Build an easy feeder for mandarins, pipefish etc.

[vinny]

And then putting them into a feeder

 

[Paul B]

Paul are you on reef central? Pretty sure i followed your tank on there

I was on there for many years but don't get along with one of the Mods, so I don't post there any more.

 

[Paul B]

I have an update on my mandarin feeder. A lot of people are having a problem finding an appropriate size mesh for the top of the think. I now use a piece from the inside of a reverse osmosis cartridge. If you cut off the ends of a used RO cartridge there is a large screen rolled up in there that has the perfect sized holes and it is enough to last you the rest of your life. It is also plastic so it lasts a long time and my urchin so far has not eaten through it.

 

[B.rian]

i wanted to bump this back up. i am getting ready to build one of these for an incoming mandarin, and i wanted to know 2 things from local reefers:

1) what are you using for the netting material?
2) where did you buy your acrylic tubing?

paul notes using a used RO cartridge. has anyone tried this? i don't have a used cartridge to experiment with, and i am not due to change that filter for a while.

 

[Paul B]

You can use a stocking but not all the mesh is the same. you may have to get one from a Supermodel. You can get that tubing in gray in Home Depot, they use it for connecting up bathroom sinks.

 

[B.rian]

thanks for the advice on stockings. i think i married one of those supermodel types, so i can ask her. if i pour newly hatched brine over the stocking, the liquid should fall through, but the brine should remain on top. that a good way to determine if the mesh is adequate, correct?

i will check out home depot for the tubing this weekend. i am going to pick up some acrylic sheets to build the hatchery as well. my plan is to build a small one that i can attach to the wall inside my stand.

 

[Paul B]

Some of the shrimp should go through. You just want to slow them down, not stop them completely or the fish won't get lunch

 

[evil nick]

question. Dont Brine shrimp live in a completely different, and very specific, salinity than your tank? Wont they die after basically a few minutes + being in your display/feeder?
Just curious., Thanks, Im probably still going to build this as I want to do a Mandarin and was holding out simply because of the feeding.

 

[Paul B]

No, they will live and grow up in your tank if you feed them. I used to raise them as my seahorses grew larger. They can and do live in a wide range of salinities.

 

[evil nick]

okay, just bad info from another forum I guess.

 

[Paul B]

Very bad. That was from someone who never had brine shrimp

 

[evil nick]

Very bad. That was from someone who never had brine shrimp

well it actually came up in a discussion about buying live brine and dumping them in your DT to create a colony. A few people on there said "they wont live, diff salinty, and when they die theyll foul your water"

Im not saying I agree or disagree, I was just asking.

 

[Paul B]

They won't live, but not because of the salinity. They will starve as they are filter feeders. You can grow them on bakers yeast. They are also to small to foul the water.