Mandarin Goby Questions

[OrQidz]

Okay so people have said a lot of things that to me make no sense.

Yes pods can make it through pumps. Why sure they can have you ever seen the size of a pump impellar? This statement has no bearing on what I said.

Pods are in my filter socks by the gazillions. Well sure they are, they have an unlimited food source and can thrive without predation. Again no bearing on what I said.

Someone post anything of scientific value of how pods go from the refugium to the main tank. And again if this is true why have I never seen a mandarin feed from the water column. Why doesn't the mandarin just hand out where the returns are.

People are so eager to share their personal experience with little to no details on how they did what they did.

Maybe I should say that I have been doing this longer and have kept more than anyone on this thread. The pair of mandarins that I kept in my main display would actually spawn often.

I'm not getting your confusion about how pods get into the DT. Pods are in refugium. Water and pods flows into main tank. Why does the mandy not sit at the water return eating pods? It's evolved to hunker down and pick pods off rocks. So that's what it does. Which by the way, after coming from the fuge and into the DT make their way to the rocks. Where the mandarin finds them. You're missing the point of the pods in the filter sock. It implies that lots of pods are in the DT and therefore being sucked into the filter. Ergo, pods go from fuge, to DT, and some get swept back into sump (well, stuck in the filter sock).

Are you really not getting that or do you just want to argue? Not sure what you think you will accomplish with the "I know more than everyone" attitude. You seem to lack some understanding of basic concepts.

 

[MondoBongo]

I'm not getting your confusion about how pods get into the DT. Pods are in refugium. Water and pods flows into main tank. Why does the mandy not sit at the water return eating pods? It's evolved to hunker down and pick pods off rocks. So that's what it does. Which by the way, after coming from the fuge and into the DT make their way to the rocks. Where the mandarin finds them. You're missing the point of the pods in the filter sock. It implies that lots of pods are in the DT and therefore being sucked into the filter. Ergo, pods go from fuge, to DT, and some get swept back into sump (well, stuck in the filter sock).

Are you really not getting that or do you just want to argue? Not sure what you think you will accomplish with the "I know more than everyone" attitude. You seem to lack some understanding of basic concepts.

He just wants to argue. It's been clear since his first post I'm this thread that he wanted conflict.

The OP is literally following most if not all of the recommended best practices for keeping a Mandy. Tank size, fuge, pod condos, done his research, etc...

As long as there is no direct competition for food, I.e. a six line wrasse, then the OP has done everything they can to help stack the deck in their favor. All they need now is to get a healthy Mandy.

LED Jack just keeps trying to obfuscate the argument with his claims. It's a well accepted and well demonstrated thing to use a fuge for pod reproduction and to help supply the main tank with said pods.

Since LED Jack is the one making such spurious claims, he is the one under obligation to provide proof for those claims, scientific or otherwise.

 

[killinit123]

He just wants to argue. It's been clear since his first post I'm this thread that he wanted conflict.

The OP is literally following most if not all of the recommended best practices for keeping a Mandy. Tank size, fuge, pod condos, done his research, etc...

As long as there is no direct competition for food, I.e. a six line wrasse, then the OP has done everything they can to help stack the deck in their favor. All they need now is to get a healthy Mandy.

LED Jack just keeps trying to obfuscate the argument with his claims. It's a well accepted and well demonstrated thing to use a fuge for pod reproduction and to help supply the main tank with said pods.

Since LED Jack is the one making such spurious claims, he is the one under obligation to provide proof for those claims, scientific or otherwise.

+1

Just ignore LEDJack he's clearly a troll

 

[LED Jack]

killinit so because I just got on these forums that means you know more than me and I am troll......lol

How about you post a few pics of your tanks and I will post a few pics of mine?

There is always that one guy who knows someone that smoked cigarettes when they were 90 years old and they say that is proof that cigarettes do not cause cancer.

That is scientific proof in your book!

Can anyone of you experts post anything that can supports these claims of pod migration?

Come on experts.

And another question for the experts, are you all saying that if I have a 2.5 gallon nano tank with a 75 gallon refugium that a mandarin can lead a healthy and thriving life?

2 simple questions for the experts!

 

[MondoBongo]

killinit so because I just got on these forums that means you know more than me and I am troll......lol

How about you post a few pics of your tanks and I will post a few pics of mine?

There is always that one guy who knows someone that smoked cigarettes when they were 90 years old and they say that is proof that cigarettes do not cause cancer.

That is scientific proof in your book!

Can anyone of you experts post anything that can supports these claims of pod migration?

Come on experts.

And another question for the experts, are you all saying that if I have a 2.5 gallon nano tank with a 75 gallon refugium that a mandarin can lead a healthy and thriving life?

2 simple questions for the experts!

Dude. What are you talking about?

We've been over the pod migration aspects of it. Finding them in filter socks, watching them spread to sumps or connected tanks, it is self evident.

