Green Mandarin

[plantman427]

I'm thinking about getting a Green Mandarin to put by itself in my 10 gallon Tetra half moon tank with an L.E.D. setup. My questions are is this big enough for this fish and what substrate do they prefer? I know they eat cope pods so I can just add them as needed or so I believe. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[demonclownfish]

i would not do it unless you get an ORA mandarin already eating frozen and possibly pellet. you may think you can add pods but the cost of them adds up FAST as it would go through them at an unreal speed as all they do is constantly search for food.

 

[bigdoug]

I agree, not a good idea, unless you have a lot of money to spend on pods, mandarins are pigs.

 

[olemiss reb]

That would be insanely expensive. Bottled pods are ~$20-30. I would estimate at least 1-2 bottles a week.

As far as adding as needed. The majority of pods are not visible, so how do you know when to resupply. you will know you are out of pods when the mandarins stomach is pinched. By which point death is imminent.

A mandarin will not work in that tank.

 

[Cahooligan]

at the cost of pods, IMO it would make more sense to get a tank big enough for you to not have to feed it at all. i have a scooter blenny(in the mandarin family), that is not on any prepared foods, that has been fat and healthy for over a year in my 75g tank with no copepods added. i also dont have a refugium. just lots of liverock...

 

[Wolverine]

Even if you get one that's eating prepared food, it's hard to keep them well fed enough on that alone in a tank this small.

 

[plantman427]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate it.

 

[SushiGirl]

Besides the difficulty feeding them, they cruise all day long (albeit slowly), 10 gallons is too small.