2 Mandarins in 125 gallon?

harrylikesfish

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So I want to keep a pair of mandarins in my planned 125 gallon w/ 55 gallon sump, but I’m afraid that they would devastate the pod populations. Could a tank this size support 2 mandarins? 5 inch sand bed, 180 pounds of live rock, and ~30 gallon refugium.
 

LesPoissons

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How long has the tank been running or is this a future tank? Is there a refugium? I would say the ideal way to do it would be to have it running a year with a fuge, dump in a big bottle of pods, and add 1 mandarin at a time. You can always supplement pods or culture your own. Id say the tank should be able to support 2 though.
 
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harrylikesfish

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How long has the tank been running or is this a future tank? Is there a refugium? I would say the ideal way to do it would be to have it running a year with a fuge, dump in a big bottle of pods, and add 1 mandarin at a time. You can always supplement pods or culture your own. Id say the tank should be able to support 2 though.
It’s still in the planning stage. Of course I’ll wait a year or so for the pods to develop.
A pair might be fine but there is a good chance they will fight especially if you get 2 males.
Should I get 2 females or a male and female?
 

Crustaceon

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#1 You’d have to get a male & female. Mandarins are murderously aggressive towards conspecific species.

#2 You’ll have to continuously restock pods (probably every two weeks). It doesn’t matter how many pods your system has when you first plop a mandarin in. I’ve had tanks with panels absolutely covered in pods and a few weeks later, they were all gone. I highly recommend looking into either getting a mated pair that already eats frozen brine/mysis or considering training them yourself, which takes a little diligence and patience, but makes your mandarins FAR less dependent on pods.
 

NashobaTek

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I have 3 in mine. 2 females and a male. They don't fight at all. They travel together and cover the whole tank. I feed brine shrimp hatch and pods. All 3 are fat and growing fast. I bought them from saltwater fish.

I did this intentionally to have a breeding population. In the wild 1 male breeds with every female in his territory
 
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harrylikesfish

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#1 You’d have to get a male & female. Mandarins are murderously aggressive towards conspecific species.

#2 You’ll have to continuously restock pods (probably every two weeks). It doesn’t matter how many pods your system has when you first plop a mandarin in. I’ve had tanks with panels absolutely covered in pods and a few weeks later, they were all gone. I highly recommend looking into either getting a mated pair that already eats frozen brine/mysis or considering training them yourself, which takes a little diligence and patience, but makes your mandarins FAR less dependent on pods.
I’ll transition them to frozen as soon as I can.
 

nereefpat

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A male and female will be fine in a 125 with that much rock and a fuge, providing you wait until the tank is ready.
 

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