Is this Mandarin skinny?

[Northern Flicker]

Honestly I breed copepods as well, three strains to be exacts(marco algea as well). It's fun for me, it also takes up extra space and time consuming. Most importantly it is not the only way to raise a mandarin. My wrasses and diamond goby's benefit from the constant addition of copepods also, does that mean we should not feed wrasses and diamond goby's prepared food as well. The above misinformation and attitude around it only make this hobby expensive and inaccessible. IMHO

I've found the same - in fact all of my smaller mouthed fish seem to go wild for pods. I really enjoy feeding them.

As for the expensive hobby aspect....you gotta be at least two of the following things to survive this hobby:

1. Well of (extra income)
2. Willing to study and learn complex subjects
3. Resilient

It might not be bad to weed people out with an expensive rep when you consider how few are willing to stay strong in #2 and #3.

 

[Paul B]

Let's just enjoy the pics of fat mandarins.

I love fat dragonettes.









Like most healthy female fish, mandarins are pregnant most of the time.

 

[trini2debone]

I love fat dragonettes.









Like most healthy female fish, mandarins are pregnant most of the time.

Are those females part of a mated pair?

Even the Biota website recommends 5x+ a day, which for most hobbyists will be tough, so it's much safer to have healthy pod population like you are saying. Especially when you consider that other tank inhabitants will also be getting fed, that can turn into a really nasty feeding regimen for your tank overall.

Don't shift the goal post. I never disagreed with the multiple feedings. I said and will repeat to the people who refuse to acknowledge it. Mandarin like other fish we keep have dietary requirements, once we meet those with a prepared diet they will be fine. He claimed they are not designed to eat frozen food, which is what I have been disagreeing with from the jump. I went as far posting articles debunking the misinformation, I even drew comparision to another high metabolism fish the anthias. If we can feed a schoal of anthias multiple times a day. We can for surely feed a little ole mandarin, multiple times a day too.

 

[trini2debone]

I've found the same - in fact all of my smaller mouthed fish seem to go wild for pods. I really enjoy feeding them.

As for the expensive hobby aspect....you gotta be at least two of the following things to survive this hobby:

1. Well of (extra income)
2. Willing to study and learn complex subjects
3. Resilient

It might not be bad to weed people out with an expensive rep when you consider how few are willing to stay strong in #2 and #3.

They do, but it's not the only way to care for them. My nems like it as well. Also not the only way to keep nems.

You left out number four:

4. Willing to admit when you are wrong.

That is the most elitist thing I've laid eyes on for the year... Also makes sense why admitting to being wrong is so hard.

You're right it's "not bad", it's disgusting... If you think making something exclusive with high prices is how it grows you are gravely mistake.

 

[Northern Flicker]

They do, but it's not the only way to care for them. My nems like it as well. Also not the only way to keep nems.

You left out number four:

4. Willing to admit when you are wrong.

That is the most elitist thing I've laid eyes on for the year... Also makes sense why admitting to being wrong is so hard.

You're right it's "not bad", it's disgusting... If you think making something exclusive with high prices is how it grows you are gravely mistake.

If you saw how many half invest people came in an bought fish then stopped giving a **** about them within 3 months, maybe you would feel differently.

My time in the LFS industry has made me care more about the animals than the hobbyists.

Also, people don't leave because of the aura of it being an expensive hobby. People leave because they have high expectations and don't realize how much time, brain power and cash goes into the high end tanks we all fawn over. I've seen more people leave the salt hobby because they don't like scraping the glass or doing w/cs than anything else.

Unfortunately, having the hobby be really easy to get into also means lots and lots of dead fish and coral.

For the record, I probably run one of the most budget systems out there. Sumpless, skimmerless, full on SPS colonies and never lose fish. Far from elitist.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

Smitten, your mandarin looks like the picture of health to me.

wonderful! thank you! now i think ill run in and buy some more pods to make sure he stays that way!

 

[trini2debone]

If you saw how many half invest people came in an bought fish then stopped giving a **** about them within 3 months, maybe you would feel differently.

My time in the LFS industry has made me care more about the animals than the hobbyists.

