input on a mandarin for me ?

[JFrar]

I have a tank that has been going for 6-7 years(the last 3 1/2 have been very good minus 1 crash(corals) year and half ago when my lights failed on me). So for my specs.. Rock: ~50-75lb in DT and ~20lb in refuge, Fish: 6 line wrasse, 2 village bells(damsels), 2 clowns with the anemone, and a pygmy angel.. its a ~85 gallon DT with a ~15 gallon refuge, and keep in mind the refuge started in October 2013, so close to a year old... I mostly do coral, there's about ~10 SPS, ~10 LPS and ~10 softies... my tank looks like it is snowing when lights are on from what i assume are good nutrients being that my corals are doing great. I know the pods are the main concern, which i see crustaceans all over my tank which im told are a type of pod. and i regularly buy(twice monthly or so) bags of pods and a algae(i think) which benefits the corals and fish.. I was gonna just post on another threat but it seemed like i would not get attention, and when "google" searching i get 2-3+ year old threads which i want knew info. appreciate any thoughts...and if im not satisfied i will just back away from the purchase because i've been so successful in the last year and want to keep it that way :xd:

 

[Tahoe61]

I do not see an issue. The snowing you speak of is a little concerning.

The tank is more than established, you have one moderate competitor for pods. It's a large tank, you can always supplement pods and try providing them with phytoplankton to bulk up their population numbers.

The anemone should be consider as it might share the same tank zone as the mandarin which can lead to accidents.

 

[JFrar]

by "snowing" i don't mean it literally looks like it is snowing...i have been told that it is healthy for a tank to half particles floating around which i do not exactly know what it all is but its a mature system

 

[JFrar]

lol i dont get it... it won't post right side up...i ddnt take the pic upside down

 

[JFrar]

hopefully if someone who is a "mod" or w/e can edit that that'd be cool...neways still appreciate any feedback guys

 

[airin]

If you have a decent supply of pods you should be fine. You probably dont need to buy pods so often either. I keep a shower puff in my fuge and once in awhile shake it into the tank and it keeps a good supply of pods going into the tank. =)

 

[eatbreakfast]

Your tank is mature enough and large enough to support a mandarin. The sixline will provide some competition for pods but not enough to pose a problem.

If you have a decent supply of pods you should be fine. You probably dont need to buy pods so often either. I keep a shower puff in my fuge and once in awhile shake it into the tank and it keeps a good supply of pods going into the tank. =)

I love this idea.

 

[JFrar]

ya that is a cool idea, thx for input... any more i'd love to hear it..

 

[JFrar]

oh and another question, i have a cleaner shrimp, do mandarins tend to get friendly with them? most of my fish avoid the cleaner although it could happen when im not there

 

[airin]

I have 2 cleaners and my mandarin tends to avoid them along with everyone else in the tank. He is quite shy.

 

[airin]

JFrar - Do you have live rock in your fuge? If not sand and live rock will help keep a healthy pod population and save you a lot of money in the long run.

 

[JFrar]

i actually was reading a cool idea for keeping the pods "safe" in the DT by keeping a rubble mound of rocks that fish would not be able to get into(i was even thinking about glueing it together so it wont fall apart) and suposedly copepods can flourish in it....maybe if the mound was 5-6" diameter like a big ball that has plenty of holes. but when i think about it its not much diff. than the live rock..and airin ya i have 15-20 lbs of liverock and 20 lbs sand in the refuge with cheato that i trim and keep up with

 

[JFrar]

i think my #1 concern is my anemone....its a 12-14'' carpet anemone, it's about a foot high in the tank...i think this might turn me off of the idea...been wanting to get rid of the anemone but who knows when i'll actually do it cuz i got the 2 clowns for it

 

[sbutler08]

I had a red carpet for a couple of months in my 180. After a while I started to notice that some of my gobies and blennies were missing. I was then and am still now convinced that the carpet was responsible. I finally got rid of it simply because it was taking up too much space and I wanted to replace some of my smaller bottom dwelling fish. I would say that if you were to get a mandarin, have a nice long sit down with it and let it know the dangers of getting too close to your carpet. I've tried this myself, but I don't think my fish understand me. Weird...

 

[Marshall O]

i think my #1 concern is my anemone....its a 12-14'' carpet anemone, it's about a foot high in the tank...i think this might turn me off of the idea...been wanting to get rid of the anemone but who knows when i'll actually do it cuz i got the 2 clowns for it

I would chose one or the other. If you try both, you will end up with just the carpet anyways :-(

 

[JFrar]

ya, maybe when i get rid of it.... sucks i was getting excited too lol, but i got more knowledge out of all this lol

 

[NanaReefer]

I had a 4" MM eat my Target Mandarin, within an hour of putting the fish in the tank. Poor fish just glided right into it. I wasn't quick enough before the dang Nem closed right up on it.