mandarins... let's beat this dead horse

**Tabasco1** · 03-08-2012, 06:21 PM

OK, I am planning on getting a mandarin. I have a 20h frag tank with no other fish or competing shrimp for pods for food. I am not cleaning the back or left side glass and they are crawling with different types of pods and I see them all over the rocks and frag plugs. There are probably thousands in the tank. There is 30lbs LR in the tank and another 5 in the fuge. There is pretty healthy chunk of macro algae growing in the fuge. The tank has been up for about 6 months. I am pretty sure I am ok to get ONE.

Just called the fish store to pay for and put on hold the male. Then they tell me they also have a female.... What are thoughts on getting the pair? Too much impact to the pod population in one go? I could get some supplemental pods too. I have no plans to get other fish that would compete with their food source. I could put a pod pile of rocks in, as well as a diner.

Much thanks for replies!

**dkerns06** · 03-08-2012, 06:29 PM

I wouldn't get 2, 1 will rip through your pod population. My pods grow really well in my chaeto so just as long as you have an area that the Mandarin can't get to directly u should be good. The pods should reproduce fast enough to feed the fish.

**Aquaph8** · 03-08-2012, 06:31 PM

IME, they will often also scavenge food off the bottom when they come across it. In a 20 gallon I would probably play it safe and just get one.

**Tabasco1** · 03-08-2012, 06:32 PM

Dang.

**m and m** · 03-08-2012, 06:55 PM

With out a place the mandarin can't get to to raise pods I wouldn't even get one. You say fuge it's like a hang on or something right? If it is one you should be fine but he will run threw all your pods in a month or so, so the only population will be coming from that designated area he can't get to. All he will do all day is hunt.. Nothing else to do but grase for them.

**Reef Breeders** · 03-08-2012, 07:04 PM

If you can wean them onto frozen food, or culture pods yourself (pretty easy) go for it. It is way cooler to have a pair and watch them interact, but even in my 90 gallon tank, which has a 15 gallon fuge, I can see a decline in pods, and dose some from my cultures to keep them big and healthy.

**coloacro** · 03-08-2012, 07:10 PM

If you buy a Mandy I HIGHLY suggest you buy a Captive Bred Mandy...they will be more expensive but that way you can feed him carniverous food. Otherwise unless you have a dedicated fuge and the capbility of continuously generating massive amounts of pods I would stay away. They are beautiful creatures but its not fair to them if they starve to death....or jump out of your tank due to hunger etc. I will ONLY buy Captive Bred Manadarins and I think most would agree this is the only way to go with this particular fish.

**Tabasco1** · 03-08-2012, 07:15 PM

The fuge is 5g under the tank. He can't get to it.

Tons of pods on the rock and algae down there. There are areas of rock work in the frag tank that he would't be able to get to either. Not your typical frag tank. Mostly rock, very little frag rack.

OK, no go on the pair. I didn't think so, but was just hoping. haha. I have read in MOFIB about keeping pairs in 20's. But I think they mostly have their fish trained. I am going to work on training him as well.

**FishLipz** · 03-08-2012, 07:15 PM

I'd go with the one but not two. It's not that difficult to get them onto commercial foods. Just introduce things slowly such as mysis or even new life spectrum pellets. They inevitably seem to sample things laying around, and now mine eats both.

**Tabasco1** · 03-08-2012, 07:16 PM

From what I have read the captive bred mandy's are a gamble on the eating thing. That alot of them will revert back to pods even after eating pellets if they are presented with pods. Do you have a ORA mandarin?

I have a dedicated 5g fuge with no predators, sepearate from my sump and return.

**bct15** · 03-08-2012, 08:54 PM

I had a mandarin in my 29 for the longest, got sent two males from liveaquaria and had to separate them. I just sold the fish though. Both my mandarins turned to frozen food very fast (within a week). I noticed that they started eating blood worms first, if you can you might want to put it in the display for a little while so he can adjust to your frozen food first, then move it to the frag tank. I believe mandarins are the easiest fish to catch, they do hunt all day. Reminds me of a hummingbird.

**Tabasco1** · 03-09-2012, 06:25 PM

Thanks BCT. I was thinking it would be easier to train him to frozen/pellets in a frag tank as it is smaller and easier to access if I was going to train to a diner.

I'm going to go with just the one.

**lilqtpierikki** · 03-11-2012, 07:14 PM

i'm glad this was posted. I was thinking about getting a mandarin goby. Their colours are just SO pretty!! I have a 55g with a CRAPTON of pods crawling around in my puka shell substrate.

My question is, does the mandarin need sand? I've looked all around and it doesn't state what they need. Except that you should have an ample supply of pods. Which, i do think i have a LOT.

So my next question is, where can you get a supply of pods? LFS? Thanks for the help!!

**caudill187** · 03-11-2012, 07:19 PM

I watched one starve in a 120gallon with 200lbs of rock that had been running for 8 years.....and my son cultures copepods. I wouldn't get on again unless it was eating frozen/thawed......

**Eric23** · 03-11-2012, 07:26 PM

I got mine to eat frozen food pretty easy

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**Eric23** · 03-11-2012, 07:32 PM

I put the mandarin in a breeders net in my tank with a big ball of cheato. After he was comfortable in there I started feeding live brine mixed with frozen brine and nutrimar ova and as he got used to that I pulled out the cheato and slowly started cutting back on the live baby brine until he was only eating tge frozen food. The whole thing took about a week and a half.

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**Tabasco1** · 03-11-2012, 07:32 PM

I think sand would depend what you are planning on getting. The target, blue/green and red mandarins live in rubble rock in the wild, while scooter blennies are found on sand.

**caudill187** · 03-11-2012, 07:47 PM

Originally Posted by Eric23

I put the mandarin in a breeders net in my tank with a big ball of cheato. After he was comfortable in there I started feeding live brine mixed with frozen brine and nutrimar ova and as he got used to that I pulled out the cheato and slowly started cutting back on the live baby brine until he was only eating tge frozen food. The whole thing took about a week and a half.

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This is smart.....I would do this...

**Tabasco1** · 03-11-2012, 08:27 PM

That's a great idea! Thanks for sharing!!

**illcssd** · 03-11-2012, 08:40 PM

Another thing to think about; In order to maintain a healthy weight, a mandarin needs to have a successful "kill" every 5 seconds. That's 720 pods an hour.

If you can get it trained onto frozen foods, you're golden, but there is not enough Live rock area in a 20g tank w/fuge to support a mandarin for very long.

Jmo
Austin