Mandarin Dragonette Eats Bloodworms?

[habibaluna]

Hello all,

My little mandarin dragonette has taken a liking to frozen (defrosted) bloodworms. I see him pick at the rocks allllll day long, so I know he's got be eating the copes there too...but at feeding times he just devours every single frozen bloodworm in sight, sometimes will eat ten or twelve of them...wont touch the mysis thats mixed in with them though. My question is, should I be soaking the bloodworms in something to give him more nutirition? He seems to be fat, looks healthy, but we all know how finicky these fish's systems can be. Thanks in advance!

 

[surf_buddy]

My spotted mandrian also eats blood worms, along with maysis, and bryne shrimp. He'a pig! I think as long as they are fat and happy you really don't have anything to worry about. I know the addition of my refirgum, and the constant supply of copopods has really helped to fatten him up. Also, I hear it's rare to have a mandrian eat anything other than copopods, so they eventually end up starving. Looks like you have a good one!

 

[habibaluna]

My spotted mandrian also eats blood worms, along with maysis, and bryne shrimp. He'a pig! I think as long as they are fat and happy you really don't have anything to worry about. I know the addition of my refirgum, and the constant supply of copopods has really helped to fatten him up. Also, I hear it's rare to have a mandrian eat anything other than copopods, so they eventually end up starving. Looks like you have a good one!

Yeah, i've heard that also. Mine started eating these about a week after I had him in the tank...I think he must had depleated the supply of copes a bit and was getting a little hungry? (No, I didn't QT him, I know, bad juju..). I saw him eat one one day...spit it out...eat it again, spit it out, eat it... I guess he figured out that it was good, an aquired taste maybe? Since then he's been a huge piggie lol!

 

[surf_buddy]

Do you have a fuge set up? If not I highly recommend it. Even though mine was eating these other types of foods he started to lose weight competing against my other fish and shrimp, all the while depleting the copopods on the reef.

One interesting behaviour though is that he sometimes cherry picks food from my zoos.

 

[LarryB]

even if they do eat the frozen foods they can be out competed by aggressive feeding fish. I have cherub angel that goes out of his way to get the food before my scooter dragonette gets some, the little pig.

 

[Reefbound]

Have any of you tried a small pellet food? I know its not the norm but my Mandarin eats Ocean nutrition pellets...the red ones.He spits the green ones out.

 

[surf_buddy]

Have any of you tried a small pellet food? I know its not the norm but my Mandarin eats Ocean nutrition pellets...the red ones.He spits the green ones out.

I haven't... although I do have some. I'll give it a shot tonight.

 

[Reefbound]

I would toss some in with the bloodworms and hope he picks one up and tries it. My Mandarin has been with me for two and a half years now and Im thinking of getting a female and hope she learns to eat them also.