phatmatt72
New Member
is it hard to keep a mandarin? if not why? if so why?
is it hard to keep a mandarin?
- Thread starter phatmatt72
- Start date
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bigdogzack
Guest
And even more live rock, if you do put in a mandarin in your tank, check at night every few days for pods crawling around on the LR, if you don't see any, your Mandarin has probably cleaned the tank out and will starve (it helps if you have a rufugium where adult pods can safely live, their young will help keep the main tank stocked)...
rubberduck
Active Member
ONE-get good supply of pods
TWO-get refugium and let pods breed in there.
period of about 6 months to a year
that is probubly considered tough. also they need a specialty tank too. there are frozen food eating ones. that makes it sooo much eaisier.
TWO-get refugium and let pods breed in there.
period of about 6 months to a year
that is probubly considered tough. also they need a specialty tank too. there are frozen food eating ones. that makes it sooo much eaisier.
jacknjill
Active Member
you have a mandarin and you dont know what pods are. not trying to be mean, but thats not a good sign. pods are little "bug/worm" like things that move around. thats basically the only thing a mandarin will eat unless you are lucky and he will accept frozen foods, which is rare
ruthdrews
New Member
Message to JackJill - I do have alot of live rock....and, you only know what fish stores tell you. They also eat live brine shrimp, which I don't want to have to start purchasing live brine shrimp again, that is why I was interested in "pods". Can you purchase these from any coral/fish store?
jacknjill
Active Member
dont get all riled up, im just stating facts. yeah they will eat live brine sometimes, but they dont have any nutritional value and arent good for long periods of time. only as a treat. how many pounds of live rock do you have? they need a minimum of 100 pounds. that would be hard to cram in your 20, but if you do, great. by the way, i do know more than what the fish stores tell me and ive done a LOT of research. one time they told me that i could use table salt for my tank, if i listened to them, i would have a tank? an, but do i have a tank? yes
ruthdrews
New Member
I am not getting riled up....emails can be deceiving...just concerned about the information that is given out and the advice given by those at the store that causes havic...and I do have rock crammed in my tank as I also have coral in my tank. We do have a 90 gallon tank, but it is not running at the moment so I have alot rock from that tank into my 20 gallon...it is stacked all kinds of ways....anyway, back to the pods...can you purchase them from the coral/fish stores? This was the first I have heard about them because the stores are definitely not mentioning them OR I would have known about them. I also have had seahorses until they got too expensive to feed them since they only wanted to eat ghost shrimp. They are now at a breeder. Thanks for working with me on this. Do you know anything about coral beauties? What is a refugium?
tripleup05
Member
hey ruthdrews, you're telling jacknjill that she only listens to what the lfs tells her, but you're the one who didnt research a mandarin before buying one. i'm totally new to this, but i knew mandarins were off limits almost as soon as i started looking at fish. hmmmm....
ophiura
Active Member
tripleup05 and JackNJill-
As Ruthdrews has pointed out it is difficult to always understand the tone of a post. Sometimes you need to read more carefully. But from what I have read in some posts, there are definitely a few unnecessary jabs thrown in that could lead to ugliness.
Ruthdrews did not appear to be telling JackNJill that she gets her info from the LFS (as an insult or something) - rather it was that Ruthdrews seems to be implying that is where he/she has info from and now is concerned that it is wrong, IMO, at least. All the while thanking for and requesting more help from us (certainly not the behavior of someone who thinks another poster is stupid).
There are LOADS of people who have mandarins and don't know what pods are, nor do the EVER come online and get any information on them. So let's accentuate the positives folks. If you did research before hand, pats on the back. If you are doing research now, you're still far ahead of most in the hobby....so lets welcome people who are asking, and get them the info to make the right decision...so that they will research in advance in the future.
Ruthdrews, please post about your coral beauty in our disease forum...and be sure to post age of tank, specific water parameters (even if they are fantastic
) other tank inhabitants, etc. More info is better and an answer will come faster.
As Ruthdrews has pointed out it is difficult to always understand the tone of a post. Sometimes you need to read more carefully. But from what I have read in some posts, there are definitely a few unnecessary jabs thrown in that could lead to ugliness.
