may disagree with my recommendation to increase algae but I am looking at the health of the fish first and foremost.

I was afraid he may be on the thin side but am willing to nurse him to health. More than willing to get him pods but only place I’ve four is where I got him and they’re cultured on site. I can see pods in my tank still and he’s steadily fluttering and eating off the rocks n such.

Oh and check out Paul B's feeder, do that ASAP imo (make one) and hatch some brine shrimp. It has very good success stories.

that is definitely on my radar.

 

[olonmv]

The fish does look underweight, have you seen him eat at all? Does he show interest in food? Have you seen him poop? - kali

White worms = fat. Easy to culture I like. Please tell me more.

 

[Hermie]

I was afraid he may be on the thin side but am willing to nurse him to health. More than willing to get him pods but only place I’ve four is where I got him and they’re cultured on site. I can see pods in my tank still and he’s steadily fluttering and eating off the rocks n such.

that is definitely on my radar.

I was in the market for a mandarin for a long time and every time I'd look in a fish store I'd check out their mandarins but nearly 100% of the time those fish are malnourished and on a path to dying which is why the LFS charge so much for them (to replace the expense of dead livestock). I ended up buying a captive-bred mandarin (for much more money) but it's 100% healthy from day 1 and will live a full lifespan since it's sold at a younger age than most wild caught.

 

[olonmv]

The fish does look underweight, have you seen him eat at all? Does he show interest in food? Have you seen him poop? - kali

Yes, I’ve seen him eat but mostly he seems to prefer the pods I have over the frozen brine.

 

[Tamberav]

Over the weekend I bought a mandarin. I know that these are finicky eaters and one of the 2 reasons I got him was because I was told AND shown that he was already trained for frozen brine and 2 I felt confident about my pod population being able to sustain him in between feedings. I’m worried that he isn’t eating the brine I put in for him. He does steadily peck away at the sand and rock all day. I’m more than ready to go get bottled or cultured pods but I also want to know if his weight looks within normal allowances. I’m good and ready to take on the job of fattening him up I just want to know that he is healthy at the moment. If not, what can I do in lue of pods if I don’t find pods locally? I have frozen pe mysis, pe mysis pellets (small ones) and reef-roids. This is him at 4:30 am this morning when he's kinda waking up (my day starts early) I feed with all flow off and pipete the food next to him. He kinda ignores it and slowly starts to peck at the sand glass and rock. Am I overly worried? I’m confused on what a healthy mandarin looks like. I know what a fat one looks like though. This is him 3 days into being with me. He pretty much has a routine of pecking away throughout the day.

Very underweight and frozen brine is not nutritional enough. You need to hatch fresh baby brine shrimp and use a feeder like Paul B does. He also needs pods. Live white worms can also be cultured but take time.

Ova eggs are another great food that they often like. This will spoil quickly and I suggest you get small cube trays and freeze it: https://www.aquaculturenurseryfarms.com/liquid-coral-food-and-fish-food/coral-feast-ova/

Unfortunately when they get super skinny, it can cause organ damage and sometimes they die regardless of eating.

A healthy mandarin should be a fat sausage, very round and chubby looking. No visible boney sides at all, no concave stomach.

 

[olonmv]

I was in the market for a mandarin for a long time and every time I'd look in a fish store I'd check out their mandarins but nearly 100% of the time those fish are malnourished and on a path to dying which is why the LFS charge so much for them (to replace the expense of dead livestock). I ended up buying a captive-bred mandarin (for much more money) but it's 100% healthy from day 1 and will live a full lifespan since it's sold at a younger age than most wild caught.

The main reason I got him was because he instantly went for the brine at the shop.

 

[olonmv]

Very underweight and frozen brine is not nutritional enough. You need to hatch fresh baby brine shrimp and use a feeder like Paul B does. He also needs pods. Live white worms can also be cultured but take time.

Unfortunately when they get super skinny, it can cause organ damage and sometimes they die regardless of eating.

A healthy mandarin should be a fat sausage, very round and chubby looking. No visible boney sides at all, no concave stomach.

I readily have frozen mysis and pellets and reef roids at hand. Called a couple places for pods and they’re out until tomorrow. Can this fish be rescued or should I take back to LFS and ask for a refund? I’d rather him be saved though.

 

[olonmv]

SCORE! Called a shop n they got tiger pods! Man, I hope I caught it in time.

 

[Tamberav]

I readily have frozen mysis and pellets and reef roids at hand. Called a couple places for pods and they’re out until tomorrow. Can this fish be rescued or should I take back to LFS and ask for a refund? I’d rather him be saved though.

I would get ahold of the foods I listed and live pods if you want to have a chance. It does not look good. If you lose him, you will have those foods for if you try again but purchase a fairly healthy one. Mysis and such is a lot of shell, reef roids is more of a powder, and pellets are not often taken by wild mandarins (but sometimes), there are better foods.

Live pods, white worms, ova, freshly hatched baby brine are great tools for this fish and you can culture all the lives ones yourself even for a endless supply.

 

[Hermie]

Honestly whether the fish can be saved or not is anyone's guess and comes down to how much you want to spend (time/money) on the foods to try. Worse case scenario if it doesn't make it, you can use the foods for another healthier fish later.

 

[olonmv]

I call my son periodically and he’s assuring me that the mandarin is steadily eating at pods. Can I prazipro him? Or the entire tank for that matter? I have inverts and lps and sps mix in there.

 

[olonmv]

I can also qt him if need be......I just don’t wanna stress him.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Mandarin feeder gets my vote I kept my pair of mandarin for 2 years with no pods or live brine just small particle frozen foods like calanus cyclops and roe, eventually as they grew bigger they ate the more common fish food like mysis and brine. I miss them, velvet swept my tank away. They were my favorite to watch

This is what got me by all those years, I placed it by the rocks where I knew they would see it. Took a few days for them to go inside. I would leave food in there around the clock. Emptying out old food or uneaten was the worst part, because it stunk.

 

[olonmv]

Mandarin feeder gets my vote I kept my pair of mandarin for 2 years with no pods or live brine just small particle frozen foods like calanus cyclops and roe, eventually as they grew bigger they ate the more common fish food like mysis and brine. I miss them, velvet swept my tank away. They were my favorite to watch

This is what got me by all those years, I placed it by the rocks where I knew they would see it. Took a few days for them to go inside. I would leave food in there around the clock. Emptying out old food or uneaten was the worst part, because it stunk.

I’m definitely taking notes. I hate the idea of this guy passing on my watch. He is super cool to watch. I just called my son and the mandarin is doin mandarin things, he’s very active during the day. I’m gonna start prazi soon as I get home from buying the tiger pods.

 

[Hermie]

I call my son periodically and he’s assuring me that the mandarin is steadily eating at pods. Can I prazipro him? Or the entire tank for that matter? I have inverts and lps and sps mix in there.

wait at least a few days to a week before you medicate the fish IMO because right now you don't want to compromise it's health any further, dying internal parasites for example could hurt it worse than leaving them undisturbed (which we don't even know if it's suffering from).