i thought about doing this for a while, but opted not to. i have plenty of LR in my tank, and see pods regularly, but until i add a fuge to my system where the pods can reproduce safely i dont think i'll be getting a mandarin. every bottle of pods i've seen, which honestly isn't that many, contain something in the area of 400 pods/ bottle and run about $20. i figure with the amount that mandarins can eat, and how much a bottle costs it would be a bit much to have to buy pods every week. i dont mind adding to the population once a month, but every week, or twice a week for one fishes food isn't something i'm willing to do. but as soon as i'm comfortable that i have a self supporting pod population, i'm definately going to get a mandarin...it will be my last addition before i start adding corals.