Hungry Mandarin

Anak’s Reef

Formerly known as Blennylover01
Hello, we're looking to set up a pod and phyto culture since our mandarin is looking a bit skinny. In the meantime, how many pods do you think we will need to sustain our mandarin while the culture is growing. We are seeing a slight line running through the middle of her body like how I see starving mandarins, but it is not as pronounced yet. But starting. I have a photo of her, but it's hard to see her line
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Thanks so much’
 
You could consider hatching baby brine shrimp and/or growing white worms. A bit of work but great ways to keep your mandarin fat and happy.
 
How long have you had it? I have had really good luck pellet training these guys. I now have an eheim automated feeder drop and assortment of pellets/flakes. Causes bad algae but my mandarin is happy, as well as the scoly and micromussa places beneath the feeders output haha
 
I second the baby brine shrimp , simple setup with plastic soda bottle and small air pump , easy to find instructions online . You'll have tons of babies in less than two days and everybody in the tank including corals love them . My Mandarin has been eating Larry's Reef Frenzy for over two years , he absolutely loves it .
 
Get the baby brine shrimp hatchery and do an @Paul B spot feeder. If you check out my build thread I have pictures. The circle hatchery is super easy. My little girl has also been spotted eating white worms the past few nights which has me super excited as well...:cool:
 
Hey guys thanks for all the input. She’s been in the tank for about 2 1/2 months now. I decided that I won’t be doing a brine shrimp feeder for her, nor will I be feeding her brine shrimp. Also probably no pellets. Thank you but if you have any tips on copepod cultures or phyto that would be great too. I decided that I don’t want to cause her anymore stress for her by sticking a pipet at her face or adding something that she might
Not even want to eat. I tried some frozen brine and I squirted a couple times for a couple days but she ignored it. Also having a algae problem so I want to avoid adding more extra food into the tank.
 
Maybe buy some live pods in a bottle and dump them in there. You could set some aside in a small container to try to culture pods.

A larger tank with a lot of rock helps a pod population, and a refugium helps too.

I've been culturing nanochloropsis (SP?) for about a year and that does seem to keep the pod numbers up.

I got one of those Biota mandarins and it was scary small when it arrived. Now its a chunky monkey.
 
So far my plan is to get some pods from reef nutrition and have a jar or pitcher ready with the rigid airline and the air pump and the airline tubing all connected to the airpump. I have a 20 gallon cube tank with lots of live rock, but I am having some algae problems so ithink that might get the pods in the tank a home but my mandarin can’t eat them? What is nanochloropsis or sp? Is it another type of macro algae or little critters? Thanks for the input and glad you mandarin is a chunky monkey.
 
Hey guys thanks for all the input. She’s been in the tank for about 2 1/2 months now. I decided that I won’t be doing a brine shrimp feeder for her, nor will I be feeding her brine shrimp. Also probably no pellets. Thank you but if you have any tips on copepod cultures or phyto that would be great too. I decided that I don’t want to cause her anymore stress for her by sticking a pipet at her face or adding something that she might
Not even want to eat. I tried some frozen brine and I squirted a couple times for a couple days but she ignored it. Also having a algae problem so I want to avoid adding more extra food into the tank.
crappiest answer your mandarin will die

***no swearing***
 
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I think it's a shame that you're not willing to do the baby brine shrimp it's way easier than doing a phyto and pod culture by far and you don't have to stick anything in their face. The spot feeder that @Paul B did isn't obtrusive at all and only costs a few bucks and once it gets encrusted in coraline you can barely notice it.

All you need is some clear tubing and a circular container from an electrical tape and some panty hose. With the circular brine shrimp hatchery I get 5-6 days of baby brine shrimp (drop in new eggs at day 3) before I have to clean it and put fresh saltwater in it. It is under $30 and you don't need anything besides some ambient light so the baby brine shrimp go towards the center for easy collection.

I and other members don't mean to be harsh but we've seen it over and over again about mandarins slowly dying due to malnutrition. I for one shouldn't have a mandarin in my 25 cube but I went above and beyond with a phyto, pod, white worm and baby brine shrimp culture and spend months planning. I got grief but made sure I could provide a mandarin with the best change to live. My mandarin has more than doubled in size and is fat as can be due to all my extra work and more than 20 years of reefing experience. The fact that you aren't willing to do everything possible for your mandarin that you've already admitted to being skinny is too bad. It takes months and months for them to slowly die of starvation and sounds like he or she will probably not make it.

