Green Mandarin

[ed102475]

I just got a Green Mandarin yesterday at my Lfs.
My question is what other foods will or might it take?
i have brine shrimp (frozen).

29 gal. reef setup now about 8 months now .

8 gal.Sump ,20,000K 150 watt HQI,1w lunar blue moonlight

1 maroon clown
1 BTA
1 Banded coral shrimp
1 arrow crab
2 peppermint shrimp
1 sally lightfoot crab
15 hermits
6 snails
some xenia
some mushrooms
some green star polyps
some colony polyps
Orange Cup Coral (frag)
Strawberry Soft Coral(frag)

[MyMonkey]

I had a Mandarin that would eat prepared foods. However, that is the exepction not the norm. Mine ate brine and spirulina. He was eating that when I got him though. If you can't get him to eat that you may want to try and find some pods if your LR has none as of yet. I hear that some eat flake as well.

[Mantis]

I have a green and a blue, in my experence, mandi's will not eat prepared foods for me.

I read once that a guy had his trained to eat sinking pellets out of a small plastic container.

[Mantis]

Get some pods, start a culture, he will definitely eat those.

[ed102475]

where can i get pods?start a culture?

[vinstr]

You should have asked this before you bought him- your tank is most likely too small and too new to support him. They will almost never eat anything but pods found in large established reef systems.
I would take him back as soon as you can catch him...he will most likely starve within a few monthsin your tank

[vinstr]

Its too late to start a population now- anything you put in now he will decimate before they get established, beides the fact that your tank is still too small even if the population was established he would finish it off quickly....again, bring him back

[ed102475]

thanks but i did do research before buying and im just trying to get good feedback on how to KEEP IT.

[menace]

my experiance with them, *if* they start taking frozen foods, the ones I have seen like blood worms. *if* you can get them to take that, usually they start taking different types of frozen. if you can get him/her to take frozen, you will want to soak in selcon or zoe or somesuch.

[ed102475]

Thanks menace thats the kind of feed im looking for.Any other helpful feedback on KEEPING it?

[Sugar Magnolia]

HAs it accepterd prepared foods for you yet? You can try any of the frozen preparations, or try Marc's mandarin diner - http://melevsreef.com/mandarin_diner.html

[blface]

After mine decimated the pod population he started eating mysis. It's been over a year now & he looks as healthy as ever.

[angelsil]

Mine both eat frozen bloodworms. It took the female several months to do so. Take a small container (or a small tank), buy some bottled pods, and start culturing them. It is very, very easy to do. Contrary to what you are reading above, you CAN maintain a decent population if you keep them in a seperate tank or bucket. Do NOT rely on frozen foods to feed your mandi. The chances that it will take to them and thrive on just frozen is slim.

[ed102475]

The girl at the lfs told me yes it was eating bloodworms and brinshrimp. we will see.

[rm41400]

where do you reccomend getting the bottled pods from?

[afishyonados]

Also, try placing a sponge behind some rockwork in the tank. This will create a condominium for the 'pods so thier entire population cannot be destroyed.
Oh yeah, doesn't decimate really mean to remove 1/10?

[Dantheman3]

I was able to keep my female mandarin for over a year in a 29gal. I used a large ball of chaeto in one corner, kinda like the sponge idea already suggested. If there are no other pod eaters in the tank then it should be able to survive. I even did worse than you and my tank was only 3 months old when I got mine so yours at 8 months should have a decent population. I also fed alot of different planktons to feed the pods and keep them going.
Well 2 years later and she's still going strong and now accepts frozen mysis. It took a little over a year before she began eating it but now she just about begs like the other fish. Now she is in a 90gal SPS and is fat as ever. Good luck and dont worry if it's not taking frozen foods, it may take a while.

[Cosper]

I would still recomend getting pods from the LFS... that will at least provide him with some live food to last him through the acclimiation process.

[Brian32FSU]

you can get pods from seapods.com. If you really want to keep the fish, Id suggest a refugium where you can culture the pods. That might be your best bet for having a good food source for your fish.

[Ludwigia73]

Take all your astrea snails empty shells and put them in a shallow tupperware container about 2-3 shells deep. This will create a perfect environment for them to grow. As they overpopulate the container, they'll leave and get into the live rock. That's how I kept a mandarin in my 29 gal. He will eat frozen brine, but NOT mysid. I've had him over 2 years now. Just found out they LOVE flatworms. I haven't seen a single flatworm in my 65, but found out recently that my fuge is full of them. This guy seems to hover around the outflow from the fuge, nailing stuff I can't see as it washes out of it.

[Lee Ann]

I have had a mandarin for over a year in a nano! I started him in the tank using the mandarin diner (i used one of those long shot glasses on it's side with different kinds of food). He would nose around, find it, go in and chow down. I think it was he didn' t have to compete with the other fish for the food. He has done great. I don't have to use the diner any more, cause he has become more assertive (maybe more comfortable in the tank?? ) over time. I would just recommed that you try to keep and eye on him to see that he eats, they are so fun to watch anyway that's easy to do!