mandarin in a nano...

[majestikmoose]

yes, i know its a "no-no".
from what i have read and been told, this is almost strictly because they would depleat 'pod populations in a smaller tank.

WHAT IF....(and this is hypothetical)
i found a mandarin that is eating brine shrimp and other prepared foods(we actually have one in our store thats been eating frozen for about 3 months now), AND i inject 'pods into the tank(near the bottom, or into rock crevices) about every other day, feeding the frozen a few times a day on the other days...

is that doable? i know some people have done it(cultering their own pods, or buying live pods), and others are dead against keeping a mandarin in anything less than a 75.

opinions??
for myself, i feel like the only salt tank i want to have over 30 gallons will be, well, HUGE(as in, several hundred gallons) and in that size, i wouldn't see the fish.
with that kind of feeding(having one on pods and frozen), would something like a 30gal be appropriate?

 

[hollback]

AND i inject 'pods into the tank(near the bottom, or into rock crevices) about every other day, feeding the frozen a few times a day on the other days...

is that doable? i know some people have done it(cultering their own pods, or buying live pods), and others are dead against keeping a mandarin in anything less than a 75.

Unfortunately copepods don't grow nearly as fast as you would need to feed every other day. The only way to do it would be to have a bunch of cultures going at different stages. My cultures seem to take about a month+ to mature. Buying copepods at this rate would be very expensive.

I would say no on a mandarin in a nano.

 

[majestikmoose]

thats a good point. i had thought about having different cultures going, but i didn't think it took quite that long.
hmmm.

 

[Amici]

The other thing is what happens if your cultures crash? Its best to rely on your tank to be able to keep the pod population up high enough to keep them alive so you dont run the risk of them starving to death. Ive seen some people get them to eat prepared but some people try for months to get them to eat prepared and some mandarins just will not do it.

 

[benny z]

ime even mandarins that do eat prepared foods die without an adequate pod population. i believe they don't get the required nutritional content from prepared foods that they do from live pods.

 

[cntryboi407]

Had one in 24g nano for the longest time. If he's eating, why not try. However, I did spend about $60 a month in live copepods to keep him alive and well. Needless to say, eventually I moved him on to my bigger tank where he is doing well.

 

[650-IS350]

i had one in my 100, primarly eating prepared for pretty much 2 years till I lost him in a tank crash. He was the most obese mandarin I ever seen, I posted pics of her on RC before and people were just astonished on how big it was. oh, btw i've been hearing more and more people keeping these things without the use of large tank filled with buldozers worth of live rock and pods. but that's with proper care.

 

[fsu1dolfan]

yes, i know its a "no-no".
from what i have read and been told, this is almost strictly because they would depleat 'pod populations in a smaller tank.

WHAT IF....(and this is hypothetical)
i found a mandarin that is eating brine shrimp and other prepared foods(we actually have one in our store thats been eating frozen for about 3 months now), AND i inject 'pods into the tank(near the bottom, or into rock crevices) about every other day, feeding the frozen a few times a day on the other days...

is that doable? i know some people have done it(cultering their own pods, or buying live pods), and others are dead against keeping a mandarin in anything less than a 75.

opinions??
for myself, i feel like the only salt tank i want to have over 30 gallons will be, well, HUGE(as in, several hundred gallons) and in that size, i wouldn't see the fish.
with that kind of feeding(having one on pods and frozen), would something like a 30gal be appropriate?

I think it completely doable!!!
I wouldnt go crazy with injecting pods in the tank every other day...maybe once a month if you want.

I have a target named Oliver that has been in my tank since early July and he is doing GREAT....i have a pic from july and august but i will get one of him today so you can see where he came from (he was tiny from the LFS) and how well he is doing (plump!!)...btw i have a 29 biocube!! He eats frozen brine daily and scouts for pods and other things throughout the day....i even caught him eating a small bristle worm which i thought was cool!!

I say go for it....just know that you gotta turn off the pumps, feed daily, and make sure he gets his share!!! You are good to go!! IMHO

 

[Amici]

I think it completely doable!!!
I wouldnt go crazy with injecting pods in the tank every other day...maybe once a month if you want.

I have a target named Oliver that has been in my tank since early July and he is doing GREAT....i have a pic from july and august but i will get one of him today so you can see where he came from (he was tiny from the LFS) and how well he is doing (plump!!)...btw i have a 29 biocube!! He eats frozen brine daily and scouts for pods and other things throughout the day....i even caught him eating a small bristle worm which i thought was cool!!

