keeping a mandarin alive.

[saltyrich]

I was going to get a mandarin in about a year, but a friend of mine was moving and gave me his. He recentely got it and would have probably starved him. I think I can keep him alive but need help. I've got a 55 tall tank with around 50+ lbs. of lr. About 15-20lbs of rock is base rock. The lr is on top of that. I've got ls but it's bio-active aragonite. I'm adding some seeded ls tommorrow(4lbs.). The mandarin searches for food around the bottom rocks, not higher up where all the pods are. Should I get some rubble and place it lower on the sand or what?

 

[saltyrich]

Please help me out here. I need to make some tank adjustment today to accomodate his immediate needs.

 

[blennybabe]

Rubble will allow the pods to come down to his level and have more areas to hide and multiply. Your mandarin is probably eating more at night since thats when the pods come out. I would start raising some brine shrimp so that in a few weeks you can feed him those (make sure you saok them in some vitamins). He will probably not live long on only 50 lbs of LR. Most people say that they shouldnt be kept withough 100 lbs of LR. But there are exceptions to everything. How long has your system been running? Having an established tank will help a lot. Keeping a mandarin in a tank your size has been done, but you will have to do a lot to help. If youre not up to it, or suspect that the little guy isnt doing well, I would try to find another home for him. Good Luck!

 

[hondo]

Adding more LR or some rubble will help slightly. Adding a refugium to help pod production will help greatly (but it takes time) you could also seed the tank (and a refugium) with some pod kits from various online vendors
<a href="http://www.ipsf.com" target="_blank">www.ipsf.com</a>
<a href="http://www.inlandaquatics.com" target="_blank">www.inlandaquatics.com</a>
What other fish are in the tank as you want to make sure you don't have any other pod hunters in there as your mandarin will lose out in competing for pods with any other fish as they are not too agressive. good luck as they are a beautiful fish to have in an aquarium it's just a shame so many of them starve to death over time.

 

[charvel]

What are pod hunters?

 

[jeo]

other fish that eat pods, like a 6-line Wrasse

 

[wrassecal]

I keep a six line and a mandarin in my 55 long. I hatch brine shrimp twice a week for them and I go to my lfs about once a month and get some rubble out of the bottom of their curing tank and I have a 20 gal tank going as a stand alone refugium that I hope to trade out rock back and forth. It is a lot of work to keep them happy and fed but I love both those fish so they are worth it! They are both growing, happy and doing well, been about 3 months. I also seem to be in there with a flashligt at night a lot to make sure the pods are there.

 

[reeferkeeper]

I have a pair of mandarins in my 55, but I also have about 145# of LR. The thing is, I am sure they are eating pods, but they relish frozen thawed blood worms. I get the Hakari brand as they are enriched and both of the mandarins will come out from were-ever they are and really hunt them down. They are very plump and I have had them for 3 years now. I havent really seen many pods lately, but I do see them on and off. I am sure that the pods helped the transition to the blood worms. I am also sure that they are still getting pods too. JME
Mike