six line wrasse or mandarin

[fez]

i am looking for a someone to help control the pod population. i was told by my lfs that either a mandarin or a six line would do the trick.
i have a stripped damsel, maroon clown, and a coral beauty.
any suggestions?:notsure:

 

[frozenice]

Either are good. The mandarin also eats microfauna that grows on your rocks. If you have alot of rock yo can get a mandarin. Some mandarins eat brine so ask your LFS if it does. But if you do have alot of rock youll be fine with the mandarin. You can get a sixline if you want. I dont know much on them. But both of those fish are fine in your tank. So pick the one you like best.:yes:

 

[fez]

thanks ice,
i did see the mandarin at the lfs eat the shrimp. would that be a sign of preference towards shimp and not the pods? I would like to have the fish that i add be a usefull addition. i have some live rock 40lb + and looking to add more. it seems like the pod population doubled in size in the last month or so.
Thanks.
Fez...

 

[frozenice]

Im not sure about them prefering shrimp than pods. Maybe some1 else on this site knows. The amount of rock you have now is plenty, and i still think the madarin will help your tank. BTW are we talking about a psychodelic or green mandarin.

 

[fez]

i believe the one that i saw at the lfs on sunday was a green mandarin. it green blotches rather than the red/blue swirls.

 

[frozenice]

I think its a pschodelic. Ive never heard of a green eating brine. The lady at my LFS said its extremely rare that the green mandarins eat brine.

 

[frozenice]

Maybe it was a green, and if it was than id get him if hes eating brine. But ask if hell prefer the shrimp over the pods. Or you can just get the sixline if your not sure about the madarin.

 

[nemo lover]

You need at lest 100 plbs of l/r and a well established tank for a mandarin. Most will eat brine but it is not there food of choice and not a proper diet for them. How long has your tank been set up? And how much l/r do you have?

 

[frozenice]

You dont need 100lbs. of live rock i only have like 30 and mine is fine in there. But your tank needs to be atleast 6 months old. I forgot to mention that before.

 

[fez]

my tank is just over a year old.
i have 40lbs of LR
So i guess a six line is better?

 

[chris17]

FrozenIce.....what size tank do you have your mandarin in?? How long have you had your mandarin??

 

[chris17]

, from what I know about mandarin's it is recomended by most a 100lbs minimum, if you have a fuge or sump that you could place a few lbs of small peices of lr , so that the pods will have a place to reproduce without the fear of being ate, and plus your mandarin wont be able to get to the sump or fuge so there will always be pods in it to reproduce...............IMO I would go with the the 6 line...........you have to have enough lr to keep the pod pop. strong enough to withstand the mandarins eating.........thus 100lbs is enough to keep the pod pop. good and healthy. If you have a fuge or a sump, you could prob. get away with having the mandarin, but there is a chance that the little guy could wipe out most of your pod population within a few days to maybe a couple of weeks, pods are the largest part of the mandarins diet, shrimp is not, and there is really no value to frozen brine shrimp.........its just a filler, kind of like corn to humans, it just makes use think we are full....... but this is jmo...........its your tank and your money

 

[nemo lover]

A mandarin will quickly decrease your pod pop to zero. It might take two months, six months, or a year. If you would like to keep a mandarin you have to have a good live source of food on demand at all times (ampipods, copepods). A fugie would be a great place for them to reproduce without being eaten.
Also what other fish do you have? you wouldn't want to keep any other fish/inverts that eat pods.

 

[frozenice]

I have him in a 29 gal and hes been there for about a week. There is another thread in this category about me and someone else starting a tank to grow pods in.

 

[frozenice]

i need help with a new method
Is the other thread that me and thomas were talking about the pod-producing tank.

 

[gregvabch]

i vote for the 6 line. i've got one in my 55; although he eats pods he also eats anything else that i feed with, (prime reef, formula 1, plankton, krill, brine, mysis, etc.) they're more versatile than dragonets and IMO have a much better survival rate.

 

[flatzboy]

I would have to disagree with a lot of you on the mandrins. I have 20g tank with 23 pounds of liverock with no refugium and I have had a green mandrin in there for the past 4 1/2 years and he has been a very easy fish. I don't even feed him brine shrimp. Also it was the first fish in the tank. So I disgree on the mandrin thing. And don't tell me he's slowly starving because his belly is always full and he has grown a heck of a lot since I got him.

 

[nemo lover]

may I see a pic of your tank?
You prob have a wel establish tank and you prob don't have anyonther fish in there that compete for food.

 

[spicyballs]

you are very lucky then.. i've had two mandarins before.. well, one of them was DOA.. the other one lasted a few months before dying... and i thought i had a real good pod population.. oh well... i'd go with the six line as well.. better chance that it'll survive.

 

[flatzboy]

I have a clownfish with it. But I will try to get some pictures. I have a digital camera but my crappy computer freezes up every time I try to install the software.