blue mandarin question...

[adrian64]

hey, I have a blue mandarin and i am seeing a slight issue with his eating habbits. i got him to eat mysis shrimp but he seems to be getting skinny.. every time i feed the tank, i see him eat no more than two shrimps then he stops eating.. i figure this is alright with a mouth as small as his and all...but he goes back to picking bugs off the rocks and ignores the other bits of food resting on the rocks and sand.. now i'll admit that my tank cant sustain a healthy pod population, but i understood that when i bought the little guy.

my question is what other foods can i try feeding him? pellets are a no go, he cruises right over them.... i tried live brine shrimp but thats way too much work for how much of the little guys he actually eats..

what about delivery methods? i currently just turn the flow off and shower the area in mysis. I tried a mandarin "diner"( jar with food inside) but hes affraid to go in and my clown manages to squeeze inside to snatch the food up. rigid tube is a no go either..

He was fat when i first got em, i suspect he was kept in a very large pod filled tank... maybe he is still adjusting to my tank and food? when i say skinny i mean skinnier than he was, not concave stomach skinny. if he ever gets to that point, im taking him straight back to the fish store.

any help is much appreciated, thanks!

[snorvich]

now i'll admit that my tank cant sustain a healthy pod population, but i understood that when i bought the little guy.



These fish are grazers and eat all day. Mine also eat mysis but you cannot feed often enough to sustain them with prepared foods. In a smallish tank without a productive refugium, your odds are not good.

[chimmike]

agreed. Unless you're able to feed him every hour, you need to have a heavy pod population in there to supplement him.