Mandarin goby taking brine shrimp

Hi All,

We just saw our Mandarin goby eating frozen brine shrimp - at least it sure looked like it. He follows it and pecks. Anyone heard of this?

We do have copepods all over the rocks.

 

that's great. Are your brine shrimp soaked in anything? typically brine shrimp have very little nutritional value if they're just plain.

FWIW I usually see them take Mysis at the LFS I work at.

 

We soak the brine shrimp in Selcon.

What would you recommend as a more nutritious food?

 

Whatever your mandarin will eat. Formula 1 pellets are good as are Mysis. How big is the tank?

 

It's a 90 Gallon tank.
We do feed mysis (for variety) a few times a week also.

Will check out the pellets.

 

90 gallon tank you shouldn't have to worry too much, that's usually plenty of copepods for mandarin.

So no pics?

 

Keep feeding variety and try those pellets. I wouldn't solely rely on pods, a single mandarin can wipe out a pod population in a 90 very quicky. Try buying gut loaded brine. Mine started eating live brine and now 2 years later he eats pellets, flake, just about whatever hits the water.

 

Here is YouTube video of him eating them:

What are "gut loaded brine?"

Thanks for the advice. They are wonderful fish, hoping to care for it well.

 

Keep in mind that placing a mandarin in a tank that can't supply enough pods is risky business; even tank-bred specimens that have been raised on specialized prepared foods have been known to suddenly stop feeding. Mandarins have long been known for accepting inappropriate fares and dying from malnutrition, as well...

 

Gut loading is feeding the brine shrimp before feeding them to your fish. I typically buy live brine shrimp then feed them zooplankton and phyto plankton then in a few hours I feed the tank. I also feed a very wide variety of foods as well