Mandarin setup help.

[nanomania]

Hey guys, i have a spare 15g cube, planning on a saltwater planted tank. Can i house a mandarin or a pair of mandarins?

Here is what i plan to do:

* The only filter it will have is a cheato reactor and live rocks and other plants like ulva, kelp, feather caulerpa, etc..

* There will be an 8g water change using my old tank water (from my 500ltr reef)weekly.

* Twice a week dosing seachem phyto plankton

* Mandarin will be added after 3 months of the setup.

Will this setup work

OR

Suggest me either a pair or a single fish i can house in it other then clowns and damsels.

 

[jonathan9573]

I would avoid a Mandarin. I have a 120 reef and I have a Mandarin that I am trying to keep fed. He has clean my tank out of what there was. Luckily he also is eating brine shrimp and other tidbits.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

If you want a mandarin, I would go the captive bred route and get one that you can see eating mysis or prepared foods before purchasing. Even then, you may still need to build a feeding station for it and grow pods or something else it would eat.

 

[nanomania]

Anyone tried lobster eggs? Iv seen a few videos where they feed on lobster eggs.

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

Time to sign up for a monthly subscription to Algae Barn.

 

[Maritimer]

While some mandarinfish can be trained to eat prepared foods, a great many of them never do learn - which means they're going to be foraging on the natural foods produced in your tank.

There's just no way that a 15 gallon tank will naturally produce enough 'pods to keep any dragonet fed.

Might be better suited to a goby-shrimp teamup.

~Bruce

 

[nanomania]

Please suggest a good fish for a marine planted tank 15g then.

 

[Maritimer]

Some of the smaller shrimp-gobies would do well there, as would Hector's and Rainford's gobies, which love peaceful surroundings and algae to snack on.

Dwarf seahorses might also be a consideration.

A firefish would add a bit of movement higher up in the water column.

~Bruce

 

[sundog101]

Paul B's feeder. I'll never have a mandarin without it.

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

 

[nanomania]

Some of the smaller shrimp-gobies would do well there, as would Hector's and Rainford's gobies, which love peaceful surroundings and algae to snack on.

Dwarf seahorses might also be a consideration.

A firefish would add a bit of movement higher up in the water column.

~Bruce

We dont get dwarf seahorses here in india.. just wild caught large ones, that grow pretty big, but survival rate is very very low. So dont wana keep a seahorse.

 

[Maritimer]

Yeah, I can see where that might be a problem . . .

~Bruce