I saw go for it....just know that you gotta turn of the pumps, feed daily, and make sure he gets his share!!! You are good to go!! IMHO

With all due respect please do some research on the eating habits and diet of a mandarin before suggesting this to someone. They spend all day grazing and can eat a hundred (if not more) pods a day. Target mandarins are known to eat flat worms as well so you might have fws that its keeping at bay and munching on as well. One thing that really frustrates me is that when one person has one good experience and then shouts to the world that its ok! Ive seen countless numbers of mandarins slowly starve in a tank that people claim is doing fine when they just dont realize its starving and not getting proper nutrition. Brine shrimp and other prepared foods are not the normal diet of mandarins.

 

[m and m]

Do you think a 40g tank, with a 20g Fuge would supply enoughht pods for one?

 

[Amici]

Do you think a 40g tank, with a 20g Fuge would supply enoughht pods for one?

Doubtful but depends on a lot of factors. What other fish are in the tank? Is the fuge gravity fed or is there a pump feeding the fuge to the tank?

 

[fsu1dolfan]

Look i understand your thoughts on this matter but before i bought a mandarin i made sure that he took to prepared foods. Considering that yes they can eat a ton of pods in a day, i do not understand why and how brine, mysis, and other prepared foods are not a suitable supplement. I have had mine 6 months and when he first arrived he was thin....now he is like a mini vienna sausage...one would presume very healthy. I feed him a good portion of food everyday...hence the reason for a decent CUC. The rest of the day he searches out pods....Also he hasnt decimated my pod population in my tank either...every now and then when i move stuff around i see pods hiding out in coral and the macro algae i have in my display....also having a fuge in the back helps. Either way i am not saying that my experience alone means you should rush out and get one...but the possiblity is there if you take the time!

Here's a great read too
Melevsreef.com - Melev's Mandarin Diner
Notice that it was doing great in a 29G on prepared foods....He then puts it in a 280G....surely enough pods there right??? Only to see he is now starving due to other fish stealing his....yup prepared foods! Just saying.

 

[hollback]

Also he hasnt decimated my pod population in my tank either...every now and then when i move stuff around i see pods hiding out in coral and the macro algae i have in my display...

I bet you are seeing amphipods not copepods. I believe a mandarin's main food source is copepods.

 

[m and m]

Doubtful but depends on a lot of factors. What other fish are in the tank? Is the fuge gravity fed or is there a pump feeding the fuge to the tank?

A pump pushes into my fuge, about 100gph. My fish as of now are two onyx clowns and a yellow tang.

 

[Amici]

A pump pushes into my fuge, about 100gph. My fish as of now are two onyx clowns and a yellow tang.

See thats a no go for mandarins, odds are the pump will chop up or injure the pods. You ultimately want a gravity fed fuge with no other fish that eat pods. IE no wrasses, gobies or other major pod eaters.

 

[Amici]

Either way i am not saying that my experience alone means you should rush out and get one...but the possiblity is there if you take the time!

I am not going to get in a debate about this but you even stated, "I see go for it....just know that you gotta turn off the pumps, feed daily, and make sure he gets his share!!! You are good to go!! IMHO" so you are contradicting yourself. I know more than I care to about mandarins and from my knowledge think its irresponsible for a hobbyist to tell another too "go for it" when your case is merely a fluke and you run the risk of a fish dying. But hey, to eat his own.

 

[m and m]

No the pump pushes into the the fuge water overflows, then water flows into my "up" champer pump....

 

[Dylan]

Several people have kept mandarins in nano tanks successfully for years, and even get them to spawn. You just have to make sure they are eating frozen foods if they run out of pods. I feed ming mysis shrimp enriched with selcon and garlic xtreme and feed every day. My tank is a biocube 29 and he wiped out the pod population in probably around 3 days. He will eat 30-50 pieces a day until he doesn't want any more. You just have to be ready to make the commitment to training one.

 

[thomasdo87]

+1 with nemo. I have seen a pair in a 24g NC spawning. Its all about the commitment. its not easy but if you are willing to do it then go for it.

 

[NotTheFace]

I lean towards against, but I would like progress to be made in keeping these, so that one day it's no big deal to raise/keep mandarins in the future.

That being said, there are a few good cases where people have had mandarins living well on prepared foods, in smaller tanks. To the previous poster who says that prepared foods are not the normal diet of Mandarins, what fish in the wilds normal diet is prepared food?

If you were to try and keep a Mandarin do the research try things that have worked for people, try other things people may have missed and after a year report your findings.

It wasn't that long ago that most coral was considered unkeepable. After a lot of trial and error we are where we are now, and there are new things being found all the time to make reef tanks better.

This is just my opinion.