Mandarin question :)

[kenchen77]

Hi! Guys,

I recently got a green mandarin which is an adult about 3 inches or more. My question is as you might have guessed about its eating. I have a 100 Gallon Tank with lots of live rock and has been running for about 8 months so far. The tanks mates are a couple of corals, hippo tang, yellow tang, firefish, leopard wrasse, clarki clown, cleaner shrimp, tomato clown and a couple of Indian snails.

I dont know if he is getting enough to eat, in fact i am not sure if is eating at all. He does keep hovering over the rocks and keeps pecking at the rock. I am not sure if I have enough pods. I have made a liverock rubble stack in the refugium and kept a shrimp in it. Can the experts help me out on this cos i really dont want to loose the guy and will do whatever it takes to keep him alive. Unfortunately here in India the LFS guys do not sell live pods :(. Would zooplex do the trick? or what is it that i do to ensure the guy is happy and fat.

[dadonoflaw]

you can try cyclopeeze, preferably frozen. if he is picking he is probably eating. you should be able to see pods on the glass. i would check this as well.

[NickTide]

In my 180, the manderin gets fed nothing and he has been in there for a year and looks healthy and fat. In a 100, I would just watch his belly. Maybe mailordering or raising some pods to add to the tank once a month or so to replenish the supply would help if needed. Sounds like you have a light on the sump. If you had a container of caulerpa in the sump, the pods will grow in the caulerpa and the extra caulerpa will help feed your tangs.

[EllieSuz]

Caulerpa can be dangerous unless you leave it under a light 24 hours a day. Chaeto is a much safer macroalgae for your sump and provides a safe environment for pods. Every time your Mandarin pecks at a rock he is getting a pod. The problem is that they can eat them faster than the pods can reproduce. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong about this, but the wrasse can compete with the Mandarin for pods and your tank may not be able to sustain two pod eating fish. That being said, a tank your size and age should easily sustain a Mandarin. There are threads on how to train them to eat frozen food here and a lot of info on their care. Read what you can about them as they are a charming and beautiful addition to our tanks if we can care for them.

[kenchen77]

Hey Thanks guys,

Unfortunately for me I live in India, the hobby is not big here and in fact corals are illegal in my country. Hence it is tough to buy aqua cultured pods here, my only other option would be to try and train him how to eat frozen food or try and propogate pods. I think at this moment I am going to try both to be on the safer side, i do really love the guy and his personality. Chaeto and caulerpa though i have enquired in many lfs's are not available here.

Wish me luck

[fiddly_foo]

I just dumped a load of pods in my tank to replinsh the population I do this once a month . I'ts great to watch him go crazy when I do this every month he goes crazy eating them up so hes always plump the first 2 weeks of the month I'll have to get a movie of it next month. Later all

[Luiz Rocha]

I just dumped a load of pods in my tank to replinsh the population I do this once a month . I'ts great to watch him go crazy when I do this every month he goes crazy eating them up so hes always plump the first 2 weeks of the month I'll have to get a movie of it next month. Later all

Where did you order it from? I had like a billion pods in my tank a couple months ago, so I added a mandarin, but now I can't see a single pod. The mandarin is healthy and looks fat, but I think I will add some pods to bring the population back up.

[flameangel88]

Where did you order it from? I had like a billion pods in my tank a couple months ago, so I added a mandarin, but now I can't see a single pod. The mandarin is healthy and looks fat, but I think I will add some pods to bring the population back up.

I used to get them from Reef Nutrition dot com. Shipping gets expensive as it requires 2 day shipping so the best option is just buy a bottle from the lfs if you're not buying bulk. Now I get them from saltwater fish dot com when they offer it as a freebie after you order fish from them as a repeat customer treat (sometimes different freebies).

[cubsFAN]

i think your leopard wrasse may be competeing for food with it, but otherwise i think he should be fine if he is eating off the rock regularly.

[wrasseguy2]

the leopard will compete for food with it

[fiddly_foo]

http://livecopepods.com/ Thats were I get mine ,2 bottles shipped to me for 29.99 I live in CT and there in Nevada they ship monday I get Wendsday 800-1000 pods per bottle thay have deals like 6 for 89.00 or something. I always say I'll make a bottle last a week but Ipour the whole thing in after a day or 2..lol later

[nikon187]

the leopard will compete for food with it

+1. Both are pod eaters

[montipora80]

I raise my own and dump them in every week I have two types! You could take air line and suck some pods from your tank and culture them to keep the count up and gut load him. If you look under inverts I posted a thread on culturing pods it's under Pods, pods, and more pods. I hope this helps you and good luck if you have any questions I will be more than happy to help you out!!!!