Mandarins

[monsinour]

In about 5 days, it will have been a months since I "seeded" my sump with copepods. There are still plenty in the sump (pepps not eating them) and I am counting plenty of the glass. If you go with the assumption that for each 1 on the glass you see, there are atleast 20 on the rocks you cant see, then I have plenty in my tank right now. But I have questions
I have read that ORA or tank bred mandarins seem lathargic in the tank. While it is great that they eat frozen or prepared foods, who wants a lazy bum in their tank?
I cant seem to find a green (or blue depending on where you look) mandarin that is ORA. All of the mandarins I have found online are all the green spotted ones and not the pretty psycadelic green mandarins. Is ORA not doing these mandarins?
If I have to get a wild caught green mandarin, I plan on "seeding" the sump again at the time of purchase. This is a precautionary measure. But I was wondering if I could do more harm than good to the system. These things come with algea in the package. I would imagine it is for them to eat. This has to be micro algea. My daughter has green water. I dont want green water. If I have to provide pods for the mandarin due to lack of breeding in my sump, how often should I get them?

 

[monsinour]

nothing?

 

[spanko]

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/mandarins.htm
http://glassbox-design.com/2010/ora-mandarin-goby-captive-bred/

 

[tangs rule]

It's kinda hard to imagine a "lethargic" mandarin - they are a pretty sedate fish anyway - spending days nipping pods from the rockwork, while hovering on the rocks. I've only ever even seen one do any real swimming at all (at a lfs in renton wa many years ago). As far as keeping one it really does take ALOT of pods and they have to be able to sustain their numbers without one buying more. It really takes a very established tank with 50+ pounds of liverock, though there are some people who have kept mandarins for 6+months with less. I've also heard the ORA ones fed exclusively frozen stuff don't do well longterm, and suffer from malnutrition.

 

[monsinour]

I got close to 80 pounds of LR in the DT and there is some rubble in the sump. I seeded the sump with a package of pods from SWF.com and I have been counting what I see on the glass at night. I am thinking a second seeding wouldnt hurt anything and possibly getting the mandarin soon. I have no idea if/when the LFS can get the right one in. It took over a month for them to order Falcor for us.
Anyone think that a second seeding of pods is a bad idea? Should I go ahead and give it a shot?

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Monsinour http:///forum/thread/385106/mandarins#post_3376335
I got close to 80 pounds of LR in the DT and there is some rubble in the sump. I seeded the sump with a package of pods from SWF.com and I have been counting what I see on the glass at night. I am thinking a second seeding wouldnt hurt anything and possibly getting the mandarin soon. I have no idea if/when the LFS can get the right one in. It took over a month for them to order Falcor for us.
Anyone think that a second seeding of pods is a bad idea? Should I go ahead and give it a shot?

After seeding the tank, then wait the 6 months for the refugium and pods to mature. It takes time to build up enough pods to keep the critter with a steady supply. 1 month certainly is not enough....

 

[spanko]

How about a picture of your refugium. You have a lot of algae in there, some small rock piles, etc. etc.?

 

[monsinour]

Quote:
Originally Posted by spanko http:///forum/thread/385106/mandarins#post_3376351
How about a picture of your refugium. You have a lot of algae in there, some small rock piles, etc. etc.?
That I do. the Calipura "disapeared" when I was in GA and the missus was watching the tank. All that is left in the sump is the cheato and a small strand of bubble algea. Its not the bad bubble, its more like the red bubble I have in the DT, just green. There are some rocks in there, I am not sure if its is enough though. Let me get a pic here......

This is just the middle section of the sump. If you go back to the tank build thread, in one of the first posts is a pic of the entire sump.

 

[teresaq]

one thing i just thought of. do you have a lfs that has live rock?? if so, ask if you could have or buy some of the rubble that is always in the bottom of thier rock tanks. When i first started, thats how I seeded my fuge. a couple of cups is all you would need..

 

[jrse7en]

I was able to sustain a Mandarin for about a year in my 55g. Eventually he died, probably from malnutrition. When I first got him my pod population was incredible, they were everywhere and millions of them. I assumed he would be ok and for a couple weeks he was doing well. After a couple weeks my copepod population took a nose dive and they were getting scarce. What I eventually ended up doing was making a 10g breeder tank that could supply my mandarin with enough food but that did not work out too well. The copepodes ended up on the glass and I couldn't scoop them out efficiently. I swear that over his lifespan I must have paid $300 for live copepods and I kept trying to increase the population in the display tank. I have 2 refugiums I built on my tank to try to increase the population but it didn't really do all that much. Eventually the mandarin got familiar with live blackworms which I consistently fed him so he wouldn't starve. It worked for a little while and he gained some weight. He also started eating frozen mysis if it went near him. He was a very difficult animal to care for and I wouldn't suggest anyone get one if their tank is under the 75g range. My two cents.

 

[cranberry]

Are you going to try and train them to frozen? Just curious.

 

[monsinour]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cranberry http:///forum/thread/385106/mandarins#post_3377006
Are you going to try and train them to frozen? Just curious.
I wont stop feeding the mysis to the tank so yea. I was hoping to find an ORA one, but the LFS here has stated that they havent had good luck with them. It contradicts what I see on the boards though.
I thought I needed more rubble rock. The missus is grooming a dog near the LFS that we frequint so I will have her pick some up. I gotta find a local retailer that sells copepods. Dont want to be ordering them from online all the time.

 

[2quills]

If you want I'll pm you the number to the people that I deal with down here locally. Their last shipment had the green mandarins but they're already sold out. They do ship out of state and the girl that I deal with said to let her know by tuesday before she makes her next order and she can get one. They are wild caught. They have a wild caught one in their display which they've had for 2 years, eats fozen and is fat and happy. They tell me they've had real good success training them with the Rod's food and other frozen. They do have copepods in the system but they don't do anything special to maintain the population. Let me know and I'll get you their number.