manderins?

[kleekai]

How long should i wait before adding one of these to my tank. We have about 40lbs of live rock and the tank has been up for about 2 months now. One of our LFS told us that we need to wait till 3 months before adding on and another LFS told us 8 months :thinking: So how long should we really wait before getting one?

 

[reefnut]

Id say a year with an additional 60ls of rock... do you have a refuge??

 

[yosemite sam]

How big is your tank? You need a lot more live rock IMO. The general rule of thumb is waiting a year for the pod population to develop before adding something like a mandarin. Finding mandarins that will eat something besides live food is extremely rare. What other fish do you have or plan on having?

 

[angelsrock]

i concure

these guys need a minimum of 100 pounds of live rock and a tank that is at least a year old.

 

[ophiura]

I would strongly suggest frequenting the LFS that said "wait 8 months." They sound quite good though the fact that neither sold you one yet is somewhat comforting. I agree with the above. Your tank is far too young, and has too little LR. If you could find one that was already eating prepared foods that would help, but do not buy one assuming you will be able to train it before it starves.

 

[kleekai]

Thanks for all the replys.

I don't think we will be getting one since our tank is only a 55g and we really don't want to add anymore LR. Right now we have two clowns, a yellow tang, a coral banned shrimp, a royal gramma, about 15 snails and 10 hermits.

 

[vanos]

Definitely no Mandarin even though their inexpensive at the store and online. You have room so look into a lionfish or one of the puffers.

 

[lillibirdy]

Won't the Lionfish and Puffers EAT the shrimp and Royal Gramma??? :notsure:

 

[kleekai]

thats what i thought

 

[farmboy]

It would be fun for the lion. . .
Hey Kleekai,
You are just going to have to get a BIGGER tank.
:yes:
Darn the bad luck.

 

[yeffre kix]

Take a look online and you'll be able to find pod breeding matts. Put one in your fuge and breed your own. By keeping them in a fuge the Mandarin won't wipe out the population so they can reproduce.