Is my tank ready for a mandarin?

cewetherington

cewetherington

New Member
I have always wanted a green mandarin dragonet for my tank ever since I saw on at my lfs, but Ive been doing some research and discovered that u have to have a really dense copepod population to sustain their diet... So I was wondering if anybody could tell me whether or not my tank might be ready for one now... My tank is about 16 months old now, I have a gravel substrate instead of sand, I don't have a sump or nething though, just an external box filter hanging on the back of my tank and a sponge filter and a protien skimmer and a powerhead for movement... Oh, and my tank is a 35 gallon. I add in reef solution minerals and vitamins every few days... I've also seen lots of little whitish things crawing all over my rock ... Are these copepods? I wud love to add a mandarin so some feedback wud be awesome! Thanx!
 
scott t

scott t

Active Member
Well I am new to SWF also, as for your tank being ready for a Mandarin I would say no because of the fact that when you add the mandarin you have no where for the copepod to breed to repopulate the tank. I would say that if you added a Refuge. then you would be ready to add the Mandarin to your tank. It will not take a Mandarin long to wipe out your pod population, and then it will stave. My suggestion to you is that you get a Refuge set up for the pod to have a safe haven to breed, when you get that done then I would say that you are Ready to get your Mandarin!!!
 
Just my .02 maybe some of the more experienced here will chime in and give some advice also!!!!
 
Also, Welcome to SWF.com
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
They are probably amphipods
 
copeods look like teeny fleas and you will see them mostly on your glass
 
Unless you get a refugium to breed them...IMO....you will not be able to keep enough for a mandarin
 
M

mandolihn

Guest
So I have a question then cuz I have wanted a mandarin as well. I have seen that you can order copepods online, couldn't someone order them and keep ordering them like regular fish food?
 
scott t

scott t

Active Member
I think I read somewhere that a Mandarin could almost wipe out the pod population in a 20 gal tank in 14 Days. I don't know if it is true or not, but it could be.
 
hunt

hunt

Active Member
i was told by my LFS (who are actually pretty knowledgeable IMO) That for a mandarin would wipe out the pods in my 2-3 year old 29g tank unless i poured in a bottle of 20$ pods in every 2-3 weeks.
 
cewetherington

cewetherington

New Member
Meowzer... I'm pretty sure that's exactly what they are... So I guess I'm not ready for a mandarin:( I do have another question tho... How can I put a fuge on a tank that doesn't have a cabinet under it? I just have a metal stand and I also have a two year old so I can't just have equipment sitting under it... Is there ne way to have a fuge with that kind of setup?
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott T http:///forum/thread/379666/is-my-tank-ready-for-a-mandarin#post_3300683
I think I read somewhere that a Mandarin could almost wipe out the pod population in a 20 gal tank in 14 Days. I don't know if it is true or not, but it could be.
You probably read that from me. LOL
 
 
Yes, you can buy copepods online like fish food, but that's not what they're intended for. What you should do is buy copepods online and stock your tank with them now, let them breed in there for months, get a refugium, stock that with pods as well and then get a mandarin.
 
All that being said, I had a mandarin in a 40G without a refugium and he is thriving. He's since been moved to the 155 and this tank has been running for 9 months without a refugium, I only added one on this past month. I had to constantly seed my tank and I converted him to eat frozen brine and mysis shrimp. They still need pods in their diet though, so even if you get one that is converted, there needs to be some amount of pods in the tank.
 
beachblue

beachblue

New Member
Perhaps mine is an exception, but I have had a mandy for almost two years in my 55. I have never seeded with pods, although I do have lots of them, at night the glass is crawling. I do not have a refugium. My mandarin is a good eater, he enthusiastically eats frozen mysis, marine cuisine, cyclops, and oddly, is particularly fond of bloodworms. (Usually more a FW food ) I feed twice daily, and maybe that's one key, as they do need to feed often. He's an active and chubby little guy, one of my favorites.
That being said, I do not know a lot of people who have had long term sucess with them without making serious effort to maintain a large copepod population.
 
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