Mandarin Eats Blood Worms After 1yr

I'm a bit leery of posting this because I don't want to give those thinking of purchasing a Mandarin the impression that the fish they purchase will eat prepared/frozen foods. However, I believe part of being in the hobby is reporting successes and failures so that others can learn from others' experiences.

So, my disclaimer: Synchiropus picturatus (Target/Spotted Mandarin) and Synchiropus splendidus (Psychedelic Mandarin) must feed constantly throughout the day. One meal a day of frozen food will not sustain the Mandarin. They are a beautiful fish with a 15yr lifespan in the wild and deserve respect. They are comparable to hummingbirds in that they have a very high metabolism which requires many small meals throughout the day. The Mandarin's hundreds of small meals throughout the day consist of small amphipods, copepods, and isopods which live in and on the live substrate. They have also been reported to eat flatworms and I've personally seen mine eat a small bristleworm. So, to provide the many small meals throughout the day, the aquarium environment should be full of live substrate (live rock, live sand, macro algae etc...). As a general rule, the Mandarin should be provided around 100lbs of live substrate to hunt in and around. Refugiums provide a great place for pod populations to grow unpredated. Also, the tank needs to have been established for at least 6 months so that pod populations can grow and stabilize. Many times people see a pod boom after a month or two and think their tank is ready for a Mandarin when really this population boom is the result of a tank cycle and is usually followed by a population bust. So, the rule is to be patient and wait. Finally, the Mandarin is a peaceful fish except when a male encounters another male. Therefore, the Mandarin should be kept with equally peaceful tank mates, and males should not be kept with other males. The male's long dorsal spine distinguishes him from the female.


So, a little about my fish. I purchased my female Target Mandarin from a LFS 1yr ago this month. My tank had been established for six months, I had about 80lbs of substrate, two refugiums and some macro algae which I'm fighting. That thread can be followed here. My tank was very healthy and all of its inhabitants were very happy. After doing a lot of research, I finally decided to commit to keeping a Mandarin.

For the past year I have tried several different foods: live adult brine, freshly hatched baby brine, mysis, cyclops, arctipods, rotifers and blood worms. The Mandarin rarely ever investigated the food and never ate any of it. My other fish weren't complaining though, they loved the variety!

Recently, I noticed my falco hawk-fish especially enjoyed the blood worms so I decided to feed those twice a week and flakes the rest of the week. I'm guessing that the regular feedings exposed my Mandarin to the blood worms to the point that she decided to take an investigative bite. Apparently, she liked what she discovered because now she eats them regularly. She usually eats them after they've come to rest on something, but today I saw her grab one floating in the water column!

Here is a video of my mandarin eating a blood worm that got stuck in a kenya tree coral.




A picture of the Hikari Blood Worms used




Showing that it took 15 feedings for the mandarin to become interested

 

Congrats on the success

 

Thank you! It was such an exciting moment when I saw her eat them for the first time.

 

I have some blood worms that I bought and none of the SW fish took to them. I think I will try them again in the tank.

 

Very good write up. Your personal experience with the mandarin for a good deal of time, really adds to post.

The amount of live substate needed and the bio-diversity is the key to a mandarin thriving and surviving long term IMO.

I think too many want a clean tank with hard corals and a mandarin. It is hard to balance the quality of water with the nutritional needs of the mandarin and most perish. The comparsion to a humming bird is a good analogy.

 

Good news. Congrats.
I got striped mandarins that were taking frozen at the store (I saw them eat it) then at home they wouldn't till they were starving to death and emaciated at a last ditch effort I was feeding all sorts of foods and then tried the bloodworms with garlic added and they finally ate it.
Now they will both eat any meaty food I put in the tank even larger chunks of my homemade food they'll keep gnawing at it till they can get pieces off that they can handle. They are also nice and plump now.
It so easily could've gone the other way I'm sure glad it didn't and again congrats on yours eating the bloodworms it's good for them to have an additional food source.

 

Thanks Corailline, I've enjoyed the experience.

Thanks SkyFire, glad to hear your mandarins made it. It's amazing what a persistant and caring reef keeper can accomplish.

 

OMG, can we get that statement in a separate post by itself & have it made a sticky at the top of the Tropical Fish page??? That would be awesome. Very comprehensive & exactly what people need to know!

Congrats on your success!

 

This is an example of a well thought-out post. I gotta give you Karma for that one.

 

Thanks for sending the good karma my way guys!!! And as for me, I've never been more excited to see a fish eat. I completely geeked out!