how many mandrins
- Thread starter fanning
- Start date
MikeandNicole
New member
A 30g tank is hardly big enough to house one mandarin let alone a group, espcially if it is a brand new tank. They need a huge live food population, and one could clear out a 30g very quickly. I would also be careful about a group anyways, if you got say a bunch of males, changes are they will fight. Our male when introduced took some shots at our female for a while until they were truly paired up.
Did we keep a pair of mandarins in a 30g? Yes, however we spent around $500 (the wife kept a spreadsheet) on live and frozen foods until they started to eat frozen. Now both eat frozen and we still feed twice a day (Rods food, live black worms, adult brine, baby brine, fish eggs or a combo). So unless you want to spend a lot of money I would probably stay away from it.
Did we keep a pair of mandarins in a 30g? Yes, however we spent around $500 (the wife kept a spreadsheet) on live and frozen foods until they started to eat frozen. Now both eat frozen and we still feed twice a day (Rods food, live black worms, adult brine, baby brine, fish eggs or a combo). So unless you want to spend a lot of money I would probably stay away from it.
alton
Well-known member
I am going to buck the system a little with having a 30 gallon for a mandarin. I have one now plus a friend had one in this same tank a couple years ago. What you have to do is have a lot of rubble for the pods to hide and feed for the mandarin to eat. Also keep slow tank mates and or mates that do not compete for food. I have 2 jawfish who come out to eat when I feed but don't travel around the tank so my mandarin boogies around picking up scraps. I will agree no way could I add a second one.
sslak
New member
olemiss reb
Molon Labe
I agree that tank size is not adequate. There is also the fact that mandarins will fight to the death unless you have a bonded male/female. I have seen males kill females and vice versa. If you can get a pair that is already eating frozen/pellets and you do not mind spot feeding them at least once daily it will work. Mine are in tanks with vortechs which kick into feed mode twice a day and pellets are spot fed. The majority will not wean onto pellets or frozen.
fanning
New member
Recommended Tank size: The minimum tank requirement is generally stated as 10 gallon with 50lbs or more of live rock. This is based on feeding requirements and not space requirements as the Mandarin is a very slow, docile fish. Perhaps more important than tank size is how heavily fed and nutrient rich a tank is, since this type of tank will generally support a higher copepod population than tanks run under more lean conditions. .
i took this straight from the website that i was going to order from...
i took this straight from the website that i was going to order from...
MikeandNicole
New member
That advice is kind of right and kind of wrong. First off fitting 50 pounds of LR into a 10g would be a challenge, but the theory of having more live rock is correct with the mandarins. They are docile and hang out in the rock and on the sand, not out in the water column so they are not like a tang that needs feet of swimming room. They need tons of copepods to feed on as they eat all day everyday. That is why a large refugium or rock piles for the copepods to hide and breed are always recommended with mandarins. Ideely like 100g plus would be a good tank size because it would give them plenty of food and the population should be able to reproduce. Now if you had a 30g with a massive mature refugium teaming with copepods, then you might have a shot.
olemiss reb
Molon Labe
The website is also making money by selling this fish to as many people as possible. They are not going to list a mature 90 gallon with 150lbs of LR and a thriving fuge as a requirement for this fish because it will dissuade sales. The general advice given is that a 30 gallon is not an appropriate sized tank, it can work under certain conditions but 9/10 it will not. The wealth of knowledge on this site advises against it but if a vendor says it is ok, I'll let you make the call.
sslak
New member
"more important than tank size is how heavily fed and nutrient rich a tank is, since this type of tank will generally support a higher copepod population than tanks run under more lean conditions"
What that is trying to say is if you had 50 lbs of rock in a tank for a year with no other fish just growing a mass of pods...it may actually be able to have a large enough population that could sustain itself even in the presence of a predator (mandarin).
What that is trying to say is if you had 50 lbs of rock in a tank for a year with no other fish just growing a mass of pods...it may actually be able to have a large enough population that could sustain itself even in the presence of a predator (mandarin).
And which website is that?
davocean
Active member
LOL, seems appropriately named!
Mandarins eat 1-3 pods per minute, unless you have that many pods, or plan to spot feed accordingly, they will not survive long term.
Many are fooled by short term success as their mandarin slowly starves to death, sometimes taking a year or more(which seems even more cruel to me than a quick death)
People keep reaching for ways around this, but it is what it is, and prep'd foods do not cover the needs of their high metabolism.
olemiss reb
Molon Labe
Aquacon, you should have mentioned this from the start. Go ahead and order one, they will more than likely send you a damsel which will work in said tank.
reputable site--- http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/productDetail.asp?did=1&pid=670&cid=16
their curator's note says it all
