Mandarin Goby (Dragonette) Help

[Xler8n]

I just got a mandarin goby on friday and made sure before i bought him that he at least ate brine shrimp. I have a good friend that works at my LFS and had him order me one and feed it brine shrimp before i bought it. I was on the phone with him and told him to throw some brine in to see if he ate it. The next day i went and picked it up. Hes been in my tank since then but mostly hiding. At night i would catch him out with a flash light and used a baster with live brine in it and put it near him. He didnt touch the stuff. I did notice him picking at the LR and substrate so i guess hes eating pods. My tank, 75 gallon tank, has been set up for about 1 year and a months. I have a small yellow tang, fang blenny, 2 helfrich firefish and a coral beauty. I also have a 10 gal sump/fuge with LR, Cheto and caulerpa. What is the best way to keep this fish healthy and thriving in my tank. I dont want to keep buying pods cuz ive heard people spend lots of $$$ doing that. I have a fuge but theres a sponge that the water has to flow through before it gets to the display to cut down on bubbles so im not sure if the pods can get through from the fuge. What is the best way to go about feeding this mandarin and i ultimatley want it to eat frozen brine w/ spirulina like i feed the other fish. Please help.

[Loverotties]

What are all your water parameters? and is your tank grounded.Should of got the yellow after the maderin,he mite be picking on him and sometimes they just need to hid and get use to the new invierment.

[YLChik]

Xler8n,

a few ideas for you

I have heard of people using 10 gallon tanks to breed pods- they have 2 10 gallon tanks that they set up with rock rubble about 3-6 months apart so that when the cycle of pods in one tank is low it is high in the other. This is time and apce consuming, and you will need to supplement with pods until your tanks are up and running.

you can try rock rubble "pod condos" in the sump/refugium place a bunch of rock rubble in gutter guard and secure it with zip ties - you can transfer the condos back and forth - you will need A LOT of them.

as far as feeding your fish brine - I HIGHLY suggest you find a more nutritious meal for them, brine is really like the potato chips of the fish world, there are not a whole lot of nutrients in them. I like Rod's food, mysids, and making my own blender mush.

here is a recipe for blender mush

a little info on the mandrin

feeding a mandrin- this is a super good read

[Xler8n]

Thanks for the links YLChik but ive already read all of these except for the recipe one. I only use brine as a treat. Regularly i feed a cube of frozen brine with spirulina.

[Xler8n]

Originally Posted by Loverotties

What are all your water parameters? and is your tank grounded.Should of got the yellow after the maderin,he mite be picking on him and sometimes they just need to hid and get use to the new invierment.

When you say yellow are u referring to the tang?? He doesnt pick on him at all as he is very docile. The bully of the tank is my coral beauty but she doesnt mess with the mandarin at all

[jenglish]

I heard someone have a feeding tube that they used to feed a mandarin. Here is the basic idea (it does involve some pods) You start out putting pods into the tank via the tube. If you can get the mandarin to go to the tube (which needs to stay in the tank, they scare easily) when the live pods are poured in, you start to mix mysis or other frozen foods in. THe idea is once it figures out the things not moving are food too, the tube can be removed. I have not tried this myself but thought I would pass along the idea. Even in a well established tank they can be finicky about eating food even if it is surrounded by live pods. HTH

[YLChik]

Originally Posted by Xler8n

i ultimatley want it to eat frozen brine w/ spirulina like i feed the other fish. Please help.

Originally Posted by Xler8n

Thanks for the links YLChik but ive already read all of these except for the recipe one. I only use brine as a treat. Regularly i feed a cube of frozen brine with spirulina.

I was just answering you based your first post where you said you wanted to feed enhanced brine.

I guess I am failing to see where the difference is brine or brine with enhancements still have little to no nutritional value, so really you are feeding spirulina....

they are carnivores so they need meaty foods.

Brine are excellent for carrying enhancements and medications as I understand it, but simply lack nutrition in and of themselves.

[aquawolf]

I would definitely give the diner a shot as it looks very promising.

[Jadinop]

I would try frozen mysis as suggested. Brine shrimp have very little nutritional value even when enriched. All of your fish will benefit from a better variety in their diet.

Here is something else that you can try to get some food down to your mandarin.
http://www.melevsreef.com/mandarin_diner.html

oops, missed that this was already posted

[Xler8n]

i think i shoud definatley feed them more than brine your right. I also have a can of krill that i havent used much also. Is that good? Also Jadinop thats for the advive but i have seen that article already.

[Loverotties]

No that won't work,try Mysis,pods.

[Xler8n]

If i use the diner method... since i have other smaller fish like the fang blenny and helfrich firefish wont they also go in the diner and steal food that is meant for the mandarin?

[YLChik]

There is a good chance that will happen, but you got get it eating...

I would guard the diner until you know that the mandrin is getting food.

[Xler8n]

I guess im just gonna have to do the pods thing.... My friend swore to me that it ate brine shrimp at the store but there was really no other competetors in the tank it was in. My other fish go CRAZY when i throw in the brine. I tried the diner thing tonight after i threw in some brine for the other fish they just gobbled the brine in the tank and are now try to find a way into the olive jar. I bet they will soon with every shrimp that leaks out. The one fish that is really interested is the fang blenny. ughhhh

[Xler8n]

Ok the fang blenny got in the jar i caught him in there and scared him so maybe he'll stay away for now. The mandarin got near it like right in front of it and i got excited and thought he would go in but then turned away and continued his search for pods. ughh.. The bottle still smells like the olives that i emptied out... Do you think this would make him turn away?? It certainley didnt do it with the fang blenny.. As soon as he found a way in he was gobbling all the shrimp up.. Hes looks like a FAT submarine.. He such a cow