Is my tank ready for a Mandarin?

jmowbray

New member
My tank is almost 2 years old (3 is you count that I had a 20L and moved everything to the new tank). I was wondering what the expert board thought about me getting a green Mandarin? The tank is 90 gallons with a 30 gallon sump with appox. a 15~20 gallon fuge with cheato. As it stands pod population is high and they are everywhere at night. I do plan to seed the fuge with some different strains before the fish comes is I decide to do this.

Looking for honest input.

Here's an FTS:
F2EDD214-5A25-4B15-A0D1-A6B1BC1EE9B8_zpso6qkqd4j.jpg


A slightly older pic as the GSP rock is now gone and the SPS are larger.
 
Sorry right now there is:
2 clowns
purple firefish
4x black axial chromis
Melanurus Wrasse

Why are they listed as being some what compatitable with basslets and blennies?
 
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i don't know about "expert" but i would probably say proceed with caution. tank size. fuge size, and other setup ticks all the right boxes. my only real question is compatibility with the current stock list. nothing sticks out as a red flag to me, but i'm not familiar with any of those fish first hand (except the clowns, obviously they're fine), so i can't say for sure.

i would think you should be OK. just as a "safety valve" i would just read up and consider some supplemental feeding options such as pod condos, mandarin diners, or PaulB's feeding station:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2113800&highlight=feeding+station

all very handy techniques to keep in your back pocket. they can also be useful for helping to fatten up a new arrival dragonet.

in regards to compatibility, i am not sure what chart you're referencing specifically, but the LA one says caution with basslets and blennies (look under dragonets):

http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/compatibility_chart.cfm

i'm not sure about why they're listed as caution with those two. i've kept my mandy with my lawnmower blenny (Salarias fasciatus) for several years with no issues, but they occupy completely different ecological niches, and my lawnmower tends to be pretty easy going anyways.

if i had to hazard a guess about the basslets, it is probably because most of their species (again this all just according to LA, not first hand experience) are listed as semi-aggressive, and eat the same food as the mandy. typically problems arise when you have several fish competing for the same food source.
 
I had a starry blenny that tried it's best to kill my male mandarin. Not sure why, but it hated anything that hung close to the rocks or sand bed...

The only halfway active pod hunter you have on your list is your wrasse, but if you keep him well fed, he'll probably remain in the water column most of the time...
 
Beautiful tank! Nice work.

If you are seeing lots of pods and have a healthy fuge, then I'd say yes. What more can you do?
 
Beautiful tank! Nice work.

If you are seeing lots of pods and have a healthy fuge, then I'd say yes. What more can you do?

Well I'm not sure if I have a healthly fuge. I have cheato but it doesn't really grow anymore since I have low nutrients. When I do take some out it's crawling in pods (the larger ones). I don't have anything else in there as I was told anything else would collect detritus and harbor stuff to decay. Would would be benificial besides rubble?
 
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