What to feed my Mandarin

[Gaines69]

I have had Kermit for over 5 months now and he’s doing great. He was eating frozen from day one. He even survived the madness of no filter for several days and an emergency tank move because stand was falling apart after my apartment was flooded with 3-4’ of Harvey water. Lol. My problem now is that I can’t find his favorite frozen food ( nutramar ova) anywhere. Online stores are out or it’s on back order until approx May. He doesn’t like frozen krill or brin shrimp. I know I have pods and I continue to seed my tank with live copepods monthly but they are getting hard to find locally. My question is this. Are the peppermint shrimp babies a good food source for my mandarin? My shrimp seem to have eggs all the time. It’s hard for me to closely monitor him because tank is at a friends home while I’m living in a hotel. He looks nice and plump and is very active every time I visit. Swimming all over the tank picking at the live rock. I have tried several types of frozen food but he seems to be holding out for his prawn eggs. Any suggestions on what I should try next?
Thanks in advance,
Virginia

 

[JoshH]

Will he go for live brine shrimp??

 

[Gaines69]

Im sure he would but I have no way right now to hatch any. Like I said I’m living in a hotel room and space is very limited. I could try hatching some at work as we have a marine aquarium there too. Will have to see if I can find a air pump etc and eggs to give it a try. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[TroyHoot]

Check this out. Takes up very little space. 3 days worth of newborns per fill. I made the brine shrimp feeder that you can find in the DIY section. Works great to supplement food. http://www.brineshrimpdirect.com/c1/Hatchery-Dish-p183.html https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/simple-diy-target-feeder-for-mandarin-pipefish-and-more.150847/

 

[NS Mike D]

I'm out of nutrimar ova as well. mine seems to like frozen cyclops

check out the diy you tube on hatching brine, all you need is a water bottle and air pump

 

[YellowFinsReef]

I've ran into the same issue as well. I've had really good luck feeding my mandarins with LRS fish eggs. They took to it immediately and were picking at it. These can be quite expensive as I got mine for $40 a pack. They are very messy to prepare and not easy to feed -- just very sticky, smelly if left out too long, and hard to separate from the egg sack. If I can offer some experience, moving forward, you should wean the mandarins onto pellets and other frozen food in case there is a shortage or end to any of the fish products we are using. I find that it is helpful when our fish companions are versatile enough in their diet choices that reflect our current living situation. Let me know if this helps.

 

[Gaines69]

What are LRA fish eggs and where can I get them?? Lol.

 

[YellowFinsReef]

These.

 

[Gaines69]

These.

Ugh. I searched LRA fish eggs. Sorry I’m having one of those days. Lol

 

[YellowFinsReef]

Ugh. I searched LRA fish eggs. Sorry I’m having one of those days. Lol

L-R-S lol

 

[Samina]

I found some online at aqua-dreams.com

https://aqua-dreams.com/products/nutramar-ova

I have never ordered from them so I can’t tell you how their customer service or shipping is but they have it listed as in stock.

 

[Izcuacho]

I been waiting for my nutra ova for a few months and Finally dr foster is suppose to have in stock by the end of Jan or at least that’s what they had listed yesterday.

 

[Gaines69]

Do you think I should give this a try? My local petco carries it along with the copepods that I add to my tank once a month Now that I have a mandarin and a sleeper goby I need to make sure they have something to eat besides pods as soon as I get back into my home I will set up a place to hatch brine shrimp and get my refugium for pods going again it’s hatd when someone else is taking care of your tank.
Thanks again for all of your responses and suggestions
Virginia

 

[YellowFinsReef]

Do you think I should give this a try? My local petco carries it along with the copepods that I add to my tank once a month Now that I have a mandarin and a sleeper goby I need to make sure they have something to eat besides pods as soon as I get back into my home I will set up a place to hatch brine shrimp and get my refugium for pods going again it’s hatd when someone else is taking care of your tank.
Thanks again for all of your responses and suggestions
Virginia

This might work. I've never tried this before though, but give it a go and let us know.

 

[Gaines69]

This might work. I've never tried this before though, but give it a go and let us know.

Will do. I’ll pick some up Friday.