Green Mandarin

[GoPitt88]

So, I just picked-up a small Green Mandarin the other day from my LFS, and thought I’d ask for advice on keeping him nice and plump and healthy. I have a 3 year old 55 gallon mixed reef tank with lots of live rock (80 lbs), sand, and a nice mix of coral. I don’t have a sump (still use an HOB and Canister filter from my fresh water days). When I peak inside the tank in the middle of the night with a red LED, looks like I have plenty of PODs, but I know this little guy will take care of that pretty quick. I just bought a POD Chest from Barr Aquatic Systems and plan to place it in the tank in a couple days, hoping that it will keep my POD population numbers up, and bought a bottle of PODs and added it to the tank the day I bought the Mandarin. Here’s a pic of the POD chest for reference:

So.....any words of wisdom for me? Thanks :)

 

[UnbalancedNights]

PaulB made a pretty cool feeder that you place in your tank. But I would also keep adding pods on somewhat of a regular basis to keep the population of the pods up.

 

[GoPitt88]

PaulB made a pretty cool feeder that you place in your tank. But I would also keep adding pods on somewhat of a regular basis to keep the population of the pods up.

I guess my next question would be.....how often would be considered a “regular basis”? They aren’t cheap :(

 

[GoPitt88]

I just bought the 5280+ triple POD and live Phyto pack from AlgaeBarn. Hoping that and the POD Chest will keep it going for a while.

 

[DSC reef]

Have you noticed the mandarin taking prepared foods? Adding pods monthly can be costly but might be needed for some time. Our mandarin like LRS reef frenzy, reef nutrition mysis feast, tigger pods and roe. For pellets he ate TDO chroma boost small, loved those pellets. Just a few ideas to try with keeping pods stocked as well.

 

[reef lover]

I culture my own pods and run 2 cultures in one divided 10 gal so i can harvest every few days instead of once a week. And it gives me a backup if one crashes.

 

[Blackice615]

Great thread. Considered buying one myself but face the same challenge

 

[Gablami]

Maybe I’m the odd man out, but I would see how your guy does in your tank without adding more pods first. See if he is fattening up or slimming down. You’ve got lots of live rock and an established tank. Main question is if you have a lot of hunting wrasses along with the mandarin competing for pods. Also do you have a refugium?

If you’ve got a nice population of pods in the sump, and no sand burying wrasses, established 55g tank, plenty of live rock, I think you’re optimized for success. I would not buy pods monthly or whatever people do, if you don’t need to. And if he starts looking thin, you have a chance to rehome him. Fortunately mandarins are easy to catch at night.

 

[DSC reef]

The problem with waiting is by the time you notice your mandarin is starving then it's really hard to bring them back and watching a fish starve to death is no fun. With a mandarins metabolism it's always a good idea to have more pods than you "think" you have.

 

[Gablami]

Of course I agree more pods are better than less pods. But if you’re buying pods regularly when do you stop, if ever, to see if the mandarin actually needs the pods or if you’re just wasting money? And he/she is right, they aren’t cheap.

I think the OPs setup is on the border of where it will be fine, depending on the other issues I mentioned. And the time when there are the most pods would be in the beginning, so how does buying at the beginning for awhile until stopping at some undefined later date help?

 

[DSC reef]

I wouldn't stop personally, IMO having a mandarin means adding pods regularly. Ours ate many different foods but pods were added regularly in an established 8 year old tank. They eat a lot and always grazed

 

[Paul B]

I guess my next question would be.....how often would be considered a “regular basis”? They aren’t cheap :(

I never bought a Pod and you will never be able to afford to buy enough Pods to keep a mandarin healthy. I hatched brine shrimp every day which are cheap

http://www.saltwatersmarts.com/diy-target-feeder-mandarinfish-pipefish-2804/

http://www.saltwatersmarts.com/diy-brine-shrimp-hatchery-shell-separator-2842/

 

[Mal11224]

I’ve had 2 since I began. I was worried after reading how finicky they. But, almost two year they are still alive. I have a 4 stage sump with live rock and a fuge. I have a good pod population as a result. I use phytoplankton to feed, which helps to sustain them. Although I see them in my sump all the time, I do replenish around every 4 months just to build it up somewhat. I have a lot of wrasses as well. You should be fine as long as you are attentive to the need. Also, as @DSC reef stated, you may be lucky enough to get them to eat other foods.

 

[GoPitt88]

Have you noticed the mandarin taking prepared foods? Adding pods monthly can be costly but might be needed for some time. Our mandarin like LRS reef frenzy, reef nutrition mysis feast, tigger pods and roe. For pellets he ate TDO chroma boost small, loved those pellets. Just a few ideas to try with keeping pods stocked as well.

No....I've only had him for 3 days now [emoji4]

 

[DSC reef]

No....I've only had him for 3 days now [emoji4]

It's an amazing fish my friend. You'll do just fine;)

 

[reef lover]

Culturing pods is really easy to do....https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=Awr...opepods//RK=2/RS=k55ZA2Df25vjSyAaRzbM.jIrwrg-

 

[GoPitt88]

It's an amazing fish my friend. You'll do just fine;)

Thanks :) I couldn’t find him for a couple hours after lights-on this morning, but I finally found him on the left side of my tank hunting for PODS. Phew!!!! Since I don’t have a sump, I’m thinking about making a clear chaeto holder for the side of the tank.......another safe haven for more PODS. I’ve seen where people have used clear shampoo bottle holders......I found something close. I just need to find myself some Chaeto.

 

[Skydvr]

Green/target/spotted mandarins are typically easier to train to prepared foods, but they are easily intimidated/outcompeted by more aggressive feeders. Paul has some good advice and feeder options for dragonets.

If you are able to get them to eat prepared foods, you won’t need to go overboard with adding copepods. If you hatch baby brine or use Paul’s idea for the in tank hatcher/feeder, you can likely get by without culturing or constantly buying pods.

 

[Jesterrace]

The problem with waiting is by the time you notice your mandarin is starving then it's really hard to bring them back and watching a fish starve to death is no fun. With a mandarins metabolism it's always a good idea to have more pods than you "think" you have.

Agreed. I tried like crazy to get my Mandy to recover from a dent in it's belly and no matter what I did, it still wasn't enough. Died in 3 months.