Mandarin questions

[OCDP]

Well, here's a stupid confession.

I bought a green spot mandarin last week from Wai's... I asked him to feed the tank , he fed them, the mandarin ate (like a little piggy too!) I was so happy to see them eating prepared foods... so I bought one... figuring my pod population was of no concern if it was eating prepared foods. BIG mistake.... I get it home, in the tank.. and within minutes it begins cruisin' around the tank hunting for pods... picking everywhere.... I figured it was just instinct obviously and thought nothing of it. Well.... if it's instinct is to hunt, then it's instinct is to eat pods (duh) ... and if it's in a display tank... of course it will take prepared foods if it has nothing else to eat!! Now my Mandarin is picking constantly.... sometimes it appears tojust be eating algae though. I have tried feeding it (hikari) mysis, and brine (so far) with little luck. My tank is 20g... don't freak on me ! I fed him some frozen brine yesterday and it appeared to snag a few pieces ... so knock on wood. If anyone has some kind of suggestions to give the tank a good boost of pods for the time being, I'm all ears.

My plan is to soak food in garlic extract ... and if this doesn't work... I will try ordering pods online, OR hatching brine shrimp... I was told the pod population in my 20g would be wiped out in 2 months tops.

I'm in need of help as you can see But the Mandarin IS fat... and it's very healthy...and I definitely would like to keep this fish if possible using the options I have available. If all else fails... I'll have to say Good-Bye