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#1
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Mandrin Goby?
I have a 120g reef tank, has been setup for a year now, with tons of live rock. so i took a chance and yesterday i got a mandrin. he is a little thin, but i thought i could fatten him up. will he has been in there about 24hrs now, and has only moved about 6 inches. i am worried that he is not going to eat anything. any ideas? thanks!
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#2
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How did you acclimate the fish? It may be adjusting to the tank. My experience with them is that if you buy one that is thin/emaciated, they are sometimes past the point of rebounding. Does your tank have a healthy and visible population of pods?
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The only substitute for good manners is fast reflexes. |
#3
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I floated the fish for about 20 min for temp. then i opened the bag, and added some water from my tank in to the bag, about a half a cup at a time, did that about 3 times, then netted the fish, and released it at the base of the rockwork. there are lots of pods at night, but i have a 6-line wrasse, do u think that he could be depleding the population? i have not seen anyone picking on him. he has still not moved more than an inch from where he was this morning. Thanks!
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#4
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Does nt sound good when you choose fish from the shop grab the healthy looking guys especially mandarins and it even helps if you ask the shop if they take frozen foods etc if they say yes, then smile and ask if they mind if they could show you them feeding..Back to your problem though all you can do is try and tempt it with live foods right under its nose live brine shrimp pods use a turkey baster if he dont take it you cant do much more im afraid. good luck
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#5
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plus another thing you might try is blackworms my mandarins pig themselves on them plus the movement of the worms in the tank might stimulate your guy to feed
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#6
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You might try putting him in a breeder's net floating in your tank so you can concentrate some live food with him and the other tankmates won't grab all of it.
Good luck!
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--Andy "And chase the frothy bubbles, / While the world is full of troubles. . . ." --W. B. Yeats |
#7
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six line + mandarin = no good
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#8
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Quote:
I was thinking that was true, but hopeing that it wasn't.... i actually have the 6-line up for trade now, because of that, in the trade forum. Thanks. |
#9
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i had a mandrin and I couldn't get him to feed
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#10
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Quote:
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#11
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I'm thinking about getting one of these so I will be following this one. I don't have anything in my tank that eats the pods so I should be good. But, I want to hear more about what you guys look for at the store and what to do when you first get him home. I love this site BTW.
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Everything that I own is for sale, click my little red house for info. Local pickup only. |
#12
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best way is turn off all flow and or put it in a breeder net or in a hospital tank where the food is not whipping around the tank. mandarins (atleast mine) is not the quickest of fish and that little segmented movement deal they have usually means alot of missed chances on floating frozen food. When buying one of these fish you want to look that they are fat or nearly fat (no sunken under stomach or anything).
Make sure they are not just sitting there not moving. A healthy one should constantly be on the move for food. Its best to get one that is accepting prepared food and make the store show it feeding to you. Make sure that the fish eats it too not just looks at it and swims away or spits it back out... when i got mine i got him and exactly what they showed me him eating... |
#13
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The problem is that many mandarins are caught with cyanide. They are doomed to perish and it sounds like yours is one of those. It has taken me five to get three. If they are moving around and hunting and you have copepods, you are good; if they stay in one place, they are doomed. Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings.
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Warmest regards, ~Steve~ |
#14
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Oh, and by the way, just because it will eat prepared food, that is not a criteria for success even in a tank where it is the only fish. If you have insufficient copepods, they will starve. I hear that about prepared food at the LFS myth all of the time; it is just that, a myth. If you have the right tank, you will be good. If you do not, they WILL starve.
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Warmest regards, ~Steve~ |
#15
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I just got one yesterday and he has been eating very well all day today. My fuge has cranking out pods for about 4 months now and the tank is filled with them.
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#16
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Quote:
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"Copepods, ain't no substitute" - The Mandarin Dragonet. |
#17
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Thanks for your kind words. I have been keeping Mandarins for quite a while even to the point of getting them to spawn. I simply hate to see a fish brought into an environment where it has no chance.
By the way Zaita, you live in a gorgeous part of the world. Some day I will return.
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Warmest regards, ~Steve~ |
#18
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snorvich,,, do you have any other tips for keeping mandrins? i have a 120g tank, set up for about a year now. besides getting rid of the 6-line wrasse, any other big do's and don't? Thanks for all the advice!!
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#19
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live selcon enriched brine shrimp have always been a winner with me, but my experience is with green target mandarins. They will eat and find the bs if the competition is not too great.
turning pumps off whils feeding helps massively.
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Avatar: Orangutan crab in lps coral mabul borneo in july 2006. Photo taken by myself 18 metres |
#20
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Well there are several ideas that may be of interest. You could establish a refugium to generate copepods and other animals for feeding. If you have dimmable lights (some are able to do this without) you could try and establish a mating pair. Be very careful not to get two of the same sex in the same tank. All three of my mandarins eat mysis and brine but that is not sufficient food for them to live as they eat and hunt for copepods all during the day. However mysis especially is a good nutritional supplement. Avoid competitors for their copepods. If you are breeding brine shrimp, feed either newly hatched or gut loaded. That is about all I can think of for keeping them. Be SURE not to get a mandarin that is not moving around and hunting as it is likely cyanide caught and will not live.
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Warmest regards, ~Steve~ |
#21
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Given the right tank they are very easy. Given the wrong tank, they will not survive. You know you are good after a year . . .
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Warmest regards, ~Steve~ |
#22
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Quote:
Quote:
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"Copepods, ain't no substitute" - The Mandarin Dragonet. |
#23
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Thats a huge mandarin and a beautiful one too!
Glad everythings working out for you. I heard they do get into fights with gobys for the cave dwelling and such. |
#24
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Yes, NZ is the only country I have been to where they xray my luggage going into the country. But I can certainly understand why. Australia typically has their little dogs searching for food but NZ is very, very strict about what goes in.
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Warmest regards, ~Steve~ |
#25
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Quote:
I have a Diamond Goby, would i have to get rid of him too if i wanted to geta mandarin???? i know i have to get rid of the 6-line wrasse. |
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