Sammydog
Reefing newb
How would you get him into the jar? Just fish him out?
You don;t think this would stress him out?
You don;t think this would stress him out?
Mandarin feeder idea
- Thread starter Sammydog
- Start date
guarda
Reefing newb
I think what really helped me with my feeder was that whenever the mandarin happened to be in the vicinity of the feeder, then and only then would I flush shrimp down the tube. Slowly enough that he would see the food coming down and know food would come down from the top of the tube. I noticed that after a week of watching and flushing food down in front of him, that he slowly learned that food would come down the tube and not just appear in the tube. Enough that my mandarin would usually be waiting in the tube every morning. Enough also that he got stuck UP the tube like 3 or 4 times hahah.
Do you want my feeding station Sammy? I could send it to you if you want.
Do you want my feeding station Sammy? I could send it to you if you want.
Sammydog
Reefing newb
Thanks for the offer, but if you could just send some photos of it, I could make one.
Going to try a bigger jar today to see if that is any better.
Going to try a bigger jar today to see if that is any better.
guarda
Reefing newb
The pic I have in the thread that was linked to on the first page is the best shot I could get. Basically I picked up a 2" diameter acrylic cylinder that was like 4 inches long and a longer 14" long tube and just cut a hole and stuck it in. I cut the hole a tad bit smaller than the diameter of the smaller tube and sanded the hole to get a tight fit. If you need to glue it, any superglue or cyonacrylate based bond will work. Don't waster your money on acrylic cement. For the smaller tube you would not want to get one with a diameter larger than the thickness of your mandarin. If I hadn't been around to see my mandarin get stuck he probably would have died. He was not happy at all.
As you can see in the pic in my thread, I used a piece of tape to cover the entrance so that the food wouldn't fly out because of my high flow. If your mandarin hovers the tank close to the floor like mine maybe you could tape off the entrance area even lower so that only he would fit in. I also think that a square tube for the station would work much better than a cylinder because my mandarin is nearsighted and kept bumping into the edge of the clear acrylic in his frantic frenzy to reach the food as I was dropping it.
As you can see in the pic in my thread, I used a piece of tape to cover the entrance so that the food wouldn't fly out because of my high flow. If your mandarin hovers the tank close to the floor like mine maybe you could tape off the entrance area even lower so that only he would fit in. I also think that a square tube for the station would work much better than a cylinder because my mandarin is nearsighted and kept bumping into the edge of the clear acrylic in his frantic frenzy to reach the food as I was dropping it.
sen5241b
Reef enthusiast
MDs are shy fish. Be patient and keep trying. It took me months before my MD would come up and take food directly from my turkey baster.
Sammydog
Reefing newb
Bit of an update, all forms of feeder failed...............
The good news is, by turning the powerheads off and feeding bluey (my mandarin) under an overhang while everyone else ate above, he seems to be putting weight back on. This way he seems to get 10-15mins to eat before the other fish move down to where he is.
I'm alternating between mysis and brine shrimp with my feeds and am soaking in Garlic Concentrate (after rinsing the shrimp cubes).
The line of bone behind his fins is almost gone. Fingers crossed he keeps eating and becomes a fat happy fish.
The good news is, by turning the powerheads off and feeding bluey (my mandarin) under an overhang while everyone else ate above, he seems to be putting weight back on. This way he seems to get 10-15mins to eat before the other fish move down to where he is.
I'm alternating between mysis and brine shrimp with my feeds and am soaking in Garlic Concentrate (after rinsing the shrimp cubes).
The line of bone behind his fins is almost gone. Fingers crossed he keeps eating and becomes a fat happy fish.
ggNoRe
Reefing newb
Sounds like you got some good progress. Keep us updated!
guarda
Reefing newb
Have you tried putting the feeder in a rear corner of the tank and surrounding it with live rock? My mandarin roams the whole tank and gets in places my clown doesn't dare go. Obviously you'd need the tube but I'm pretty sure this would work.
