Mandarin larvae

[fredfish]

Thanks Jeff. Yup She suggested I check out this thread.

Fred

 

[jeffkeith_us]

I guess you checked out my photos of the Amphipod bucket but now i am trying to show everyone how to make an mechanical filter that Amphipods will live in. It started when the mandarins learned to eat directly off the scrub pads. All you need do is make the mechanical filter accessible to the aquarium inhabitants. Read Dewey115's post about how the Amphipods like the blue scrub pads on the bottom.

 

[ladygator]

Jeff and Fred - I am glad you guys have found each other. I look forward to hearing any new developments or advice that you may have for others in the future. I am still working on my website www.mandarinkeeper.com, which will provide practical information on feeding these beautiful fish. Things have been a little delayed lately, but I hope to have it up and running with Jerry's help from the SCMAS. Adelaide

 

[fredfish]

Thanks for the introducton Adelaide.

I've been ruminating on that amphipod filter Jeff. I have a couple of power heads in my seahorse tank currently have the intake protected by plastic baskets. No reason I couldn't convert to the pod condo.

A lot of folks don't like mechanical filtration because it produces nitrates, but I am dosing nitrates to my tank right now to keep my caulerpa alive so its not an issue for me.

Think I'll go scrubby shopping tomorrow after work.

On the topic of feeding mandarins, rsman over at reef central swears by formula 1 and 2 pellets by Prime Reef (I think thats the company) He breeds clowns and is also attempting mandarins. Says all his mandarins feed on these pellets quite easily. If you do a search in the fish breeding forum on mandarins you should be able to find the thread (if the search function is working )

Fred

 

[jeffkeith_us]

The Tare down of #5

Hi Everyone
This has been one long day. I started the complete cleaning of #5 about six this morning. It was that late was because I was building the Baby-Safe system till 2:00 o'clock a.m. It's 8:21 o'clock p.m. now and #5 is back on-line. The Baby-Safe system amazes even me and I thought it up. At noon the water looked more like milk and now it's clear.
Everything but the Mandarinfish are back in. The female is in the tank in my living room so she is going to stay there, I'll get another male. The male from #5 was having such a good time wiping out the pod population in the holding tank that I didn't have the hart to take him home. He can stay there a few more days.
I couldn't get the photograph of the Amphipod Condo to up-load so NaH2O is working to get it loaded so everyone can coppy and improve or at least modify the design.
Thanks
Jeff
It's 10:08 o"clock p.m. now and I was looking in on #5. It is really beautiful. The fan worm has its plumes out already, like nothing ever hapened. The water's 80F, PH 8.3, SG is 1.024 and it is being lit by the two Orbit LED's.

 

[jeffkeith_us]

Hi Fred
Thanks for the kind words.
When you build your Amphipod Condo be sure to put a very coarse scrub pad on the bottom and set that flat down on the substrata. It will not produce nitrates because the amphipods will keep it clean. Build it as large as you can get it and still be able to get it out when you do your monthly cleaning.
Thanks Again,
Jeff

 

[NaH2O]

Here are the pics of the Amphipod buckets and the Amphipod Condo. Jeff, apologies for the delay in getting these posted for you.

 

[NaH2O]

Hi Nikki
6-line wrasse Pseudocheilinus hexataenia eat Aiptasia too and at this point there were no pods, of any kind, left. So it was eating only inert feed like the rest of the fish. I was hopping against hope that it would start picking on the Aiptasia that were too large for the Peppermint shrimp to eat. It will be the last fish removed before I clean #5. After the other fish are out I will no longer give it any inert feed. In that way it will learn that Aiptaisa are are food as it begins to sample different things.

Jeff, I am sorry, but I haven't been able to find any info showing the 6-line wrasse eats Aiptasia. Do you have a link to an article I can read? The 6-line is a known pod eater, so I found it interesting that you were using it for aiptasia control. IMO, the 6-line wrasse won't touch the aiptasia if there are plenty of pods available for it to consume. My concern is the efforts you are putting forth for the mandarins might be counter-productive when a 6-line wrasse is present in the same tank. Here is an article: …Four, Six, Eight, Who Do We Appreciate? Wrasses! Wrasses! The Genus Pseudocheilinus and a quote from the article:

Gut analysis of this species has revealed the staple of their diet to be small benthic crustaceans, such as copepods and amphipods. Isopods, small fish, crabs, shrimp, and polychaetes were also regularly noted in most species.

Just some more thoughts

 

[jeffkeith_us]

Nikki's Correct

Hi Nikki
That's certainly my observation, too. This one, in fact, eats only inert feed. I read the article and I hope everyone else will too.
Remember that #5 was the aquarium that had the most Amphipods. I reason it was because of abundance of food animals that the Aiptasia population got out of control so fast. Other factors contributed too. That aquarium employs a Emperor 280 which inadvertently provides Aiptsia with a safe place away from Peppermint shrimp and lots of food animals. Also the Peppermint shrimp had died in that aquarium.
Anyone reading this thread please chime-in:

• I wonder if anyone has had this problem with a HOT Refugium?

