Mandarin Primer

[zsxking]

My mandarin also dislike with mysis shrimp. When I got it from LFS it already took frozen bloodworm. I continued on feeding him bloodworm. I guess he like it because it is red, just like the live brine it was trained first to take. He even takes pellet better than mysis probably because it's red.

Also a feeding room will open more options for tankmates. I make it with small plastic box, drilled an opening wide enough for it, but small enough to keep out other aggressive feeder (I have a toby puffer with him).

 

[Mael]

I dont have long term success yet by any means, but my little guy is twice as fat as he was at the store. I did watch him hunt in the store and they fed it reef nutrtition which it seemed to take.

At home it is a 46g bow, 40g sump with about 15-18gallons section dedicated to a fuge. 1" sandbed, rock/rubble and a the macro if put together would be bigger than a basketball, you pick up a piece and pods are running all of your hand(it tickles)

Mondo the mandarin has been in there for 3 months now, is fat and seems happy. Even with what I considered a great pod population I supplement at least twice a month in the form of reef stew(local mix made by a clownfish breedeer, baby brine, pods, rotifer, plankton, etc) and once a month or so I do a big pod order from an online vendor, adding most to the fuge and some to the DT. He also seems to take the frozen rotifers I had been using to feed coral as well, although it almost seems like it is accidental.

I am hoping he continues to do well as he is a great little addtion, even if he hides half the time.

 

[mystikal]

Basically did what post 357 did
Check it out
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sRWFevrVI44

 

[micgloth18]

awesome

awesome

i am looking into getting one of these guys for my 14 biocube. i havea refug in it htouse and lots of rubble rock but i will put a pile of rock in the tank so that way he can chow down

 

[laga77]

i am looking into getting one of these guys for my 14 biocube. i havea refug in it htouse and lots of rubble rock but i will put a pile of rock in the tank so that way he can chow down

Please do not put a Mandarin in a 14G tank. It will starve. Minimum would be a year old 50G with a fuge and no other pod eaters. Even then it would need to be supplemented with black or white worms.

 

[Wendell]

Has anybody had experience with damsels and mandarins? I have an azure damsel who can be a little picky to new comers but usually minds his manners.

Also, is it possible to have a green male and a spotted female?

I was at my LFS yesterday looking for a female to add to my tank and they had 5 green males and one spotted living in the same tank. It was a frag tank that was about 3 feet wide and 4 feet long maybe 10 inches tall and racks to hide under. They were all fat and their fins were in great shape. No signs of fighting. No posturing or fighting when I was watching them. I talked to the sales guy about it and asked him how he pulled it off. He said it was about having enough space and enough food. He fed them pods from algae barn (online). Algae barn also sells captive bred green mandarins that eat frozen and pellet food if anyone is interested. I recently got a pair that live with my seahorses and they are looking good.

 

[Sense of nature]

Something weird has happened in my tank,I have had a pair of spotted mandi's and a red in my 220 for almost 2 yrs ,they even courted,although I did not witness any spawning. All seemed well.Until I made the mistake of feeding my Harlequin shrimp a lager than usual choco star. The shrimp was working on the star fish & had him belly up & I guess the female spotted got caught on the feet of the starfish & died.
Ever since then the male spotted has been very territorial & harassing the red.
I came across a female red & tried introducing her, acclimated & all seemed well Then I witnessed both males chasing her, I tried to catch her to put her in the fuge but couldn't.Next day I found her dead . She acclimated well & was well healthy & eating .
Just wondering if I should try & find a female spotted & see if the male spotted calms down? of course I certainly dont want to put any more fish in harms way or die .

 

[MG98]

Those of you keeping Mandarins with in-sump refugeums, do you use filter floss prior to return pump chamber? This is how my sump is designed but I'm wondering if that would prevent pods from making it to the main display.

 

[ThRoewer]

Those of you keeping Mandarins with in-sump refugeums, do you use filter floss prior to return pump chamber? This is how my sump is designed but I'm wondering if that would prevent pods from making it to the main display.

I don't use any mechanical filtration on a constant basis, and when it is just a cartridge on a powerhead.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[MG98]

Okay, I'm gonna re plumb my sump. I found a eschopps adv 300 for a good deal used and am going to redistribute the chambers to create a bigger fuge and direct the flow to assist the pods on their way into the dt.

 

[Sailfin11]

LiveAquaria now has captive-bred Blue Mandarins!

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/5146/blue-mandarin-captive-bred-biota?pcatid=5146&c=15+1500+5146