Also, people don't leave because of the aura of it being an expensive hobby. People leave because they have high expectations and don't realize how much time, brain power and cash goes into the high end tanks we all fawn over. I've seen more people leave the salt hobby because they don't like scraping the glass or doing w/cs than anything else.

Unfortunately, having the hobby be really easy to get into also means lots and lots of dead fish and coral.

For the record, I probably run one of the most budget systems out there. Sumpless, skimmerless, full on SPS colonies and never lose fish. Far from elitist.

One of the reason people do leave is because of the illusion we all give off about it being expensive. That's a fact. It's not the only reason, but it is one of them.

More wild caught fish and corals died getting to LFS's than new reefers can kill. I am not sure what point you are trying to make here....

For the record this statment : It might not be bad to weed people out with an expensive rep when you consider how few are willing to stay strong in #2 and #3. Is elitist, doesn't matter what's in your tank. I call it like I see it.

 

[Paul B]

Are those females part of a mated pair?

Yes, I always try to buy my fish in pairs including these watchmans. She is tending her eggs here.

 

[Northern Flicker]

Yes, I always try to buy my fish in pairs including these watchmans. She is tending her eggs here.

Way to go Paul!

 

[Alexraptor]

I love fat dragonettes.









Like most healthy female fish, mandarins are pregnant most of the time.

I'll be honest, superfat mandies make me nervous. My first girl died from becoming egg bound.

 

[trini2debone]

I'll be honest, superfat mandies make me nervous. My first girl died from becoming egg bound.

That is a reality, I just didn't want to debunk more myths. LOL.

 

[Paul B]

Thats the way I normally lost female dragonettes. They get egg bound like the one in the second picture I posted above.

 

[Biota_Marine]

It does not though, Paul said these fish are not designed to eat frozen food. The article just said they have to eat all the time. Very differnet statements. Unless Biota been making up their claims...

Just to throw some of our information into the conversation that was mentioned a few times.

1. Yes, we recommend feeding mandarins a few times a day, we typically feed 4-5 times a day in our systems which keeps them healthy and growing. We've had customers choose to dose pods and feed only a 1-2 times a day but really whatever works to get them small feedings multiple times a day will give you success with this species.
2. We have had great success with feeding them only prepared diets after settlement so much so we've had F2s and F3s spawning successfully for many years being fed prepared diets after grow-out, so they can succeed on frozen and other feeds.

They are mandarins and like many other species in the hobby will benefit from live feeds (tons of nutrients are lost during food prep/storing) but being captive-bred and already able to recognize alternative feeds allows for better success than thier wild counterparts. That makes this species a bit less experience/cost prohibitive than mandarins in the past.

 

[litsoh]

If the price isnt an issue then yes, without a doubt you should get it. Your tank is tenfold more likely to give it its feeding requirements naturally then the tank its currently in. Most of the similar questions asked are debatable because they are usually people asking in terms of tiny tanks or similar that rarely sustain this fish. Yours is a 6 foot tank that will naturally have a level of copepods that would likely be more than enough for 1 Mandarin without even thinking about it.

If it feeds directly on frozen or pellet etc then its a bonus.

Should you QT? That depends, did you QT your existing fish. If you did, then yes. If you didnt then id honestly try to QT for observation only or not at all.

Bottom line for me is that it is skinny, likely malnourished and will benefit from being in your tank quicker than it will staying in the stores any longer.

I did end up taking him in and he did great for a period of time until a perfect storm of unfortunate events came up. My tank came down with ich about a week before I was leaving on an extended trip and I scrambled to get it down to hypo levels before I left. Long story short he didn't make it through and passed while I was gone, unsure of whether it was an effect of the stress of hypo or some other factors but before then he was doing well and feeding was not a problem.

That's pretty expensive

I think the biota captive bred ones I see in the chicago area lfs are usually $80, but they are also super tiny.

I got a wild caught male for $18 and it's been doing great for a couple years now. But not sure it eats any pellets.

I'm just chalking it up to Hawaii tax. Pretty much everything is a little more expensive here