shaun larlee
Member
I'm designing a custom 40g now. My LFS guru said he can design a custom sump/refuge to eventually support a mandaran. Thoughts?
Mandaran advise
- Thread starter shaun larlee
- Start date
hunt
Active Member
Im working on a pod tank to hopefully support a mandarin in my 29g, i think as long as your populatiopn is stable in your fuge and DT, it could work, it may take a while, but its possible, (you will prabably get a lot of people saying you shouldnt, thats what happend to me) since ive started my prodject, a 1g pod tank, and a pod pile along the back wall of my tank, i have definntly seen an increase in pods, not enough though. Can you give some specs of the fuge? Also, how much LR in the DT and hpw old is it.
shaun larlee
Member
I'm in the design phase, I'm hoping with input it will be designed right. My LFS said the same thing, big fuge and time will make it possible eventually. He has several mandaran so I think he is right. My DT will be reef so there will be a lot of LR. Also LR and sand bed in the sump.
hunt
Active Member
Originally Posted by IbanEz
http:///forum/post/3251210
The main thing would not be getting other fish that compete for the mandarin for food, like six line wrasse or scooter blenny.....
+1, I have a 6 line wrass, and im using it to tell when my pod poulation is stable, When i see a bunch of pods and i have the wrass in there, i have a pretty stable population, from that point, im going to sell the wrass, and start a brine shrimp culture, once the shrimp hatch, ill get the mandarin, and pump the shrimp full of nutrients, then once i can wean it onto that, ill start introducing frozen brine to feeding, once its eating only frozen brine, ill start introducing frozen mysis shrimp, then when its eating mysis, i wont have to worry so much about pods, but the key is, the pods are always there as a backup if my plan fails.
http:///forum/post/3251210
The main thing would not be getting other fish that compete for the mandarin for food, like six line wrasse or scooter blenny.....
+1, I have a 6 line wrass, and im using it to tell when my pod poulation is stable, When i see a bunch of pods and i have the wrass in there, i have a pretty stable population, from that point, im going to sell the wrass, and start a brine shrimp culture, once the shrimp hatch, ill get the mandarin, and pump the shrimp full of nutrients, then once i can wean it onto that, ill start introducing frozen brine to feeding, once its eating only frozen brine, ill start introducing frozen mysis shrimp, then when its eating mysis, i wont have to worry so much about pods, but the key is, the pods are always there as a backup if my plan fails.
gastineaub
New Member
i've had my mandarin for about a year. he is super active and eats frozen brine and mysis. i have him in my 29 gallon biocube. i've heard that they can do well for months then bite the dust. hopefully that doesn't happen though. they are a beautiful fish. good luck!
hunt
Active Member
I belive the reason they will do well for the first few months is because they come into the tank with enough pods to last a while, they can eat there way through a 29g tank within a month or two, then its all downhill from there, a few months after i got my tank, i wanted a mandarin at the lfs, the guy asked me how big my tank was and he said it prabably wouldnt last a month, ever since then ive wanted one, and im still determined to get one.
gastineaub
New Member
yeah, that's what i hope doesn't happen. i'm glad thought he eats frozen brine and mysis. every so often we buy tigger pods and put them in the tank. he is growing well also. fingers crossed
hunt
Active Member
i was going to use tigger pods, but they are a cold water speacies and wont breed in a warm water tank. I am going to try to get a culture started by sucking pods off the wall of a 75g taank and putting them in a 1g tank to breed. then all such them out of there and squirt them into a 2.5' pod pile.
kacey
Member
ORA has started breeding Mandarins and will have them available for commercial purchase by the summer. I suspect, being grazers, they'll still do best with copepods to nibble on between meals, but ORA has said that they've been able to train their babies onto frozen foods and plan to wean them onto pellets before they're sold.
Aquacultured Mandarins! WOOWOO!
