I realize a lot of people have problems with mandarins and I designed a feeder for them to allow them to eat new born brine shrimp all day and that will certainly keep them alive but if you are stuck with a very skinny mandarin and you want to fatten him up quickly there is something else we can do besides give them the new born shrimp.
I mentioned blackworms in the past (many times) and mandarins will eat these. But the problem with blackworms for a mandarin is that blackworms die almost instantly in salt water and mandarins usually won't eat dead worms, although everything else will.
I recently acquired a very skinny male mandarin and he would feast all day on shrimp but he was gaining weight to slowly so I started giving him live whiteworms. The beauty of whiteworms is that they stay alive all day in fresh or saltwater and don't even seem to notice which is which. At least I can't tell from the expression on their face. Another good thing about whiteworms is that they reproduce very fast and the culture is full of adults and babies. My culture has been going for over a year and I have more worms than I know what to do with and I don't eat them.
My skinny mandarin fattened right up and is spawning.
White worms can be ordered online and they come in a small package of soil. Just put them in a plastic shoebox with potting soil, keep it wet and feed the worms instant mashed potatoes. I pour in maybe a half a teaspoon of potatoes which is a powder and in an hour it is swarming with worms and I just lift them out on the blade of a knife, or Samori Sword.
The whiteworms will not burrow in the substrate of a saltwater tank but they will wiggle around like they are doing the Macarena all day. Mandarins will hunt for them. So will everything else so I feed the other fish first and hopefully they won't notice all the white worms near the mandarin.
I just thought some of you would like to know. If not, go and watch "Dancing with the Stars" I think Pee Wee is on this week. :banana:
I mentioned blackworms in the past (many times) and mandarins will eat these. But the problem with blackworms for a mandarin is that blackworms die almost instantly in salt water and mandarins usually won't eat dead worms, although everything else will.
I recently acquired a very skinny male mandarin and he would feast all day on shrimp but he was gaining weight to slowly so I started giving him live whiteworms. The beauty of whiteworms is that they stay alive all day in fresh or saltwater and don't even seem to notice which is which. At least I can't tell from the expression on their face. Another good thing about whiteworms is that they reproduce very fast and the culture is full of adults and babies. My culture has been going for over a year and I have more worms than I know what to do with and I don't eat them.
My skinny mandarin fattened right up and is spawning.
White worms can be ordered online and they come in a small package of soil. Just put them in a plastic shoebox with potting soil, keep it wet and feed the worms instant mashed potatoes. I pour in maybe a half a teaspoon of potatoes which is a powder and in an hour it is swarming with worms and I just lift them out on the blade of a knife, or Samori Sword.
The whiteworms will not burrow in the substrate of a saltwater tank but they will wiggle around like they are doing the Macarena all day. Mandarins will hunt for them. So will everything else so I feed the other fish first and hopefully they won't notice all the white worms near the mandarin.
I just thought some of you would like to know. If not, go and watch "Dancing with the Stars" I think Pee Wee is on this week. :banana:
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