Copperband or mandarin

[drtrash]

Which one is harder to keep? Considering either, have mature 65gal with fuge with pods. Acclimation box help or hurt?

 

[falconut]

Over the years I was lucky enough to keep both at times. Selection of both of these is probably more important with these guys.

If you get a Copperband, make sure it's eating at the LFS, really eating, not just biting and spitting out. Some just don't and die. Most of the ones I've kept will go crazy for live blackworms, so that may be all they eat to start.

Mandarins I've had never ate frozen, so there needs to be plenty of pods to sustain it. Only one of the few I tried ever survived. If I remember correctly, he had a nice plump belly at the LFS. The others I tried that died after just a few months, had pinched bellies at the LFS and no matter how much they appeared to eat of the rocks, they never fattened up. So, I'd recommend looking for one with a nice belly, not sucked in.

Good luck with whichever you choose, they are both beautiful fish.

 

[JustinM]

I agree with what falconnut has said. I will add that a spotted mandarin is much easier to get to eat prepared foods compared to a green mandarin. How much live rock do you have in your tank and how big is your fuge?

I would say the mandarin is probably harder to keep because it seems you see more copperbands eating prepared foods than mandarins. Then if you have the live rock for a mandarin, they kind of self sustain too.

 

[mike61289]

If you have a large amount of live rock and a sustainable pod population, I would go with the mandarin.

I feel that a copperband would get stressed out in a tank that size. It's big enough for short-term, but it will eventually need a bigger tank.

 

[drtrash]

Considering there is overlap if difficulty in feeding got both, have both in acclimation cage in tank, plan on introducing food source for a few days and then release in reef