green mandarinfish

J

jfbhd4

Member
My lawnmower blenny has mysteriously disappeared, so I am looking to replace him with a Green Mandarinfish.
I have done some research saying they are pretty tough to keep fed unless your LR has alot of copepods (?). My tank has been up for about 6 months now and the LR is pretty well established.
Anyone have any thoughts on the addition? How to feed, etc?

Thanks
 
If you place any value on what the "experts" recommend then you might want to wait for a little longer before you put a mandarin in your tank. Some say to wait up to a year.

It might not be a bad idea to create a "pod pile" in your tank now and give it at least a few months to produce a good sustainable population of pods for your fish to eat.
 
I would definately wait...some say up to 2 years wait time. If you do decide to add one make a pod safe haven so that they can breed.
 
experts, shmexperts. Do what you want just use them as a guide. A hobby shouldn't be done by a book.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8729345#post8729345 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JxMetal
experts, shmexperts. Do what you want just use them as a guide. A hobby shouldn't be done by a book.
Click to expand...

Unless you kill an animal from stupidity. Manderan have special needs and that needs to be taken under consideration.
 
Well said Clark!
[soapbox]It is my opinion that one should not buy an animal unless they have researched it and can provide a proper environment for it [/soapbox]
 
I commented on the other thread you posted. Remember that some experts (Calfo I believe but don't hold me to who it is) recommend at least 200Lbs live rock per dragonette. I'm sure that fuge, rock structure, and more play a part in decreasing that recommendation. Maybe.

The pods in a bottle are a waste of time. Go research the number of pods found typically on a lb of live rock and look up how many are in the commercial product. Your dragonette will eat a bottle or two per day. You would be better off buying and setting a pound a day of new live rock in there. Cheaper too! So better to build the system to support it or look at a different fish. Many will say I have one but if they haven't had it at least 2-3 years, they can't say they've sucessfully kept one. Maybe when they get up to 5+ years then they can "just start" to have expertise. Same on all fish. There's no 1-2 year fish I know of in saltwater. Heck clownfish will hang with you 25 years!
 
well of course you need to do those things. But that's not what I'm saying. I didn't say throw your coral into a freshwater tank and maybe it'll live. Reading between the lines I'm just saying that if an expert says do this and only this doesn't mean that's the only way to do something. If everybody did what an expert said then how exciting would this hobby really be?

Simply provide proper environment before trying anything. And who konws. Maybe you'll be more successful.
 
6 lines are definate pod eaters. Did you add him last or have you added fish since then? Most 6 lines I know are mean little buggers. The mandarin diner is a cool idea, but you'd have to find one that eats pellets. What I was talking about as far as the pod fuge thing goes is to make a cylinder out of that plastic cross-stitching mesh and fill it with live rock rubble, that way the pods have somewhere safe to go reproduce. Yet another idea would be to have a fuge just for pods that wasn't tied in to your system, like a 10 gallon with a bunch of macro and live sand and stuff. This way you could add pods whenever and you wouldn't have to worry about all of them going through your sump and up into your main display.
 
I am not really looking to do a whole bunch of mods just to get this mandarin.
The 6 line is the nicest fish in the tank, i have never seen him go after any fish. He is buddies and swims alongside all of em.
 
Wow, sounds like you've got a one in a million 6-line :D They are really pretty fish, and I would love to have one, but I would be afraid of him attacking my gobies and stuff. What attracts you to the mandarin? Maybe you could find a comparable fish, like maybe a green clown goby?
 
my sixline is really cool he swims around picking at rocks and glass for pods or worms on fish it messed with in past was my cleaner wrasse but wrasse don't usually get along with other wrasse but now there good.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8730093#post8730093 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jfbhd4
http://melevsreef.com/mandarin_diner.html

Has anyone used/tried this method??
Click to expand...

The tough part is finding a mandarin that will even eat pellets..I don't think that feeding them in a jar would even help much in your case sunce you have some smaller fish like the six line that can just as easily get in there.
 
My spotted mandarin was doing great until about 2 weeks ago... I got a 6 line. At first things were great:)... The mandarin starting hanging to one side of the tank, outside of the main reefscape. The 6 line has started fu*&)ng with the mandarin. He goes out of his way to nip at him for no reason. I don't suggest getting a mandarin of any kind if you have a 6 line. If I could catch the 6 line I would remove him. Any suggestions? I've heard about a fish trap. Anyone know where to get one?
 
I would think you could find one at Premium Aquatics but you might look in the DIY section. I would think you could make one quite easily.
 
I decided to just grab the spotted and move him into the fuge. I think he's going to need a new home:) He's in fine shape and does eat some frozen brine... If anyone is intested PM me.
 
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