• I wish I knew of more, natural, controls for Aiptsia.

• Chem-Marin's Stop-Aiptasia did not work at all.

P.S. Nikki, were you able to do anything with the photographs of the Amphipod Bucket and the Amphipod Condo?

 

[NaH2O]

pssst - Jeff, they're posted a couple of posts up....look at post #87

 

[jeffkeith_us]

Thank you so much for your gracious help Nikki.

 

[jeffkeith_us]

Nikki
The mandarin pair in #6 are swimming check-to-check. Snuggling every once in a wile. The lights in the aquarium are off, but the light for the Greenwater reactors are still on. Two times they went from the bottom in their dancing stile but I didn't yet see a small white cloud under then as the crossed the apex.The female is so ripe that her sides are somewhat white from being expanded out.
Jeff

 

[NaH2O]

Awesome Jeff - let us know if anything comes about!

 

[jeffkeith_us]

Nikki
In my zeal to report to all of you I missed it. After I typed that , what I thought was a quick statement, I returned to fine that the light for the Greenwater reactors had cycled off. It was so beautiful. Then when I got back to #6 I lay down in front of it to let my eyes acclimate to the darkened lab. I couldn't see them, however. I could see the Peppermint shrimp darting back and forth, but not the mandarins. So I used a flashlight to find them.
What I saw was so sweet as to make me wonder about what constitutes intellection. The were asleep on top of the substrata, in the lower left front of the aquarium with their with tail fins together like lovers holding hands after loving. All of the rays of their fins fully extended, both of them. They two form a horseshoe, both facing toward me, with their tail fins cupped together.
Oh, how I wish you all could have seen that.
Jeff

 

[jeffkeith_us]

Hi Everyone
I am happy to report that Mr. and Mrs. Mandarin from aquarium #5 have been reunited in aquarium #1.

 

[jeffkeith_us]

Breeding and Feeding, Developmental Observation

Hi Everyone
From what I have observed Mandarinfish are crepuscular not nocturnal; most active at dusk and dawn, more so at dusk when the light level is low. Breeding will occur in the evening crepuscular period. Synchiropus splendidus feed on Amphipods in the crepuscular period. Therefore a shortened or abbreviated crepuscular period will inhibit feeding and breeding.
During the rest of the day Synchiropus splendidus feed on diurnal food species that are living on the substrata and breeding will not occur.
I insinuate that:
Aquarium lighting systems should provide a dedicated crepuscular lamp.
The crepuscular lamp should be timed to activate twice, at the beginning and end of each photo period.
The crepuscular period should be adjusted seasonally.
Jeff
*Note - The timing of the Greenwater rectors in my lab provide the crepuscular period and it is indeed how I learned this.

 

[jeffkeith_us]

Hi Everyone
I was just feeding and the female Mandarin in #1 took some inert feed. It was rolling by her so I dont know if she thought it was some kind of new bug or if she has learned to eat inert feed from the male. She has never been put in an aquarium with just one other (a Clownfish) in order for her to undergo training.
Jeff

 

[Dewey115]

Any updates? Hope all is going well with them. I have been playing with trying to get Mandarins on inert food (not by training however). I work at a petstore and see a few mandarins come in each week. I have found frozen food in current is the best (as I would expect) especially brine shrimp and even mysis. As for staple foods I seem to have the best luck with Spectrum pellets, they are pretty small and seem to work better than most other flakes/pellets (I think alot has to do with size) but frozen has worked much more often for me. Any questions, comments, etc...? I have a near constant supply of mandarins in need of being weaned onto inert foods Hopefully we can learn something along the way.

Rick

 

[jeffkeith_us]

Hi Rick
I think what you are doing ar the store it a truly wonderful thing, for both customers and Mandarins. Spectrum is what I use, also Hikari's "Marin -S-". I think the Silk worm pupa meal in the "Marin -S-" adds a lot of nutritional value, namely Omega-3 fats.
I have good with success with Tetra Marine, Marine Granules, "The Essential One". Mandarines are drawn to the orange pellets rolling across the substrata. Because the pellets are big, colorful, and rolling it gets them interested in looking for this kind of food.
All of these have one thing in common, They become soft and are slow to disintegrate, thus allowing them to roll acros the bottom.
Jeff

 

[jeffkeith_us]

Compatibility

Hi Everyone
On the topic of compatibility of Synchiropus splendidus in the aquarium. The poor beautiful Mandarinfish does not compete well for foods. So they should not be kept in smaller aquaria (defined by me as an aquarium with a foot print less than 6 square feet and less than 100 gallons capacity in the Aquarium prime) with animals that consume the same type of food, such as the Damsel, Pipefish, or Wrasse families. Mandarinfish can be interned with and certainly are compatible with seahorses, but will almost just as certainly require the importation of live food.
Jeff