Help and food for my Mandarin?

[whitefang]

Hi all fellow reefers there,

i've just gotten a Mandarin in my tank. I know this is not the best choice but he/she was getting pretty mauled in the LFS, with a broken fin.

It's currently picking around in my LR but i know its not gonna be enough, since my tank is only nano-sized (1 and 1/2 feet tank), without a sump.

I guess I was rash, and have kind of regretted it, but i'll be pretty sad to see it gone the next time i pop by the lfs. It is a beauty.

1. any advice on how to get back its vibrant colours? its a bit dull looking now.
2. and food? it is not interested in my pellets, brine shrimp flakes, or frozen mysis shrimp. its just picking on the LR all day. I've read that they eat amphipods and copepods. anywhere that I can buy them from? i've just seen something on the AM website: http://www.aquamarin.com.sg/productsDetail.asp?productid=%27237%27 is this suitable?

pls help! thanks in advance for stopping by this thread.

[sho]

first of all, how big is the tank? the recommended minimum tank size is about 40gallons.

yes, the mandarin primarily feed on pods and the reason for picking on the rocks behavior is scavenging (sp) for pods.

while you continue to look for live pods, i suggest you set up a refugium or a seperate tank, purely for raising pods.

[Jervis]

i've just gotten a Mandarin in my tank. I know this is not the best choice but he/she was getting pretty mauled in the LFS, with a broken fin.

This is not a valid reason to buy a fish (or coral)... if the fish is already looking weak/torn in the LFS tank... the chances of it dying in your relatively new tank is increased. You should leave the specimen in the LFS' tank so that the LFS will lose money. At least that's one way the LFS will consider taking better care of their livestock.

[whitefang]

sigh i thought i could save the poor thing..

[whitefang]

first of all, how big is the tank? the recommended minimum tank size is about 40gallons.

yes, the mandarin primarily feed on pods and the reason for picking on the rocks behavior is scavenging (sp) for pods.

while you continue to look for live pods, i suggest you set up a refugium or a seperate tank, purely for raising pods.

hi sho,

thanks for stopping by to reply. my tank is a 1 and 1/2 ft tank, i'm not sure how many gallons that is, but in inches, the tank dimension is 19 x 13 x 13.. if i didnt remember wrongly.

i dont have a sump or overflow. i only have a dolphin canister filter, and a boyu submersible protein skimmer.

regarding the link, will that be helpful for the mandarin's diet?

[FuEl]

Keeping it in an established tank by itself will be the best. The tank size does'nt matter, what matters is the amphipod population. I keep a mandarin in a frag tank of 2ftx1.5ftx 8 inch height. Lots of coral rubble = lots of amphipods. I have not fed it once and it is fat all the time. The important thing is to establish the amphipod population before adding the mandarin. The reverse way will never work.

[whitefang]

oh dear.. so there's nothing i can do for it now??

can anyone tell me if the link provided up there is suitable for its diet?

[BFG]

My mandarin consume mysid shrimp. Try to feed your mandarin with this.

[whitefang]

i do put the frozen mysis shrimp about. the shrimp gets 'blown' abt with the current, and the mandarin doesnt even bat an eyelid.

[Mez]

Some manderins just wont take frozen food, this is why they should only be in larger systems with plenty of natural food available.
You can try mysis and chopped krill, try soaking it in garlic to enhance the smell, however i think you should return this fish to the store or try to pawn it off to someone with a larger, more established system.