I connected a 35 cube to my main system. Started it with dry rock and dead sand. Within a week it had loads of pods in it, asterina stars, and even a hermit crab (I'll admit even I am a bit befuddled as to how the hermit got there) but where do you think they came from? I didn't actively introduce them, they didn't float in on the breeze. Obviously they came from the tank that the new cube was connected to. This is so simple to understand and demonstrate it's almost painful.

As for your ridiculous example of a 75 gallon with a 2.5 gallon tank, that's just absurd. No is saying that ratio makes any kind of sense, and I suspect you darn well know that, but your commitment to obfuscating the argument is remarkable. That's a pretty clear sign of knowing that you have no good basis for your line of argument.

Cheers.

 

[Alexraptor]

I kept a female Mandarin for over two years, first in a 10 gallon and then in a 25, no fuge. She died recently, not from starvation but because she became egg-bound.

It should also be noted that Mandarin diets are quite diverse. They feed naturally not only on copepods but also fish eggs, amphipods, polycheate worms, ostracods and even small gastropods(snails).

Now on the subject of the original post, it's hard to say, I would keep an eye on it for a few days.
My Female Mandarin which was my first was an extremely skittish and shy fish. At first she hid in a crevice and refused to come out for a few days, even weeks afterwards she was still skittish and would hide in the rockwork the instance she sensed my approach.
My Male on the other hand was totally different and was pretty much cool with things from Day 1.

 

[Grimreaperz]

killinit so because I just got on these forums that means you know more than me and I am troll......lol

How about you post a few pics of your tanks and I will post a few pics of mine?

There is always that one guy who knows someone that smoked cigarettes when they were 90 years old and they say that is proof that cigarettes do not cause cancer.

That is scientific proof in your book!

Can anyone of you experts post anything that can supports these claims of pod migration?

Come on experts.

And another question for the experts, are you all saying that if I have a 2.5 gallon nano tank with a 75 gallon refugium that a mandarin can lead a healthy and thriving life?

2 simple questions for the experts!

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=16+2148&aid=3043

Maybe you should read this before you talk about how useless refugiums are for Pod culturing. I am just getting into the hobby and that seems to be the most clear thing about this. you want pods. get a fuge! I even turned a AuqaClear70 HOB into a fuge just because why not!

 

[Reef Frog]

You will never observe a mandarin looking for food in the water column unless it is food that we introduced. So with that being said how could we expect for pods that spend their entire life crawling on rocks and sand to ever make it to the main tank from the refugium?

I think this is where our new friend LEDJack gets confused. The benthic copepods in our tanks spend part of their pre adult life cycle in the water column. Adult individuals can also be easily sent "airborne" by the current or a squeeze of the turkey baster. They can also crawl on the intake grill of the pump and WOOSH they're transported up the return into the display like Dorothy & Toto going to OZ. What the heck is so hard to understand about that?

I love a good discussion where somebody is politely pursuing an intelligent contrarian argument, but this isn't one of those times.

 

[Sk8r]

Enough on pods. Can we get back to the op's problem?

 

[Capiross1]

Id give it a couple days hopefully it's just adapting to its new home and I personally have found pods inside of my iwaki return pumps during normal cleanings that are still alive, a refugium is a must in my option in keeping a psy mand heathy if your tank is under 100 gallon it's a must

 

[Reef Frog]

Enough on pods. Can we get back to the op's problem?

I did not consider the discussion off topic. New aquariasts read this forum of course. Mandy's need live pods & refugia are the best way to maintain a steady population. I think it's important to get the facts straight & personally I'm glad to see folks doing just that in an intelligent way. Just my opinion.

OP/GilligansReef: So any progress? Please keep us posted. I had the same thing happen when introducing a Ruby Red Dragonette. It didn't peck at all for the first 3 days or so. It just moved from place to place occasionally. But it returned to normal and is doing fine now, months later.

I attributed it to not matching bag salinity to the same salinity in a QT tank like I normally do. I made the decision to just do temperature & an abbreviated drip acclimation. I was afraid I'd starve it if I did a traditional QT procedure; that was my thinking at the time. I got lucky and avoided disease but I think the salinity change was hard on the fish. But I'll never be sure of course. In the future I think I would raise the salinity over a few days in QT before release in the DT however.

Not sure if my experience applies directly to yours since you didn't cover how you did the introduction. But keep the faith - they can & do adapt & come around. I guess that's my point. Your parameters are fine (as you know) and your preparations for the fish sound top notch. The fact that yours is nice & plump is an advantage as a few days without food probably won't be a big problem if it has some fat reserves. Fingers crossed....

 

[hotelbravo]

I agree that it is strange to see a mandarin sitting still, when i hear this i think of the use of cyanide in its capture. but since you said he was eating in the store than that cant be... The only thing i would do is to continue to monitor it and see what happens. i had a mandarin for a little over a year before it just stopped moving and hunting one day and died. im not sure why mine died but i know it had nothing to do with food supply. which in your case i doubt food supply is an issue or will be an issue despite what the unreasonable and close minded LED Jack has to say. He screams troll with every post so ignore him and lets get back to the issue. keep us updated.

 

[CStrickland]

I skipped most of this thread, so apologies if this has already been raised.

