mandarin

[ross]

I was just a a lfs today with my mom and she saw a mandarin. Well she fell in love with it and has to have one. I told her they would only eat pods and they didn't have a good survival rate in aquariums. She even offered to buy it but i wouldn't let her. The lfs guy said they would eat phytoplankton. he squirted some in the tank and the mandarins started to swim around in the middle of the tank but there mouths are so small that i couldn't tell if they were eating. I have 75lbs of lr and i'm not sure if this is enough for one. Will they really eat enough of this to live off of or do i just need to wait until i find one that will eat frozen food.

 

[bang guy]

They do not eat phytoplankton.
75 pounds of very live rock will sustain a Mandarin for about a year. I would suggest getting another 25 - 50 pounds of rock and/or a decent refugium.
Even if you find one that eats frozen brine - that's not a very good diet. Frozen Plankton or Mysis Shrimp would be adequate I think...
Cyclops-eze shows some promise too.

 

[ross]

He also said that they would eat live brine. Is that true?

 

[terminus est]

I have heard that they will eat live brine, never tried it personally. I second that they wont eat phyto. In addition to what Bang said, your tank needs to have a sizable pod population before you get a mandarin, usually 6 months to a year of no pod predators. On VERY rare occassions you will find one that will eat frozen pods, but that takes alot of waiting and searching. Basically you have to get your LFS to feed it frozen pods in front of you and see if it eats them 99 out of a hundred wont.
Fortunately you looked here before acting even with parental peer pressure, very good of you. What happened when they put the phyto in was basically them smelling food and getting excited and it also means that they are not getting the food they need in the tank they are being kept in if they are reacting to stimulus like that

 

[ross]

Thanks guys
My mom will be sad but thats ok. The tank they were in had no live rock at all! Very sad I asked the guy how many of them actually lived and he said about 75% of them. I don't see how they could live at all with no live rock. Its a shame such a pretty fish is so hard to keep.

 

[nas19320]

They can live short term without much food. They're not really that difficult to keep they just have special needs IMO.

 

[jp0379]

Mine eat frozen plankton........I have seen them pick up a couple of frozen brine from the rocks if they are on 'em, but the frozen plankton is what they seem to like best.

 

[shanev]

I have one that will eat frozen mysis and spriulina enriched brine along with the pods in my tank

 

[lesleybird]

If you really want a mandarin you probably need a refugium to grow pods so that the adults do not all get eaten before thay multiply. Problem is once the pods are in the tank you have to have fish in the tank with the manderin that don't deplete the pod population too. I think a lot of fish like pods also. You can culture pods in a separate 10 gallon tank with a hang on filter if you do not have a refugium. I did this before for seahorse food. The pods can live off of sinking fish food pellets and algea. They really are slow to multiply when you are waiting on them for a food source though. I finally stopped this as I didn't want to have to maintain the seperate little tank for the pods. If you really want a mandarin then I would get some pods for the tank and grow some in a refugium or seperate 10 gallon for about 6 months so that the population grows large enough to sustain itself with constant removal for feeding. Lesley

 

[fishman830]

Ross- ive seen teh same thing at lfs i saw a mandarin with no lr and looked very skinny

 

[fishman830]

im gonna set up a 55 gal fuge on my 125g tank and put my lr in there

 

[crzyfshygy]

Originally Posted by Lesleybird
If you really want a mandarin you probably need a refugium to grow pods so that the adults do not all get eaten before thay multiply. Problem is once the pods are in the tank you have to have fish in the tank with the manderin that don't deplete the pod population too. I think a lot of fish like pods also. You can culture pods in a separate 10 gallon tank with a hang on filter if you do not have a refugium. I did this before for seahorse food. The pods can live off of sinking fish food pellets and algea. They really are slow to multiply when you are waiting on them for a food source though. I finally stopped this as I didn't want to have to maintain the seperate little tank for the pods. If you really want a mandarin then I would get some pods for the tank and grow some in a refugium or seperate 10 gallon for about 6 months so that the population grows large enough to sustain itself with constant removal for feeding. Lesley
How did you remove the pods from the tank to yuor display?

 

[crzyfshygy]

bump

 

[sac10918]

Hi ross
I just wanted to say that I think it was awesome of you to be responsible and not purchase this fish on a whim. I know it is tempting, especially if someone else is offering to pay. I wish there were more fish-responsible people in this hobby like you.