mandarin question

ooooooohhpeter

ooooooohhpeter

Member
been thinkin of getting a mandarin would a mandarin make out alive in my tank i already have 2 perculas and bicolor dottyback. 2 cleaners shrimps , 1 emerald crab , 14 hermit crabs , 12 turbo snails , mini brittles stars. i only have 30-40 lbs lr but planning on seeding with live pods. possible? is my dottyback too aggresive?
 
joojoo

joojoo

Member
How big is the tank and how long has it been running? Unless you can seed your tank with a bottle of pods every week, I suggest you not get this fish. They will only eat pods and lots of them! Longterm success of a Mandarin requires a huge and established tank of at least 8 months, more than double your current amount of LR, and a flourishing refugium. They are very hard to keep healthy unless all these prerequisites are met.
 
L

lsu

Guest
what size tank,amount of LR? I have one in my 55(girlfriend bought it), but i spend about $100 a month on bottled pods to keep it because the old lady loves it
 
J

jason490

Guest
A mandarin will do fine in a 55. I have a green mandarin in my 28 bow and also a spotted mandarin. There is live rock of course, but they eat frozen brine and frozen mysis like it is going out of style. They will also eat the frozen green invert food as well. They have been in there quite awhile and doing great. Most will tell you 100lbs of live rock bs, but they do not need that much. 55Gal is more than enough room for one, just train him to eat frozen and you will be fine.
 
nick76

nick76

Active Member
Originally Posted by jason490
A mandarin will do fine in a 55. I have a green mandarin in my 28 bow and also a spotted mandarin. There is live rock of course, but they eat frozen brine and frozen mysis like it is going out of style. They will also eat the frozen green invert food as well. They have been in there quite awhile and doing great. Most will tell you 100lbs of live rock bs, but they do not need that much. 55Gal is more than enough room for one, just train him to eat frozen and you will be fine.

They eat frozen food because they is nothing else to eat, Frozen brine gives no nutrients to the Mandarin. They eat it because they are starving. It also takes several months for them to starve I believe which explains why their still alive.
Their are people on here who have tried to keep mandarins alive in 55's and 75's still failed, losing them to starvation. I believe Puffer32 can tell you his experience with his tries at keeping a mandarin.
 
am00re34

am00re34

Member
i had one in my 55 gallon w/ 110 lbs of LR and it still died even w/ using bottles of pods. He would never eat frozen food. They are very hard to keep, but are amazing fish to watch. I would like to try again when i get my larger tank and after the LR has been established for a while.
 
joojoo

joojoo

Member
Originally Posted by jason490
They have been in there quite awhile and doing great.
Until your fish have been alive for a 10-12 months, don't claim success. You have had them for one month, which is nothing to be bragging about, yet... pretty much you're saying you know how to mix saltwater and keep it at a SG between 1.010 and 1.030... which is all that is keeping those fish alive at this point.
 
J

jason490

Guest
you guys crack me up, I have had the one mandarin for 2 months now. He eats more than brine which means he will be fine. Yes I can cycle a tank fully in 24 hours. Get over it. Jeez....

I am sure Lion_Craz will be by any minute to threaten banning me again. I can get picked on here but as long as I take it I am ok,
 
joojoo

joojoo

Member
Sorry that we actually research the needs and how to properly care for our animals. Not just find a pretty fish and throw it in our tanks... like some... Sure you may have cycled your tank in 24 hours, was it stable? No. Was it safe? Obv not, you lost $400 worth of live fish in 2 days? What? O ya.
Please just stop telling people things that are not possible. This also includes short term success, no way can any tang live it's entire life of 20+ years in a 28 gallon bow front. You act like we don't want people to have certain animals, how would this benefit us at all? The pure satisfaction of telling people NO? Yep, that's what I spend all my time on these boards to do... I want to educate people on how to keep animals alive for their entire lifespan, so they can THRIVE and not just SURVIVE in a home aquarium, these are living animals, not decorations.
 
nick76

nick76

Active Member
As for adding another type of fish I would suggest a Blenny or a Goby but beware gobies like to burrow and move sand everywhere.
 
puffer32

puffer32

Active Member
Originally Posted by joojoo
Sorry that we actually research the needs and how to properly care for our animals. Not just find a pretty fish and throw it in our tanks... like some... Sure you may have cycled your tank in 24 hours, was it stable? No. Was it safe? Obv not, you lost $400 worth of live fish in 2 days? What? O ya.
Please just stop telling people things that are not possible. This also includes short term success, no way can any tang live it's entire life of 20+ years in a 28 gallon bow front. You act like we don't want people to have certain animals, how would this benefit us at all? The pure satisfaction of telling people NO? Yep, that's what I spend all my time on these boards to do... I want to educate people on how to keep animals alive for their entire lifespan, so they can THRIVE and not just SURVIVE in a home aquarium, these are living animals, not decorations.
Well said
 
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