I don't know mandys very well but it's my impression that they stay low in the tank most of the time. I have heard of other fish like this having trouble getting enough oxygen on certain setups. If your tank flow is a lot of movement at the top from the overflow and all, but not much turbulence at the bottom, it might help to reposition or add a powerhead. Like, other fish would spend more time at the surface in the oxygen rich water, but he might not be willing or able to get up there.

Just a thought, good luck with your fish and don't let the opinions get you flustered.

 

[Jeff4777]

Your setup will not be able to supply enough pods to support a Mandarin. How do you expect the pods from your refugium to supply your main tank with pods?

Sorry but that was a bad plan.

Unsure if your trolling.. but return pumps allow the pods to reach the main DT.

 

[C.Eymann]

killinit so because I just got on these forums that means you know more than me and I am troll......lol

How about you post a few pics of your tanks and I will post a few pics of mine?

There is always that one guy who knows someone that smoked cigarettes when they were 90 years old and they say that is proof that cigarettes do not cause cancer.

That is scientific proof in your book!

Can anyone of you experts post anything that can supports these claims of pod migration?

Come on experts.

And another question for the experts, are you all saying that if I have a 2.5 gallon nano tank with a 75 gallon refugium that a mandarin can lead a healthy and thriving life?

2 simple questions for the experts!

Maybe Reef Central isn't the place for you, friendly debate is always welcomed as long as it's kept respectful and polite, being combative, rude and disrespectful is generally not acceptable here. If I was a mod you would have "moved on" by now.

 

[firefly73]

Maybe Reef Central isn't the place for you, friendly debate is always welcomed as long as it's kept respectful and polite, being combative, rude and disrespectful is generally not acceptable here. If I was a mod you would have "moved on" by now.

+1

strange read that one.

i dont think there is really alot you can do to help a mandy eat if its not and there is pods.

if hes fat then atleast there is some time before he takes a hit.

tanks sounds perfect and you have done the right things.

how is his colour? bright or washed out?

 

[MondoBongo]

my standard palliative care for any fish acting ill is a large water change and starting some carbon (GAC) in the system.

i had an incident maybe about two years ago now where my mandy was lethargic and almost unresponsive for about 48 hours. i'm still not sure what happened, but the only real proactive steps i could take at the time were changing water and running GAC. thankfully she came around on her own and is still with me.

 

[mystikal]

How is the Mandy doing? I would definitely try to figure out why it is not moving around actively in your tank...Even IF, you didn't have a large supply of COPES, Mandys have a tendency to "hunt" moving throughout the tank. So if day 1 it is in one spot, its normal. Day2 moving slowly around radius--> normal. Day 3 extending radius little more..

If it isn't searching, something is wrong with the fish...Not your tank. I know that my mandy will sleep once lights go out, till lights come back on...Then she moves around looking for food.

 

[killinit123]

killinit so because I just got on these forums that means you know more than me and I am troll......lol

How about you post a few pics of your tanks and I will post a few pics of mine?

There is always that one guy who knows someone that smoked cigarettes when they were 90 years old and they say that is proof that cigarettes do not cause cancer.

That is scientific proof in your book!

Can anyone of you experts post anything that can supports these claims of pod migration?

Come on experts.

And another question for the experts, are you all saying that if I have a 2.5 gallon nano tank with a 75 gallon refugium that a mandarin can lead a healthy and thriving life?

2 simple questions for the experts!

I never said I know more than you all I was trying to do was engage in a friendly debate about how I feel as though your information is not accurate in terms of pod migration and the eating habbits of mandy's. Your first post to this thread was negative and not supportive in the least bit. The op has spent a lot of time and dedication to set up an environment which is suitable for the good health of a mandy specifically. While everyone else was determined to figure out what was wrong you simply said it is a goner and made outlandish claims about pod migration and the ability of the OP to support a mandy, with absolutely no constructive efforts what so ever, or facts to back it up either.

I can certainly post some pics of my tank but I'm not too sure what exactly that would prove to you or anyone for that matter, seems as though your getting a little off topic.

If scientific evidence is so important to you then why don't you post some scientific evidence of how pods CAN NOT migrate throughout multiple systems via return pumps from the refugium? my claims may not be actual scientific evidence but they are at least supported by real life scenarios and backed up by the scientific research that has been done in terms of pod migration throughout aquariums and the behavioral patterns of the Mandy, not forgetting that the biology of these creatures is well documented SCIENTIFICALLY.

Sure you could be a reef tank guru with many years of experience that just happened to pop on this forum recently. Although it is highly doubtful to me seeing as though your claims are some of the most ridiculous and not "scientifically" accurate information I have ever seen. Though in any event, the way you have been going about your posts is not how we do things on this forum. I am not claiming I hold all the knowledge because there are plenty of people on here the surpass the level of knowledge I have by miles. But I do use this forum to learn new things everyday by being respectful and listening to other people on here. Something you may want to learn how to do if you want to be a active and respected member here.

 

[mhurley]

Enough on pods. Can we get back to the op's problem?

Bears repeating for those that can't listen.