+KeeperOfTheZoo Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 I was watching my green mandarin tonight as I fed 'meaty' foods to the tank (combination of frozen mysis and enriched brine). For the first time he took a little piece of mysis off a rock! I was getting ready to do the happy dance when the little booger spit it back out. He proceeded to do this several times with mysis and brine. Pick it up... spit it out, peck around some more. I'm hoping this is the start of him being willing to accept frozen. Has anyone else had a mandarin behave this way? Did the fish eventually decide to go ahead and eat the frozen foods instead of spitting them out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefman Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 You have gotten a lot further than we ever have Stephen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atxmandarin Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 i have trained three on frozens and yes typically this is a great start, try mixing brine and mysis with cyclopeeze or arcti-pods for your best chance at fully converting him/her Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cyrus Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 I used half live brine half frozen for about a week after my pair wiped out all my rodi's and pods in 2 weeks. my tank had white walls with all the pods running around. preperation and patience is the key with these guys. They were paired and open swimmers and eating frozen brine right up until my cuc nuked the tank. I considered it a great accomplishment followed by a crushing loss... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KeeperOfTheZoo Posted May 22, 2010 Author Share Posted May 22, 2010 Thanks y'all. Do any of the Austin fish stores sell arcti-pods? I hadn't thought of adding that to the mix but I'd like to. Cyrus, so sorry about your pair. I'd be devastated by a loss like that. I have a lot of rock and a good pod population but I worry that it still wont be enough. I'm really hoping my mandarin will start eating some frozen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamp Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 Aqua tek sells them. I put mine in a breeder net for about a week, and used live baby brine to start, and then moved to enriched live brine(with selcon) and blood worms, then to frozen brine, then to mysis. Although in the last week he has started to be more picky with his food. I am a little worried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisfowler99 Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 Just picked up a target mandarin from Shane at Fishy business. He had it eating blood worms and we tried frozen brine while I was there and it ate that as well. That sold me. Picked up some pods from AquaTek as a backup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viet-tin Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 Thats exactly what my mandarin did. Now she goes crazy when i add mysis. Shell actually chase it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisfowler99 Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 Fed Rod's Food tonight. The mandarin was picking food off of the surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KeeperOfTheZoo Posted May 23, 2010 Author Share Posted May 23, 2010 Target mandarins are supposed to be easier than the green or red to get eating frozen so I'm not surprised to hear one is eating. I got a clown at FB and it died in less than 12 hours, luck of the draw but it still sucks. Next time I'm in Austin I'll pick up some different types of meaty foods. I have a real limited selection out where I am. I'm sure the rest of my fish would enjoy the food diversity too. Its great to hear about other mandarins eating frozen. I feel guilty even buying these fish because their captive survival rate us so poor. They're so beautiful though I had to try! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 You all are lucky. My green mandarin doesn't eat frozen or live brine, only pods. He's not fat, but not skinny and he's been alive for almost 2 months now. Perhaps one day he'll eat frozen but for now he just minds his own business, cruising around looking for food Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crab Rangoon Posted May 26, 2010 Share Posted May 26, 2010 Thankfully, ORA now captive breeds/raises both green and target mandarins - which would put them on the market more sustainably than before. Be sure to keep an eye out, as I think they should start shipping sometime this Summer (vague as that may be). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atxmandarin Posted May 26, 2010 Share Posted May 26, 2010 Thanks y'all. Do any of the Austin fish stores sell arcti-pods? I hadn't thought of adding that to the mix but I'd like to. Cyrus, so sorry about your pair. I'd be devastated by a loss like that. I have a lot of rock and a good pod population but I worry that it still wont be enough. I'm really hoping my mandarin will start eating some frozen. aqua dome has arcti pods if you are south as well as rodis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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