Blue Mandarin

I currently adopted a blue mandarin. My tank has been established now for about 3 months. I am aware that it is very soon to have added a mandarin.
I am currently running a 33 gallon reef tank with a 20 gallon sump. I have approx 35-40lbs of live rock in the tank and 7lbs in the sump, plus a good 3" live sand bed. I have noticed 1/2" copepod or amphipod shells floating around from malting so I know they are present and growing. My question is will I have enough to support the little guys heavy appetite? He's been in there for a full day hovering around picking at all the live rock but his belly looks far from being full. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

No unfortunately it will quickly wipe out whatever population you have. If you are deadset on keeping it my advice would be to get some tiggerpods and add them to the tank as soon as possible. Once these fish get skinny it is nearly impossible to fatten them back up. You can try training them to eat bloodworms,nutramar ova, or Mysis but if this is a wildcaught specimen your chances are pretty slim especially if you have other more aggresive eaters in the tank. Some people add a small glass jar to the tank so they can add food to it that the Mnadarin can consume at its usual leisurely pace.Good luck.

 

I use a glass jar for my mandarin. I would recommend a jelly jar for size. For me With my wild caught mandarin(i have 2 mandarins). the first food that worked was bloodworms. And then Aquatic treasures glacier fed mysis(a bit expensive but works well for bigger mandarins) and nutramar ova works great if they are smaller. and you could try tiny ghost shrimp. If you breed some and feed the offspring to the mandarin that is pretty easy. If you have enough ghost shrimp

 

The guy at the local reef store suggested I hatch some baby brine shrimp (I know, no nutritional value but It will keep him from starving and offer an alternative food source other then my pods) and try to target feed him thawed rotifier cubes.

 

any thoughts on that approach?

 

the baby brine have more nutritional value then the adults. I would buy a ton of pods online or rehouse him quickly.

If you had been seeding your tank with pods and put in a refugium he might of done better

 

I do have a refugium in my sump. However the only thing currently in it is 7lbs of live rock.
With in the next few days I'm looking to add some chaeto.

 

Don't waste your time with brine shrimp.

 

You could also setup a pod bucket. Throw a heater and some filter sponges into a bucket with some dirty tank water and add pods. Then a few times a week you grab one of the sponges and shake it out in the tank releasing the pods.

 

I've got a small ball of cheato in each back corner of my DT. Tucked away so it's barely noticeable. Looked tonight via a flashlight and it's loaded with pods. I set this up just for my Mandarin.