Mandarin

[PaysonReef]

Has anyone successfully bred mandarins? Could a 40 gallon breeder with no other fish and only coral sustain a male and female mandarin if I also set up a refugium in the 20 gallon sump?

Any thoughts would be welcome and appreciated. Thanks.

 

[sabeypets]

Has anyone successfully bred mandarins? Yes, tank raised are commercially available right now. Could a 40 gallon breeder with no other fish and only coral sustain a male and female mandarin if I also set up a refugium in the 20 gallon sump? Probably not without restocking pods

Any thoughts would be welcome and appreciated. Thanks.

 

[DibsOnMcRibs]

Has anyone successfully bred mandarins? Could a 40 gallon breeder with no other fish and only coral sustain a male and female mandarin if I also set up a refugium in the 20 gallon sump?

Any thoughts would be welcome and appreciated. Thanks.

I’m far from breeding. There are available captive bred ones from @AlgaeBarn right now.
Though, even in my 60 gallon with a HOB refugium, I still have to cultivate my own pods to feed. They just blow through them so fast

 

[Hermie]

depends on how established the tank is, how much food the copepods have to grow, theoretically any space is possible, the issue is keeping the copepod population booming enough to feed the mandarins

 

[PaysonReef]

Thanks for the replies. So tell me how you would cultivate enough copepods and how many I would need. Would an additional 5-10 gallon system used only for that do the trick?

 

[Surfzone]

If breeding is the goal and nitrate and phosphate are no issue I would go with egg crate filled with rock rubble for the pods to have a safe place to populate. I have had some success getting my breeding pairs to take frozen foods out of a jar, but don't depend on it alone. These fish seem to need a constant source of nutrition to stay in breeding condition. Right now I'm having a problem keeping my pair well fed in a 60 cube with no other pod eaters in the tank. They do eat frozen from the jar, but I need to boost pod production to get them spawning again.

 

[Surfzone]

Eggs

3 days post hatch

Pre settled larvae

Settled larvae at about 15 days post hatch

 

[PaysonReef]

If breeding is the goal and nitrate and phosphate are no issue I would go with egg crate filled with rock rubble for the pods to have a safe place to populate. I have had some success getting my breeding pairs to take frozen foods out of a jar, but don't depend on it alone. These fish seem to need a constant source of nutrition to stay in breeding condition. Right now I'm having a problem keeping my pair well fed in a 60 cube with no other pod eaters in the tank. They do eat frozen from the jar, but I need to boost pod production to get them spawning again.

Thanks for the response. It sounds like I may need to produce pods in a different tank or bucket or whatever plus the tank itself and the refugium in the sump. How much will I need to keep these well fed? How often would I need to restock the pods using something like that? How often and quickly do pods breed?

 

[DibsOnMcRibs]

Thanks for the response. It sounds like I may need to produce pods in a different tank or bucket or whatever plus the tank itself and the refugium in the sump. How much will I need to keep these well fed? How often would I need to restock the pods using something like that? How often and quickly do pods breed?

Poseidon Reef Systems sells a kit you can use to culture pods and the phyto to feed them. That’s what I use. But if you’re even slightly handy you could probably look at their systems online and just make your own. I’m able to reharvest pods about every two weeks or so

 

[sabeypets]

I have used 10 gallon tanks with plastic bath sponges to raise amphipods.

 

[Surfzone]

Thanks for the response. It sounds like I may need to produce pods in a different tank or bucket or whatever plus the tank itself and the refugium in the sump. How much will I need to keep these well fed? How often would I need to restock the pods using something like that? How often and quickly do pods breed?

There is a thread about growing Parvocalanis copepods in this forum that I posted, but the same basic concepts can be used for most species. The main difference is that you can use an algae concentrates to grow the pods. I would try something like tiger pods. They grow quickly and seem to need very little care compared to other pods. Another good pod to grow is Apocyclops. These pods are semi pelagic [stay in the water] and can grow super fast. I use their naups for manderin larvae. But if you want a good benthic pod to grow Tisbe is the way to go. They are benthic and seem to be just the same as most other pods.

When growing pods I use algae concentrates from @Reef Nutrition . They have a plethora of algae to choose from, but for the pods I grow I use concentrates other than my Parvocalanis that need live algae.

As far as how often do you feed I would split the culture to create a new one then feed the other half. You can feed every other day, but keep in mind this is getting labor intensive.

I hope this helps.