Green Mandarin

[jahel318]

OK so I have a mandarin in a 5 gallon QT tank. I just received two 6oz. bottles of tigger pods. How much should I feed this litlte guy? Should I start with just half of one of the bottles? There are newly hatched brine in the QT as well but he seems to have lost interest in them.

 

[Sakura2282]

Is this a tank bred Mandarin? because if it is, it should eat frozen food. As far as I know this little guys eat a lot, they spend all day looking for food in the tank and for food I mean pods, specially when they are not use to eat flakes, pellets or frozen foods. I believe @mariobrothersleeve knows a lot about them because I have seen him making good comments about how to take care of this little guys.

Brine shrimp has no nutritional value unless is soaked on some vitamins that's what I've read on the forums. That's why I believe so many people included me use them just as a fish treat. Does your QT has any live rocks where your pods can hide and breed? B because if not your mandarin is gonna eat them all very quickly.

Hope someone with knowledge on this kind of fish can answer your post. Good luck!

 

[jahel318]

Yes he is tank bred but Saltwater.com told me he only accepts pods. No there isn't any rock or substrate in my QT. I didn't think I would need it in there since I'm keeping him there for only a couple weeks. I made a separate breeding tank for the tigger pods and tisbe pods separately.

 

[kbuser92]

If its captive bred, it should take frozen fairly easily. I think I've heard that some are a little pickier, but try different things. If you can find cyclopeeze or any type of small fish eggs (i think rods has some, and I heard of reef caviar). I've been looking into one myself and that's what I've read. Good luck.

 

[mariobrothersleeve]

You cannot qt these guys. They go directly into the dt. This is an animal that depends on lr no matter tank bred or not. Instinct. They will not go after trigger pods, to big for their tiny mouths. When they are big they'll go after them. I would start raising fresh mysis for them.

 

[jahel318]

The one I bought is a large adult male. He was like a kid in a candy store when I dumped the triggers in the QT. I didn't realize quarantine is a no no for these guys. I will put him in the main display soon. I just finished his 5 day treatment of Lifeguard by Instant ocean since his female counterpart was in the same tank and died of a bad fungus or bacteria. I wanted to be safe instead of sorry. I have started culturing tisbe, triggers pods, and brine (even though brine have not nutritional value). I've also tried frozen emerald entree and blood worms dipped in SELCO boost but he won't bite at that.

 

[mariobrothersleeve]

I honestly don't know why brine shrimp have such a bad name on them. If they are living, they give the mandarins protein in there belly. As long as they eat they'll be fine. A lot of work is needed for these guys, even when they eat prepared foods. Copepods is always where they will convert back to.
It's hard to keep an animal on prepared foods because it is to much at once for them with other fish. They eat all day long, this is there instinct and evolution has not had an effect on this species. I've watched hermits steal food from them and they had to cross the tank to get it in a baby jar.

 

[jahel318]

Yeah I knew they would be alot of work and can be expensive to maintain but I felt I was ready for a new "challenge". Especially seeing how beautiful this species is.