Mandarin goby: tank maturity

[Josh_Canada]

I have a 50 gallon tank with 60 lbs LR, 50 lbs LS, and a 30 gallon sump with refugium. How long should the tank mature to keep a reliable level of copepods?

Thanks in advance to any who answer!

 

[miketay89]

What size is your refugium? As this is going to be your mandarins food factory.
Mandarins can be trained to take other foods too. It takes some patience, but it is worth the end result. In my experience the younger mandarins have an easier time adjusting to the new foods. I have 4 mandarins that eat frozen mysis and live blackworms.

 

[olemiss reb]

A fifty will not be able to sustain enough pods for a mandarin. If you can find one that accepts pellets/frozen, remember that it will have to be spot fed. They are too slow to compete with other fish for food.

 

[Josh_Canada]

I believe the refugium is about 12ish gallons, and I have stacks of live rock in their and the display, as I have read these are a sort of breeding ground for pods. I am also growing chaeto; (any better macroalgae suggestions for pods?) was planning on training it to eat mysis or brine through a pippet as that will be mostly what I feed the tank.

 

[EllieSuz]

My local LFS let me know that they had a Green Mandarin that ate frozen foods and I bought him a couple of years ago. I kept him in a 40 gallon and moved him to my 65 when I upgraded. He's done just fine in both, in spite of having only one eye. He still eats frozen foods, but I only feed that once a day. The bulk of his diet is the pods he hunts all day long. I have a sump with some rubble in the 'fuge section and lots of Chaeto. I did "seed" the Chaeto with store bought pods early on. It's a good idea to give the Chaeto a good shake now and then so the pods move through the return pump to the DT. The problem frequently overlooked by people when they recommend training Mandarins to eat frozen foods is that they have to be fed so often that it negatively affects water quality. Mandarins eat all day long. I think you stand a good chance of success. It's obvious you've done your homework. Buy some pods for your 'fuge and give them a few months to reproduce and give it a try.

 

[deangelr]

I have a 57g with minimal LR and no refugium.. It took about 6 months of cycling and adding a initial population allowing them to multiply with no predators. I have a few small rubble piles where pods can hide out.. Added a mandarin about 3 months ago and he has doubled in size.. Still tons of pods out at night.

 

[Josh_Canada]

thanks guys!

EllieSuz- Have you ever had a flasher wrasse with a mandarin, from what i understand, the have some sort of 'slime' deterent on them, would it get harassed by a royal gramma or flasher wrasse?

From what i can tell, 2 ocellaris (going for the McTank look), a royal gramma ( I always thought to be hardier and alot nicer then a royal dottyback), a chromis, and a flasher wrasse aren't going to go to crazy on the pods. Was also planning on introducing some bottled pods.

This may seem odd to some, but, I was thinking of adding a porcelain anemone crab to the 'fuge to be 'the dungeon keeper', would it's filter feeding have an adverse effect on pod growth?

Thanks again!

 

[kparsells]

8mths I have two mandarin fonts and I just buy a thing of Pods once a month they are very healthy and fat. Best way to feed them and helps the tanks beneficial balance in the system. You can pour in your fugue or directly in the tank

No way your talking thousands of pods, you would need like 100 crabs to make a difference

 

[EllieSuz]

Yes, my McCosker's Wrasse shares the 60 with the Mandarin. They ignore one another. The Flashers don't seem to hunt for pods, at least I've never seen mine do it. I have a Clown that pushes the Mandarin out of her territory, but I think after one bite, she decided the taste wasn't worth the effort. It would be a shame to hide a Porcelain Crab where you can't see it. Mine is front and center in the Display all the time and a hoot to watch.

 

[Josh_Canada]

well the stand is wide open, so i can get a good view at everything and people can really see all the effort just for keeping a couple 'nemos'. I did pick up most of the inverts today, sadly the last porcelain crab was gone.