These days where do folks get captive bred mandarins?

vlangel · Nov 5, 2023

Hi everyone,
Mandarins have always been my favorite fish but I have not even tried to keep one for years since they need so many pods. My tank is a 56 gallon with a 30 gallon sump, both which are heavily planted with macroalgae and have a lot of live rock. The 56g display has been up since 2016 and the sump was added around 2018 or so. The sump has an aged clownfish and a large pistol shrimp.
What got me thinking that maybe my tank could support a mandy, is as I pruned the macroalgae, I was shocked at just how many pods were in the leftover water that had dripped off the macroalgae. That small amount of water was teeming with pods. Also my tank has had a thriving flame scallop, a coco worm and tons of feather dusters. I don't know if these filter feeders utilize pods or not but I would really like to try a captive bred mandarin. Where do you recommend buying one?

Lavey29 · Nov 5, 2023

Sounds like your tank is well seasoned for a Mandy. Even the Biola ones will eat pods along with prepared foods. My wild caught took multiple months of eating pods before he learned to eat prepared foods also. Mandy s will always choose pods first. I just drop a jar in twice a month too.

vlangel · Nov 5, 2023

Lavey29 said:
Sounds like your tank is well seasoned for a Mandy. Even the Biola ones will eat pods along with prepared foods. My wild caught took multiple months of eating pods before he learned to eat prepared foods also. Mandy s will always choose pods first. I just drop a jar in twice a month too.

Where do you purchase the pods from? What prepared food does your mandy eat?