Cali Kid Corals

Mandarin Preparation and Care

fishy408

fishy408

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Hi All,

My tank has been fishless for the past 2-3 months due to velvet. Corals and invertebrates are doing well during this time. I have also seeded the tank with Apocyclops pods and fed Phytofeaast. I would like to add a Mandarin but not sure if the in-tank pod population will be sufficient. I really don't want to culture pods, so if this is a must then I probably won't get a Mandarin. The problem with pods, I can't see them! Any advice would be helpful!

thanks!
 
phc567 said:
get one from biota or high tide that’s eating prepared foods. Life will be a lot easier.
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Seconding this. Your tank will eventually have a solid pod population, but having a failsafe/non-picky eater is always nice.

If you're interested, I'll be trying to put together a Biota group buy through Kenny's shop in the not-too-distant future. Regardless, I'd highly recommend going through Kenny's shop since he makes sure finicky eaters are eating well prior to releasing them to customers.
 
fishy408 said:
Hi All,

My tank has been fishless for the past 2-3 months due to velvet. Corals and invertebrates are doing well during this time. I have also seeded the tank with Apocyclops pods and fed Phytofeaast. I would like to add a Mandarin but not sure if the in-tank pod population will be sufficient. I really don't want to culture pods, so if this is a must then I probably won't get a Mandarin. The problem with pods, I can't see them! Any advice would be helpful!

thanks!
Click to expand...
Do you have a refugium with macroalgae?
If you do-they tend to maintain a pretty good colony without additional pods being added.

I can look at night -and see some big ones crawling on leaves of the sea lettuce.

If you don’t really have a refugium but a sump-you can put sea lettuce in a jar with a plastic lid, drill small holes in the top,add a 1/4, or 3/8 bulkhead, with tube inside to push in water and add a small pump to push water in. I had done this for awhile and it worked maintaining a constant copepod population-even with a mandarin and a wrasse

Or get a biota one.. sounds easier

I feel for you though. My tank got wiped out couple weeks ago except for wrasse -same thing I assume
 
L/B Block said:
Do you have a refugium with macroalgae?
If you do-they tend to maintain a pretty good colony without additional pods being added.

I can look at night -and see some big ones crawling on leaves of the sea lettuce.

If you don’t really have a refugium but a sump-you can put sea lettuce in a jar with a plastic lid, drill small holes in the top,add a 1/4, or 3/8 bulkhead, with tube inside to push in water and add a small pump to push water in. I had done this for awhile and it worked maintaining a constant copepod population-even with a mandarin and a wrasse

Or get a biota one.. sounds easier

I feel for you though. My tank got wiped out couple weeks ago except for wrasse -same thing I assume
Click to expand...
Ugh; I'm sorry to hear that.
 
fishy408 said:
Hi All,

My tank has been fishless for the past 2-3 months due to velvet. Corals and invertebrates are doing well during this time. I have also seeded the tank with Apocyclops pods and fed Phytofeaast. I would like to add a Mandarin but not sure if the in-tank pod population will be sufficient. I really don't want to culture pods, so if this is a must then I probably won't get a Mandarin. The problem with pods, I can't see them! Any advice would be helpful!

thanks!
Click to expand...
You can see pods at night when all the room and tank lights are off. The best bet is a red light flashlight. If you don't see them then you don't have a big enough population. I second (or third) Biota's. They come in tiny. but you'll be better off.
 
I trained a spotted mandarin to eat Rod's Food Tentacle Teasers and then mysis in an old 12 gallon tank. It took to the eggs right away but won't touch frozen pods or the Reef Nutrition Pac Pods or Artcipods.

The mysis eating appeared to be learned behavior in watching the yellow wrasse eat off the sand (it now grabs full size PE mysis and thrashes them around to eat pieces).

I added live Tigger pods as well to begin the first couple months to help condition it. These I gut loaded with phyto directly into their storage bottle every few days. Note that these do not reproduce in your tank since they're kinda dumb and don't hide well. But provide some food.

Next step likely would be pellets, but I still haven't come up with a good feeder like the old Mandarin diner: https://www.melevsreef.com/articles/melevs-mandarin-diner
 
Darkxerox said:
I trained a spotted mandarin to eat Rod's Food Tentacle Teasers and then mysis in an old 12 gallon tank. It took to the eggs right away but won't touch frozen pods or the Reef Nutrition Pac Pods or Artcipods.

The mysis eating appeared to be learned behavior in watching the yellow wrasse eat off the sand (it now grabs full size PE mysis and thrashes them around to eat pieces).

I added live Tigger pods as well to begin the first couple months to help condition it. These I gut loaded with phyto directly into their storage bottle every few days. Note that these do not reproduce in your tank since they're kinda dumb and don't hide well. But provide some food.

Next step likely would be pellets, but I still haven't come up with a good feeder like the old Mandarin diner: https://www.melevsreef.com/articles/melevs-mandarin-diner
Click to expand...
lol its not that they're dumb, they're from tidepools, not a coral reef.
 
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