This brine shrimp hatchery and eggs (https://www.brineshrimpdirect.com/hatchery-dish-kit) plus this spot feeder () will give your little guy a chance while you get your phyto and pod cultures up and running. Again I still do all three plus white worm cultures which my little girl has started to love now that she's started to eat them.
 
Quickly reading back it sounds like your 20 gallon tank is way to small to not have already done the phyto and pod cultures so the baby brine shrimp hatchery should be something you should consider ASAP. I'd also suggest having a refugium so your pods could have a safe place to multiply. I got a HOB fuge for that purpose.

I'd also suggest doing some pod hotels to help increase their ability to reproduce. Here's a link to my cheap DIY pod hotel - http://bostonreefers.org/forums/index.php?threads/diy-cheap-pod-hotel-project.168424/
 
That’s true. Thanks for the replies, I will ask my parents first. I really do want to do as much for my mandarin. So I can do brine and pods and phyto? Or do you think just brine is enough and keep adding some pods every month or so. How should I get my mandarin to be interested in brine?
 
Quickly reading back it sounds like your 20 gallon tank is way to small to not have already done the phyto and pod cultures so the baby brine shrimp hatchery should be something you should consider ASAP. I'd also suggest having a refugium so your pods could have a safe place to multiply. I got a HOB fuge for that purpose.

I'd also suggest doing some pod hotels to help increase their ability to reproduce. Here's a link to my cheap DIY pod hotel - http://bostonreefers.org/forums/index.php?threads/diy-cheap-pod-hotel-project.168424/
Yeah my tank is a 20g cube. I don’t have a fuge or a sump. I was thinking of a pod hotel because it’s a good place for them to reproduce, but they didn’t think we needed it. I will se if I can do a brine hatchery thanks so much’
 
Reefing is all about learning. We've all made mistakes and I think your doing a good job trying to figure this out. 20 gallon is it small tank to try to sustain a Pod population big enough for the Mandarin as well as everything else in the tank that eats them. You really do have to add supplemental food. The feeder station create a concentrated food area for your Mandarin. Even with that is there slow eaters. They learn to associate that area with food it will also start trying other items that sit in that spot like Frozen misis and pellets. It really is the path towards success. Stick with it you are on the right track. Good luck
 
Reefing is all about learning. We've all made mistakes and I think your doing a good job trying to figure this out. 20 gallon is it small tank to try to sustain a Pod population big enough for the Mandarin as well as everything else in the tank that eats them. You really do have to add supplemental food. The feeder station create a concentrated food area for your Mandarin. Even with that is there slow eaters. They learn to associate that area with food it will also start trying other items that sit in that spot like Frozen misis and pellets. It really is the path towards success. Stick with it you are on the right track. Good luck
Thank you. I will try and get a brine hatchery thanks so much!
 
That’s true. Thanks for the replies, I will ask my parents first. I really do want to do as much for my mandarin. So I can do brine and pods and phyto? Or do you think just brine is enough and keep adding some pods every month or so. How should I get my mandarin to be interested in brine?

Yes you can do all three. Pods are good for them to munch on all day. With the smaller tank size they will probably deplete it quite easily which is why the baby brine shrimp is great because they're loaded with nutrition when they're freshly hatched.

Yeah my tank is a 20g cube. I don’t have a fuge or a sump. I was thinking of a pod hotel because it’s a good place for them to reproduce, but they didn’t think we needed it. I will se if I can do a brine hatchery thanks so much’

The pod hotel cost me maybe $10 bucks if that it was super easy. The corrugated plastic was purchased at a big box hardware store and I had the superglue and the frag plugs to mount them. I made 2 for my 25 cube and they blend in now that they're covered in algae.

Thank you. I will try and get a brine hatchery thanks so much!

Again please don't take any of our comments as bashing as it's been said we've all been there and done that. Mandarins are generally considered hard fish to keep and not typically kept in smaller sized tanks. They need to eat pretty much all day long due to their digestive track essentially being a straight line without what we would typically consider a stomach to hold food to be properly digested.

Not sure where you are located but I could also give you a starter white worm culture. They're super easy to keep and maintain and they are super nutritious as well. I'm on the northshore in Ipswich.
 
Can you send me a link to the printer file for that pod hotel. I would love to print one.
 
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