getting a mandarin to eat

[jason604]

Just got. Psychedelic green mandarin today. Tossed him in the DT. Making brine shrimp eggs. Hopes he eats

[asylumdown]

Well I couldn't resist and bought a second one. Same species and from the same order, but this time, I actually watched the little guy eat frozen PE mysis in the store. He (or she, not really sure how to sex them) is a lot smaller and not as flashy in the fins, but he's about 40 times more active than the last one, and actually moves around in the QT tank. He's still on what I'd call the skinny side compared to 'fat' mandarin photos I can find on the web, but he was in a small tank with a bunch of fire fish and some other gobies, so there wasn't much food hitting the floor for him. Over the course of the day he's eaten about half a frozen cube of mysis shrimp.

I've been paying careful attention to how much food actually hits the ground when I feed, and I'm pretty sure he'll be fine so long as my tank is producing as many pods as I think it is. At feeding time I kill the return pump and put all vortech's in feed mode, so probably 1/4 of the frozen food sinks straight to the sand bed. I'll extend the feed cycle from 5 to 10 minutes to give him extra time to graze.

In any case, the behaviour difference between this fish and the last one is literally night and day. The last one was so lethargic I could literally just reach down and scoop him up with my hand, while this guy is feisty as all get out. I'm feeling a lot more confident about it this time.

[jason604]

Damn half cube of mysis all to himself? I think all 7 of my fishes share half a cube when I actually feed them it.

[Myka]

Hey that's great! You can also make a little rubble pile in the corner of your display where pods can hide inside and breed in a place where the Mandarin can't get to them.