Mandarin that is eating prepared foods.

Like many others I have wanted a Mandarin since I decided to start reefing. My current 65G is about 5 months old. I knew my tank probably did not have the pod population to support one yet. Foolishly I was talked into buying one that was supposedly eating Brine and small sinking pellets.

Well, I got the fish home and slowely watched him get skinnier and skinner as about 3 weeks went on. I never saw him show interest in the frozen Brine or pellets. I was really afraid he was on the verge of starvation so I put him in a hang on breeder box with a few pieces of live rock. I fed him in there Brine and was able to observe him eventually start picking at it.

Tonight I released him into the DT and when I fed the tank I actually noticed him slowly hunting down the Brine. He probably got 6-7 good pieces.

Hopefully this he will continue eating fatten up.



Anyone else had luck with this?

 

Actually trying to train mine to eat right now too. Sounds like youve had better luck than me cus mine hasnt ate anything yet. Been 1 week.

 

The only problem is the Brine doesn't have any nutritional value, so, they can still starve even if they're eating. Vitamin enrichment of the brine could help. Mysis would be better if you can switch him over though.

 

Unfortunately brine will not do much for him because it has little to no nutritional value.Try mysis shrimp instead but if hes very skinny hes probably a goner.There is a misconception that if they are eating prepared foods a small tank will be suitable.The problem with that is they need to eat constantly and feeding them 5 or 6 times a day is just not sustainable in such a small enviroment.

 

Did you try bloodworms or the Nutramar Ova yet? Both of mine will eat the Ova right out of the feeding tube.

 

I'm going to pick up some mysis tomorrow and give that a try. I will update my progress.

 

I have a healthy amount of cheato infested with pods in my fuge. I heard that pulling out the ball of cheato and shaking it in the DT helped keep more pods where the Mandarin can get to them.

Any truth to this?