It only took.... FOREVER!!!!!...mandarin thread

Discussion in 'Tropical Fish' started by Swisswiss, Jul 20, 2015.

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  1. Swisswiss

    Swisswiss Caribbean Reef Squid

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    Well i have had him for about 3 years now and i literally just caught him nipping on my prepaired "fish food".... Now that i think about it i hope this is a good sign and not an act of desperation...

    I do melt the frozen food in some sump water, so he may be nipping at the critters cought up in it...


    Yes cyano is still being a pita...
     

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    Swisswiss, Jul 20, 2015
    Swisswiss, Jul 20, 2015
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  2. Swisswiss

    Swisswiss Caribbean Reef Squid

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    cyano not since three years for the record
     
    Swisswiss, Jul 20, 2015
    Swisswiss, Jul 20, 2015
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  3. NU-2reef

    NU-2reef Montipora Digitata

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    image.jpg

    RIP Little guy :(
    Got him skinny from my lfs and trained him to eat frozen. He got pretty fat in my care. Unfortunately I had a devil of a damsel that would chase him around anytime he ventured into to upper portion of the tank. I guess he got cornered and jumped out the tank so I found him behind my tank on the floor.
    One of my favorite fish and will likely get another one day.
    image.jpg
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2015
    NU-2reef, Jul 20, 2015
    NU-2reef, Jul 20, 2015
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  4. Swisswiss

    Swisswiss Caribbean Reef Squid

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    That sucks man, what damsel in what system? I have a yellow tale that’s a shark but doesn’t bother my mandarins. i have actually seen my yellow belly tang occasionally "encourage" any mandarins out of his sleeping den but it stops there...
     
    Swisswiss, Jul 20, 2015
    Swisswiss, Jul 20, 2015
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  5. Swisswiss

    Swisswiss Caribbean Reef Squid

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    she was a beaut though.

    how long did it take you to "train" her and how did you do it?

    I sadly fully understand "Got him skinny from my lfs".....
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2015
    Swisswiss, Jul 20, 2015
    Swisswiss, Jul 20, 2015
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  6. Va Reef

    Va Reef Giant Squid

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    My mandarin was a rescue too. First fish in the tank, he's fat now. Wish I could say he's happy too but I'm not really the fish whisperer. Coming up on 1 year together though :)
     
    Va Reef, Jul 20, 2015
    Va Reef, Jul 20, 2015
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  7. NU-2reef

    NU-2reef Montipora Digitata

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    The damsel was a four stripe. He's gone now. Donated to my lfs and they were in my 34g solana. The mandarin didn't have much competition for food, he was the only pod hunter in the tank.
    Getting him to eat frozen was pretty easy for me. I can't really take too much credit. I had a rubble pile in a corner of my tank and that where the little guy likes to hunt the pods so all I did was place some mysis in and around the pile with pumps off. My tank also has a ton of spaghetti worms in the sand bed and they would hold any of the food on the sand for the mandarin to steal from them. Symbiotic relationship? Kinda. So really I didn't do much other than to spot feed his hunting grounds.
     
    NU-2reef, Jul 20, 2015
    NU-2reef, Jul 20, 2015
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  8. Piano10

    Piano10 Aiptasia Anemone

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    Mandarins are beautiful, good to hear you have him eating fish food
     
    Piano10, Jul 21, 2015
    Piano10, Jul 21, 2015
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