Ruthdrews did not appear to be telling JackNJill that she gets her info from the LFS (as an insult or something) - rather it was that Ruthdrews seems to be implying that is where he/she has info from and now is concerned that it is wrong, IMO, at least. All the while thanking for and requesting more help from us (certainly not the behavior of someone who thinks another poster is stupid).
There are LOADS of people who have mandarins and don't know what pods are, nor do the EVER come online and get any information on them. So let's accentuate the positives folks. If you did research before hand, pats on the back. If you are doing research now, you're still far ahead of most in the hobby....so lets welcome people who are asking, and get them the info to make the right decision...so that they will research in advance in the future.
Ruthdrews, please post about your coral beauty in our disease forum...and be sure to post age of tank, specific water parameters (even if they are fantastic
) other tank inhabitants, etc. More info is better and an answer will come faster.
zemuro114
Member
from my reading a mandarin needs 80+ pounds live rock, and live sand. A tank up and running for atleast 6 months before purchase. A refugium is a great investment with or without a mandarin. When you set up your 90 it will have a much better chance of survival and you could easily set up a fuge on that (search ---- for "refugium") It doesn't have to be big, mine is a hang on the back one that is 18" long and 4 wide. Does the trick with some chaeto in it!
Pods almost look like little shrimp. when you turn the lights out take a flashlight and look in the sand and on the rocks you should see some.. if not... you need to buy some. search google for "reef pods" or pods for sale, you should find some sites that sell them. i know of one but can't post it.
Good luck with the mandarin, get some more pods
Pods almost look like little shrimp. when you turn the lights out take a flashlight and look in the sand and on the rocks you should see some.. if not... you need to buy some. search google for "reef pods" or pods for sale, you should find some sites that sell them. i know of one but can't post it.
Good luck with the mandarin, get some more pods
tripleup05
Member
ahhh...i see what you are saying ophuria. I apologize to ruthdrews. I first read that as 'you' meaning literally towards jacknjill as an insult, but now see he simply meant that you only know what "you"(as in everyone overall) hear from the fish store. ofcourse thats not totally true. ofcourse thats why the board is here! sorry again ruthdrews. but anyways, as far as i know, it isnt possible to stuff enough lr into a 20 gallon to have a natural supply of pods.
goulding.c
Member
I have to share my mandarin story! They are my favorite fish. I found one at the lfs a month ago, that was half dead and starved, his belly was all shrunk in. He was in a 10 gallon with no liverock. Being a compasionate "Or Dum" fish guy I bought him knowing he had almost no chance of survival. The first night he couldn't hold himself off the intakes for the refugium, and he floated around in high water all night I pulled him off 5 times stuck to the screens. I knew first thing in the morning it would be a funeral, but he made it and now he combs the 150 lbs of rock in my 125 like a machine. They are great fish, but must have lots of juicy live rock for sure. He is named starvin-marvin and is doing great at 2 months now. Also is a female
I did have one in a 20gallon about 15 years ago and he did fine until I was forced out of the hobby due to college and my company. Whatch the belly! make sure it does not become concave!
CG
I did have one in a 20gallon about 15 years ago and he did fine until I was forced out of the hobby due to college and my company. Whatch the belly! make sure it does not become concave!
CG
ophiura
Active Member
Tripleup05 -
Thanks for rereading the posts and explaining your first take on it. Not enough of that goes on on the boards. So pat on the back for it :yes:
I also agree that it would not be possible, IMO, to stuff a 20g so full of LR it could sustain a (non-brine eating) mandarin, nor would it be economically feasible to buy enough to do it.
Thanks for rereading the posts and explaining your first take on it. Not enough of that goes on on the boards. So pat on the back for it :yes:
I also agree that it would not be possible, IMO, to stuff a 20g so full of LR it could sustain a (non-brine eating) mandarin, nor would it be economically feasible to buy enough to do it.
S
spike_501
Guest
rubbish! i disagree with alot of u dudes, i have kept my mandarin for ages and he picks of the rock as u said but he eats frozen brine shrimp and mysis. as for only eating pods i disagree but you do need alot of liverock to keep them and if you do not have enough then the poor fish will starve. and its been advised to me to only buy "plump" mandarins and buying a skinney one with pinched in flanks will probably not survive