feeding mandarins?

[J-Dog]

So I've been looking in to getting a mandarin, but everything I've read says they only eat copepods and live foods. How in the world am I supposed to know if my tank has a enough copepods to keep a mandarin alive and happy? (scratch)

[frlejo]

more live rock the better, i have about 120# in my 180, have plenty of pods, i have had mine for 2 1\2 years, i would guess a minimum of 75# of rock, tank should be at least 6 months old. bare minimum

[Jules]

I have been doing research on that fish myself and found that culturing your own is the cheapest way to assure they are getting enough if they won't each any prepared food. That way you can just feed them so often when you don't see anymore. There is a ton of information about that if you google Mandarin care or dragonet care.

[newfisher]

Both of mine came from Garrett's( premium aquarium). He had them eating frozen cyclopeze and then misis shrimp. He also feeds flake wafers to his tanks. Mine now eat the same flake wafers, I just crunch them up in my fingers to make a smaller pellet for them to eat.

[mwheeler]

mine eats frozen food as well

[cellowithgills]

Personally, i wouldn't even consider buying a specimen unless i saw it eat frozen food myself.

[ThePremiumAquarium]

I have weened probably about 80% of the ones I have brought in onto frozen. I honestly don't lose them much anymore and for the most part their death rate seems to be similar to that of any other medium hardy fish. This may just be my experience but it seems that the target mandarins tend to do a bit better than the psych mandarins. Once they are eating frozen, it doesn't seem to matter, both varieties do well. Cyclopeeze, arctipods, brine, and eventually mysis seem to do the trick. Like newfisher says, some will even eventually eat dry waffer foods as well. Plenty of live rock is a really good idea. I have had these guys go in to fairly new tanks and do real well as long as their is plenty of lilve rock though as mentioned above, a good cycled tank probably helps.

[J-Dog]

So I don't need to add live copepods, like I read online? I have a 65 gallon tank, but there is no refugium attached. I don't want to purchase a Mandarin and have it starve to death, but I also don't want to be forced to buy pods every week in order to feed it. Maybe I'll try one from Garrett and just feed it what all my other fish eat.

[NoobtoSalt]

As long as you have a healthy stash of copepods you don't have to stock them every week. I have my refugium which of course is nice to have but I don't think you have to get pods every week. maybe every month get some pods for the first two months of having the fish would always be good. Either way my mandarin has been doing great. Had it for about a month now. Good luck on whatever your decision is going to be.

[badxgillen]

i also find that it really depends on copetition for foods with other fishes as far as copapods go.wrasses and other fishes may out compete the mandarin.