[Dentoid]

My Mandarin always gets excited when I feed the tank. I notice he perks up when food floats by, but he will not catch it. In order for him to eat it, it must stop on the rock long enough for him to look at for a few seconds, making sure it's food, then he'll peck it up.

Sometimes I wonder if it's more a matter of slow eating rather than "absolutely needing" live food. In a tank with fast feeding fish, a Mandarin would not have a chance to get frozen, flake or pelleted food, then in the absence of enough live food, they perish. Just a thought.

Also, size matters with respect to food particles. Mandarins have little mouths, I've seen my Mandarin try to woof down a piece of Mysis just to spit it out because he can't it get down. I've had much better success with thawed, fresh Cyclops.