Biota mandarin fish...

[afboundguy]

I purchased a pair of mandarin fish from Biota last week and the first few days I had them in an acclimation box and wanted to keep them in a few days longer but the male got out so I released them both.

They had been eating in the acclimation box and I saw them eating frozen, pellet, freshly hatched BBS and white worms.

The past two days I haven't seen the female but I have seen the male. The female was super tiny and I am wondering if she went down the overflow? She basically was staying in the corner by the BBS disk I have set up which made spot feeding pellet and frozen food!

I do have several RBTAs but they are up near the top of the rockwork so that could be a possibility but I have never lost one to an anemone before. I am hoping she is just in the crevices of the rockwork since there are tons of pods but my rockwork isn't that bulky as I went minimalistic.

I am planning on trying to take the rocks out of the return section of the sump the next few days but I have been checking with a flashlight but it's not very easy to check as it's a tight space...

Anyone have any similar experiences with the small Biota mandarin fish?

 

[EddieG]

What's the verdict? I purchased wild caught in the past and couldn't get them to eat.

 

[afboundguy]

What's the verdict? I purchased wild caught in the past and couldn't get them to eat.

Haven't seen the female since she went MIA . The male is a champ and is constantly eating pods in a small cave where they all must congregate! He eats freshly hatched BBS, mastik (sp??) and I have seen him go after frozen brine shrimp, frozen BBS and frozen cyclopods as well. He is fat and has already grown significantly. Once I get my white worms culture flying he'll fatten up even more as he has mowed down on the white worms the one time I fed them to the tank.

 

[EddieG]

Thanks, I may give one a try. I really like the colors. Interesting that your female is awol. She may surprise you one day

 

[afboundguy]

Thanks, I may give one a try. I really like the colors. Interesting that your female is awol. She may surprise you one day

I don't have much hope especially since my rockwork is thin with not a lot of hiding spaces. But the male is still able to hide in a few spots but he's always still swimming eventually and LOVES the freshly hatched BBS hatchery!

 

[EddieG]

Do you have any tankmates that compete for food with your mandarin?

 

[afboundguy]

Do you have any tankmates that compete for food with your mandarin?

Nope. Just two percula clowns. It's only a 35 gallon tank with a 10'ish gallon sump. Even with the just the male left I see tons of pods on the DT glass and I culture pods and dose the tank weekly so I have enough pods in the tank and zi plan on getting a larger sump for various reasons which would help with pod population as well.

 

[EddieG]

Ok, glad you have it figured out