Aquacultured Mandarins! WOOWOO!
shaun larlee
Member
Originally Posted by Kacey
http:///forum/post/3251282
ORA has started breeding Mandarins and will have them available for commercial purchase by the summer. I suspect, being grazers, they'll still do best with copepods to nibble on between meals, but ORA has said that they've been able to train their babies onto frozen foods and plan to wean them onto pellets before they're sold.
Aquacultured Mandarins! WOOWOO!
Who is ORA? Im very interested in this...
Thanks for all the advise everyone...i cant wait for things to get rolling.
One more question. I have always heard the importance of QT for fish and coral. I saw a 29g biocube at my LFS for 250! Im thinking of purchasing for no other reason than to use as a QT. Input? I have heard good and bad about biocubes. But i really want everything done the right way with this build.
http:///forum/post/3251282
ORA has started breeding Mandarins and will have them available for commercial purchase by the summer. I suspect, being grazers, they'll still do best with copepods to nibble on between meals, but ORA has said that they've been able to train their babies onto frozen foods and plan to wean them onto pellets before they're sold.
Aquacultured Mandarins! WOOWOO!
Who is ORA? Im very interested in this...
Thanks for all the advise everyone...i cant wait for things to get rolling.
One more question. I have always heard the importance of QT for fish and coral. I saw a 29g biocube at my LFS for 250! Im thinking of purchasing for no other reason than to use as a QT. Input? I have heard good and bad about biocubes. But i really want everything done the right way with this build.
novahobbies
Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by Kacey
http:///forum/post/3251282
ORA has started breeding Mandarins and will have them available for commercial purchase by the summer. I suspect, being grazers, they'll still do best with copepods to nibble on between meals, but ORA has said that they've been able to train their babies onto frozen foods and plan to wean them onto pellets before they're sold.
Aquacultured Mandarins! WOOWOO!
I've been waiting to hear this since I saw Matt Wittenrich's successful attempt documented online. I think he may have been the first to completely close this life cycle:
Lil' Baby Mandarins
And Shaun, ORA is Oceans, Reefs, and Aquariums, a company that specializes in aquacultured fish (and coral, I think.) They're the ones who provide most of the aquacultured clownfish found in our hobby, as well as Banggai and dottybacks. As far as I know, they don't sell direct to individuals but rather they provide stock for online and local fish stores. They also have clams and seahorses, though I prefer private breeders for horses.
Anyway, it's fantastic that this may be getting off the ground! It doesn't surprise me.....mandarins are pretty promiscuous buggers, and my pair spawn in the tank 3 or 4 times a year. It's impossible to catch the eggs though unless you have breeding equipment ready to go and you'e watching the tank that very evening when they release.......more trouble than most of us can afford, I think.
http:///forum/post/3251282
ORA has started breeding Mandarins and will have them available for commercial purchase by the summer. I suspect, being grazers, they'll still do best with copepods to nibble on between meals, but ORA has said that they've been able to train their babies onto frozen foods and plan to wean them onto pellets before they're sold.
Aquacultured Mandarins! WOOWOO!
I've been waiting to hear this since I saw Matt Wittenrich's successful attempt documented online. I think he may have been the first to completely close this life cycle:
Lil' Baby Mandarins
And Shaun, ORA is Oceans, Reefs, and Aquariums, a company that specializes in aquacultured fish (and coral, I think.) They're the ones who provide most of the aquacultured clownfish found in our hobby, as well as Banggai and dottybacks. As far as I know, they don't sell direct to individuals but rather they provide stock for online and local fish stores. They also have clams and seahorses, though I prefer private breeders for horses.
Anyway, it's fantastic that this may be getting off the ground! It doesn't surprise me.....mandarins are pretty promiscuous buggers, and my pair spawn in the tank 3 or 4 times a year. It's impossible to catch the eggs though unless you have breeding equipment ready to go and you'e watching the tank that very evening when they release.......more trouble than most of us can afford, I think.