I've never had a purple tang, but my yellow, blue hippo, blond naso, sailfin and vlamingii tangs never give my mandarins a second look...
JME.
LL
Mandarin Primer
- Thread starter BrianD
- Start date
I've never had a purple tang, but my yellow, blue hippo, blond naso, sailfin and vlamingii tangs never give my mandarins a second look...
JME.
LL
palmer373
New member
well my freind has a 75 sumpless reef and he has 2 madarins. they have been going strong for many months (easily 5+ months). I was hoping i could do the same but once i read your comment about the six-line, that kindof made me say no. before i did notice copepods and amphipods running around in the DT but i havent in a long time. I do see them in the refuge tho! ill see what happens, maybe 1, in like a few months, will be ok.
I wouldnt recommend it. I had to remove a six line not for the food competition factor but because it would harass my green manderin every time he left the corner of the tank. Now that the six line is removed, my mandy is all over the tank and looking much better. Dont know what the six line had against the manderin, it never bothered any other fish but him.
LKGRenegade22
New member
I have never seen anything in my tank pay any attention to my mandarin. I even have a pair of scooter dragonets too, and am going to add another mandarin when I find a healthy one. I also have 10 wrasses and still have plenty of pods.
Lots of LR, a good established tank and a pod breeding factory in my sump keeps everybody happy.
Lots of LR, a good established tank and a pod breeding factory in my sump keeps everybody happy.
FrozenSeas
New member
I'Ve had my Mandarin for over 3 yrs and I saw him eat a piece of frozen brine shrimp for the first time tonight. I have over 300lbs of live rock and up until tonight that has been what keeps him alive. I some times take some live rock out of my sump and place it in the main tank just to introduce some fresh pods then after a few days I put it back in the sump. And once in a while when I can get it I will buy a bottle of live pods to add to the tank to help replenish the pod population. Even though I saw him eat the frozen brine shrimp I'm thinking it might have been a one off.
flameangel88
New member
I've mine for 2 months now and he started eating frozen mysis 3 weeks ago. I do have to shut off the pumps during feeding to allow him to catch the mysis in the water column and on the sand bed.
gewehermeister
New member
I have had a pair M/F in a 40 breeder with 6 line and solar wrasses for 2 years. I feed phyto and the pods seem to proliferate. The mandarins frequently show off as if spawning and they also have been eating mysis from day one.
if this helps any.
if this helps any.
Hello guys,
Here in Brazil, the reef keeper who are tryng to keep mandarins are considered "dumbs", because the "truth" is that mandarins do no thrive in capitivity, specially in home aquariums.
I completely desagree whith my brazilian friends.
THEY SAY THIS: MANDARINS DO NOT THRIVE MORE THAN 5 OR 6 YEARS IN CAPTIVITY.
They say no matter how big your tank is or how big and crowded with pods is your refugium.
So, I´m curious: How many years are your mandarins living in your reef tanks?
Sorry for my bad English, I´m a rookie learning the language :lol2:
Here in Brazil, the reef keeper who are tryng to keep mandarins are considered "dumbs", because the "truth" is that mandarins do no thrive in capitivity, specially in home aquariums.
I completely desagree whith my brazilian friends.
THEY SAY THIS: MANDARINS DO NOT THRIVE MORE THAN 5 OR 6 YEARS IN CAPTIVITY.
They say no matter how big your tank is or how big and crowded with pods is your refugium.
So, I´m curious: How many years are your mandarins living in your reef tanks?
Sorry for my bad English, I´m a rookie learning the language :lol2:
wteran
New member
I have had my male green mandarin for over three years... his little girl friend for about 18 months...
LL
flameangel88
New member
Possibly love at first sight?
Possibly love at first sight?
I was at the lfs today picking up salt and ended up coming home with a female Mandarin that's about half the size of the male that I got over 2 months ago. This one is a bit on the skinny side so I was a bit worry when adding to the tank. About an hour after acclimating the female I turn on the actinic and found the pair next to each other on the bottom. After a few minutes the male swim away about 2 inches and the female followed then into the rock works. Couple of hours later the female is still following the male around. The male never showed any aggression and the female never moved away from the male since the actinic came on. Hopefully the female will follow the male on eating frozen food as well.
Possibly love at first sight?
I was at the lfs today picking up salt and ended up coming home with a female Mandarin that's about half the size of the male that I got over 2 months ago. This one is a bit on the skinny side so I was a bit worry when adding to the tank. About an hour after acclimating the female I turn on the actinic and found the pair next to each other on the bottom. After a few minutes the male swim away about 2 inches and the female followed then into the rock works. Couple of hours later the female is still following the male around. The male never showed any aggression and the female never moved away from the male since the actinic came on. Hopefully the female will follow the male on eating frozen food as well.
The Reef Expert
New member
Best Foods:
- Nutramar Tigrio pods
- Nutramar Ova
- Live Brine / nauplii
- Nutramar Tigrio pods
- Nutramar Ova
- Live Brine / nauplii
Breathe13stars
New member
All i can say is make sure your overflows are covered. I couldn't find mine one day, ended up looking in my cpr overflow box and there he was eating away. Pain to get him out tho.
kraut3253
New member
I just read/skimmed through this thread. Very interesting and lots of cool pics. I just wanted to add my two cents.
There has been some discussion about whether mandarins can or can not get ich. From my experience mandarins absolutely can get ich. I was the unfortunate witness to a massive ich outbreak in my tank (from an introduced coral frag). My fat happy mandarin that had been in the tank for 3 years prior became covered in white spots. The mandarin unfortunately died before I could start hypo treatment. They might have a thick slime coat, but they also sit right on the gravel so the ich tomites that are hatching out of the gravel don't need to go far to find them.
Other than that I also think that large anemones are not compatible mandarins. After years of keeping happy mandarins (other than that ich outbreak), I made the mistake of getting a rose BTA. Now any mandarins or other small fish that I get just dissappear without a trace.
There has been some discussion about whether mandarins can or can not get ich. From my experience mandarins absolutely can get ich. I was the unfortunate witness to a massive ich outbreak in my tank (from an introduced coral frag). My fat happy mandarin that had been in the tank for 3 years prior became covered in white spots. The mandarin unfortunately died before I could start hypo treatment. They might have a thick slime coat, but they also sit right on the gravel so the ich tomites that are hatching out of the gravel don't need to go far to find them.
Other than that I also think that large anemones are not compatible mandarins. After years of keeping happy mandarins (other than that ich outbreak), I made the mistake of getting a rose BTA. Now any mandarins or other small fish that I get just dissappear without a trace.
i have a healthy pair, they thrive off the copepods in our 130 gallon tank
they were skinny when we got them, now they are fat
since the first week they do their mating dance every evening, when the actinics go on
A beautiful picture! Congratulations on your (obviously) excellent husbandry... my pair perform the ritual about once every week to ten days... like yours, when the actinics first come on. Other than that, they usually inhabit separate "islands" and ignore each other...
LL
