fist saltwater tank need help..

babyai

babyai

New Member
I never had a salt water tank before. so I guess I joined to find some new friends that know more about the hobby. Id like to have a mandarin tank. hopefully get different types of mandarins if its possible to keep them in the same tank. I know they only eat coco pods. but i was planning on breeding some. I still have yet to start my tank. id like to have other fish in my tank besides mandarins. I'd like to use live plans and corals in my tank but not ones that are to hard to take care of. my tank was a fresh water tank already so I still have to clean it out and get it started. I know I have to wait at least a month before i can add any fish and even longer before the mandarins are added. Id like to breed cocopods under my tank in small tanks I had for my bettas I used to have when I was breeding.
 
geridoc

geridoc

Well-Known Member
Your plan might work, but it will be difficult. A single mandarin will consume more than 200 copepods/day. That translates into a very large continuous supply. How large a tank are you considering for your display? Too small and you will have problems with stability (especially for a newbie). Too large, and you have to pay for it ($$$), but the larger the better. A 100 gallon system, when fully matured, can produce enough copepods to maintain one or two mandarins, so you see the problem. You might consider training the fish to take prawn roe, so that you are not completely dependent on copepods to keep your system going. Just to keep things interesting as you plan, be aware that right now prawn roe seems to be in short supply, and stores on Long Island are completely out. It is never easy in this hobby! Keep asking questions - there is a very knowledgeable group of hobbyists on this site.
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Mandarins are tough fish to keep. There food needs are tough to meet. That said can u mix them? No. The 2 most common types green and spotted do not mix at all, spotted being the more aggressive. You can keep a male female pair together of greens. I have this in one of my tanks.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Hi,

Welcome to the site,

Seahorses make great tank mates for mandarins, you couldn't have any stinging corals but they are reef safe. You will need to wait a year or so for a copepod population to mature enough to feed a mated pair of mandarins... In the mean time, seahorses (not the pigmy type) won't eat copepods, they are too small for them to bother with. Erectus or Kuda species, if you go that route, make sure they are captive bred and eating frozen Mysis shrimp.

Glad to have you around, a SW tank is very versatile, and you may discover that there are so many other choices to put in your tank that are not quite so hard to keep.

This book is awesome:





An example page, click on the image to enlarge it
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Flower, wouldn't there be a temp diff for horses and a mandy? I though horses like it cooler?
 
beaslbob

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
I would start the tank with macro algaes in a refugium right from the start. The refugium can just be a partition to keep the lovestock on one side and the macro algaes on the other. 1/4 plastic grid ("egg crate") used as light diffusers make an excellent cheap partition.
No only will that balance out and stabilize the system it will also provide an area for pods to grow as well. but you will probably have to culture pods anyway.
my .02
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Hmm ok.Ive never had sh. I knew they liked cooler temps. I have a few mandys but there in my normal temp tanks 76-78
 
babyai

babyai

New Member
I only have space for One tank since I have 9 people in the house. my tank is going to be in my bedroom. its a 55gal. I had fresh water fish in it not to long ago so I have to clean it out.. and I have little tanks you could put betta fish in and I was planning on breeding brine shrimp and coco pods in those under the tank on the stand. maybe even use my small 20 gal tank to breed coco pods and brine shrimp. but that's really all the space im going to have..
 
babyai

babyai

New Member
I know iv been trying to learn a lot about them. im just not sure what can be in a tank with them. I was thinking about some kinda shrimp.. and sea star if they wont eat others in the tank! sea horses clown fish? mandarin.. I don't even know what I should put in the tank.. its a 55gal I know I want real plants but I don't want it to be too to hard to take care of...
 
babyai

babyai

New Member
I have a 55 gal tank that was a fresh water tank. when I have enough pods do I have to add the mandarins at the same time?? or can be one after the other? also where do coco pods come from? to they just show up? or do you have to buy them and put them in the tank to grow??

can any type of star fish be in a tank with mandarins and sea horses?? a shrimp?? sea slug??? uhh... clown fish?? any other kind of pretty fish??
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Starfish can be hard to keep, but yes there are ones that are reef safe, aka fish safe. If u can find a mandarin eating frozen your pod issue is mute. Given time and a healthy fish to start most in my experience will eat frozen. I have 3 mandys and 3 scooter blennys all eat frozen
 
babyai

babyai

New Member
well there is a pet store here where I live that sells all kinda salt water fish and I just talked to them and they said they sell captive bred mandarins.
 
babyai

babyai

New Member
how Meany mandys can you keep in a 55gal? and what kinda fish can be kept with them?? I really would like to have sea horses and a star fish.. live corals to.
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
I have many diff types w mine. As far as sea ponies. I have no idea, thats flowers speciality
 
babyai

babyai

New Member
thank you for your help <3 you know any good places online that could ship to Canada for corals and fish??
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by BabyAi http:///t/397768/fist-saltwater-tank-need-help#post_3546788
how Meany mandys can you keep in a 55gal? and what kinda fish can be kept with them?? I really would like to have sea horses and a star fish.. live corals to.

Hi,

Seahorses have to be with nothing but sweet gentle fish, that's why they are great with mandarins. Only certain starfish can be kept with them, and only non-stinging corals. So your "reef" would be limited. They need cooler waters, which require a chiller.

I have Kuda horses in a 56g tank, and Potbelly horses in the 90g. I have two bat stars in the 90g that are good with seahorses, they are about 5 inches in diameter and pretty hardy from my experience. Keep in mind, they are cold water critters.

Here is a picture of my 90g The stars are 5" and the seahorses are approx. 9"



I think this picture was before I added the stars. LOL...I don't see them and they are too huge to hide.


The Kuda horses are 8" and chocolate colored...The red and green you see, are macroalgae


 
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